Page 48 of Better Run
He sees me furrowing my brows. “Uh oh. Snuggling is about to be over, isn’t it?” He grasps my hands and pins them together. “Please don’t scratch me, I’m weird about my skincare routine, and you’d put me back at least a week.”
I stare at him. He winks.
Flashes of memory roll over me. It comes in bits and pieces, full of fog. I stiffen. Jayden and I did something. Cole was there. Sage was too. Sage. New Year’s Eve. My video message to her ex…was Jayden. Him all over me. Touching me. Making me feel good. Making me come.
Cole’s grip on my hands tightens just slightly. I cut my gaze around the room and back to him.
“Where is Jayden?” My voice is cold, even to me.
“Out.”
“He’s too pussy to face me after last night?”
“No. We were running out of groceries since you insisted on feeding that woman.”
I glare but I see the truth in his eyes.
“Let me go.”
He hesitates but does.
I sit up. I’m wearing a big black T-shirt. It smells like Jayden. I stand and walk to the balcony, needing space. I see it’s snowing outside. The ground is already covered.
“What exactly did he do to me last night?”
Cole is quiet. I turn to look, and he’s watching me from the bed. It looks like he’s evaluating whether I’ll jump from the railing. I think about it. It would ruin whatever plans they have for me, but it’s not high enough to do any real damage.
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“I’dliketo, but like you said he isn’t here right now so I’m asking you.”
Cole slowly gets up and approaches me like a wild animal. So he is afraid I’m going to jump.
“He didn’t hurt you.”
I grit my teeth. “I asked what he did, not what he didn’t do.”
“Little one…”
“Do I need birth control?”
“What?”
“Do. I. Need. Birth. Control.”
He crosses his arms. That’s all the answer I need. I feel sick to my stomach. At the same time, I remember the blinding pleasure from last night. How I’ve never felt like that, not with Kyle, not with any of my exes, and not even giving it to myself. And that scares me.
“I’m going to shower.” I don’t wait for his reply. I stand in the shower for a long time. The sick feeling doesn’t go away. I’m in dangerous territory. I hate these men. Clearly, they are just using me for whatever fucked up plan of revenge they have. But they make me feel better than I ever have, more alive than I ever have. It’s intoxicating. It will be so easy for them to lull me into complacency. And they will. They’re trying right now.
Why am I still here? Why haven’t I tried harder to leave? Something is clearly very wrong with me. Is this Stockholm? It has to be. The thought makes me feel better.
I clean up and get out. I see the tattoo on my back. Their names. It’s healing nicely. It makes me mad. It’s okay. I’ll get it removed as soon as I get away. I know a good place. Kyle had to get a hand tattoo removed for his job. It’s not a big deal.
I wrap a towel around myself and run up the cold steps to my room. I get dressed and come back out.
Jayden is back, and he and Cole are bringing in and unloading groceries. The breeze through the door is brutal, and my wet hair makes it worse.
“I got you more of your meals.” Jayden shuts the door and drops off the last of the bags on the island. They’re Walmart bags. I wonder how far away the store is. How long has he been gone?
