“Right, Cali?” Ryder mocks. I hear the warning in his voice. He’ll tell them I broke the rules if I don’t admit it.
“Yes,” I growl. I don’t want to look at them. I can’t. Despite everything, I don’t want to hurt them. I’d rather focus on Ryder’s smug face. On reversing that look.
“Yes, what?” Ryder asks.
“Yes, I don’t have feelings for them.”
The room goes completely silent. My heart clenches. I feel like I did something wrong. I’m just playing the game. Right? But even that felt low to me.
I can sense Sawyer and Miles standing there, watching me. Fuck. They still aren’t saying anything. I need to do something. Anything to get this to go away.
Sawyer says, “So you do want to fuck his dick.”
Anger fills me. Fine, he wants me to believe I still want my ex? He can believe whatever he wants at this point. I say mockingly, “Sure, whatever. You seem to believe it, so it must be true.”
Sawyer holds the appendage out to Ryder. “Fuck her with it.”
Everything stills, and I freeze.
Ryder turns his lips down. “What?”
“You heard me.” Sawyer watches me the whole time. He’s mad. Beyond mad, he’s fully gone.
Fear runs through me. I take a step back. Ryder stares at me for a second. His dark eyes are guarded, but he doesn’t break his gaze from mine. Something flashes across his expression. Then he turns away from me. “No.”
I freeze. He’s not going to do it? My mouth drops open. “No?”
“Sawyer, take this disgusting thing.” He tosses it at Sawyer. “She clearly doesn’t want to.”
Sawyer growls, “She’s playing the game.”
“I said no.”
I stand in shock. Ryder snatches the plate back. “They’re getting cold.”
Fuck. He’s not going to make me do it. Relief runs in cold rivers over my skin, and I feel weak.
Ryder leans over Ben. “Open up, baby bird. Sorry the hair is still on them.”
Ben thrashes his head back and forth. With startling speed, Ryder snaps his gloved hand down, gripping Ben’s chin. “I said,open.”
Sawyer moves over to Ben. He grabs one of the two small items on the plate. They’re covered in sauce.
“Enjoy, fucker.” He drops it in Ben’s mouth. Ryder forces his jaw shut. Ben thrashes, making sputtering noises. Ryder’s massive form easily holds him down, his muscled arms barely flexing.
“Chew it, or you’ll choke and die.” Ryder chuckles.
I see Ben slowly chewing, and then I hear him gag. His body tries to jerk up, but he’s held down.
“If you puke, you’ll have to eat that too,” Sawyer growls.
Ben continues to gag. Ryder reaches up and pinches his nose. “My cooking isn’t that bad, fucker.”
The room smells like sweet sauce and cooked meat. I feel the bile rise in my throat, but I force it back down. Not in front of them. I can’t.
I glance at Miles. He’s looking at me like I kicked his puppy. I turn my gaze away.
They force Ben to eat the second one, and he continues to gag. I’m not sure how he gets it down. Then Miles pushes off the wall. “My turn, fuckers.”