Page 143 of Insatiable

Ty:Moodypantsis funny though.

Lu: Don’t you dare tell him that or I’ll never hear the end of it.

Me: Why are you two talking to each other if you’re together?

Ty: She’s been in the bathroom forever.

Lu: Hey! Anyway, what should I do? Block him? TellKade? Threaten him with my father?

Ty: You could say yes?

Me: I agree withTylar.

Lu: I’ll pretend neither of you just said that. Do you both forget who we’re talking about here? He flirts with my mumandEwan, for God’s sake!

Ty: Um, hello? Have you seenEwan?

Me: You have kissed Base before.

Lu: Stop talking about mystepdad,Tylar. And a dare doesn’t count!

Ty: Whatever you say,Moodypants.

Lu:Ahhh!

I chuckle at the pair bickering. As much as I wish I was with them, I’m still feeling butterflies that Kade is in the bathroom, only ten steps from the couch. I keep battling a grin, remembering his hands and mouth all over me, at the same time as scolding myself for letting it happen.

My friends are kind of pissed at me for vanishing – they think I left my passport behind. But Ty knows the truth – she knows I’m with Kade and told me to enjoy myself while I can. She knows as soon as we’re back in Scotland, normality will settle in, and the spell will break.

My phone dings again, and my heart sinks, blood draining from my face as Chris texts from another new contact.

Unknown: I’m sorry, okay? I’m so fucking sorry for the way I’ve been with you. How come Kyle gets all your sisterly love and I get tossed to the side? It’s always been that way. My own mother prefers you and my brother. Do you let Kyle touch you? Do you let him sleep beside you and hold him? Have you fucked him? You smile at Kyle a lot. I wish you’d smile at me the same way.

Unknown: I’m in your bed, baby. I’ll always be in your bed. Even when you’re married to someone else, I’ll be the one who puts a kid in you. I’ll be the one who has your love. I’ll be the one who’ll grow old with you. Think about it, okay? Forget that we’re step-siblings. Forget everything I’ve done in the past and just… fucking love me back.

Bile rises in my throat, the bubble I’ve been hiding in since flying to America finally bursting. My reality is that when I go home, Chris can control me again. His hold on me has loosened right now, but if I attempt to run, he’ll find me.

And if I tell Kade, Chris will hurt him.

Chris is the reason my life is upside down, and I don’t want to risk him getting worse.

I somehow managed to tell Tobias a snippet of the truth, but getting the words out to Kade? Impossible.

“Can you call an Uber?” Kade’s deep voice travels through the bathroom door.

I can still feel each inch of him inside me, and I’m exhausted from how many times he made me orgasm. I reckon I have bruises between my thighs from how hard he pounded into me too.

I’m so fucking confused with it all.

All I keep thinking is that it might mean something to me, but he hates me. It terrifies me that I’m just going to break my own heart, because I meant it when I said we can’t be together.

It would be far too toxic. No relationship should have secrets.

There is no future with Kade Mitchell.

I call an Uber, and I try not to let the fresh, dressed and dangerously handsome Kade affect me as he walks out with damp hair hanging over his forehead, fixing his collar.

He stops dead when he sees me staring. “What’s wrong?”

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