Page 60 of Devil's Bargain

He leans back on his elbows in the sand and drops his head back. The rain soaks his already wet face. “No.”

I smile softly. This moment… The sound of the rain on the lake. The feel of it on my skin. His open mouth catching the raindrops.

“I wish things were different.”

He swallows the rainwater and looks over at me. His hair lies plastered to his forehead. “I do too.”

“Who’s Madeleine?”

He looks at me questioningly.

I shrug and prop my chin on my knees again. “Girls talk.”

“She’s one of the cheerleaders.”

The rain is bouncing off the lake. “Do you like her?” Why am I asking questions I have no business asking?

“Do you like the guy that hits you?”

“I fucking hate him!”

That makes him laugh. I store the sound away in my heart.

“You’re fucking a guy you hate?”

I run my finger through the sand but soon regret it when it sticks to my skin. “I told you. I don’t have a choice.”

“What does that mean?”

I look back out over the lake. The air smells of fresh rain and summer. “It means exactly that. I don’t have a choice.” I focus back on Rick. “You didn’t answer my question.”

He swipes his hair off his face and grimaces when he realizes his forehead is now covered in sand. “I don’t hate her.”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Well, that’s a bonus.”

His perfect teeth flash behind his sensuous lips as he grins. Can you even call a guy’s lips sensuous? His are! “Yeah, it does help.”

I squash down the images of him fucking this Madeleine girl. I’ve never spoken to her, but I know who she is.

She’s got long brown hair and is pretty in a way that I am not. Her nails are perfectly manicured, and she’s always dressed in skirts or colorful dresses, much like his ex, Emily.

What Rick sees in me is a mystery. I look down at my black leather skirt and fishnet stockings. My combat boots have neon pink laces to match my pink hair.

“Tell me something about you, April.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Where do you see yourself in the future?”

My smile falls. “I don’t have aspirations like you, Rick.”

He flicks his head, making rain droplets fly everywhere. “You must have dreams.”

I look down at my hand in the sand and taste tears on my lips. “I want a real job, a roof over my head, and a stable income so I don’t have to stress about my next meal.”

Rick swallows thickly. “I’m sorry.”

I grimace. “Please don’t.”

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