“At least you can do something right,” he retorted, taking a seat at the foot of his bed. I rolled my eyes. If there was one thing I hated about him, it was that he was judgmental as fuck.
Deciding to get straight to the point instead of beating around the bush, I folded my arms across his chest and gave him a hard look. “You do understand that kidnapping her was an impulsive decision, don’t you?”
This time it was his turn to roll his eyes. “Spare me the speech, Collin. Your opinion on this is biased and we both know it.”
Frustration bubbled up inside me, but I wasn’t backing down until he heard me out. It was more than that. “I know this may be hard for you,” I snapped. “But think for a moment. Yes. I fucked her, but that doesn’t make me biased. Her friends have already become skeptical of her missing and it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours yet. You think the teachers won’t eventually become concerned? You’re going to end up getting her locked up in solitary and then we really won’t get to play with her.” The last part of that sentence tasted like shit on my tongue, but the only way I’d get through to him was if the logic made sense and he truly believed that this would cause more trouble than it was worth.
“We?” he inquired, his mouth twitching.
“I’m not saying I like your methods,” I admitted. “But I do like to have my own fun too. In different ways.”
He pursed his lips as he processed that. “What methods do you enjoy then?”
I shrugged. There was no sense in lying to Foster. “Physical torture makes me squeamish,” I admitted. “It doesn’t do anything for me. I like playing on the emotional side of things. It actually makes me feel like a monster, and I don’t like that feeling.”
He snorted in amusement, drawing my gaze back to his. “We’re all monsters here.”
Furrowing my eyebrows, I realized he was right. You didn’t get put in here because you had too many absences. You got locked away because you did fucked up shit.
“If I’m being honest, I like the feeling of being needed. If you’re needed, you won’t be left.”
“That’s why you let her go?” he questioned, arching an eyebrow.
“I’m not sure why I let her go,” I answered honestly. “It just felt like it was something I was supposed to do—an impulse.”
He shifted on the bed before reaching for his pack of cigarettes. Frankly, the sight of them had my stomach twisting into knots because of what we’d just done with them. Placing one between his lips, he lit it and then offered me one. I shook my head, unable to stomach the thought of smoking right now.
Taking a long drag, the smoke swirled around in the air, burning through the oxygen in the room. “I know why you let her go,” he said, catching me off guard with his response. “You and Myles are more alike than you think.”
A humorless laugh burst free from my lungs. “I am nothing like Myles. I would never do half of the things he’s done. He’s left girls battered and bloody. He’s raped them.” This was ironic coming from him. He was the one getting off on torturing her and sexualizing her, just like Myles.
“Maybe not literally, but you both obsess. You break hearts left and right before returning to the girl you know won’t leave you. In the end, you are doing what Myles does. The difference is, you target their hearts, and he targets their bodies. You remember Madison, don’t you?”
I scoffed at what he was implying, racking my mind for a defense. But I couldn’t find one. Was he right about me? Was I truly no better than Myles?
“Me and Madison broke things off because she wanted me to choose her over you.”
Foster’s features softened at that revelation before he took another pull of his cancer-stick. “How many times have you hurt her?” he continued.
Annoyance took root within my chest and spread through my body. “We were never official. I’ve always been up front with her about my feelings.”
He smirked like I just proved his point. Shaking my head in frustration, I blew out a breath. “We went off topic,” I pointed out. “But like I said, my feelings about this are unbiased.”
I didn’t have to ask Foster how he knew so much about me and Madison—or girls in general despite the fact he’s never been with one and didn’t have a great mother figure from what I knew about him. Foster was smart, observant, silent, and thoughtful.
“Very well,” he finally said with a defeated sigh. “We’ll let her out before classes start tomorrow morning. But I want her watched closely. If there’s any truth to what Myles says about her, then it’s safe to assume she won’t keep her mouth shut about this.” I nodded my agreement and moved toward the door. “And I know that if Monroe finds out we had anything to do with this, it’ll be a pain in the ass.”
“Fuck Monroe,” I retorted.
Mr. Monroe was an asshole. He was constantly up our ass about stupid shit despite the fact that he had a smokin’ hot wife at home and made a lot of money.
“Easier said than done. Once he sets his mind on something, he doesn’t give it up. Let’s just stay off his radar.”
I nodded in response, already knowing he was right about that. Monroe wasn’t very old—mid to late twenties or so. He picked and chose which kids he liked, and which ones he didn’t. Once you made it on his bad side, it was nearly impossible to get him to change his mind about you, and he could make life hell for you if he wanted. Luckily, we hadn’t made it on his shit-list yet, and I wanted to keep it that way.
“I’ll take first watch,” I offered, changing the subject. “It’s my fault we’re in this mess anyways.”
He nodded. “I have first hour with her, so I can keep an eye on her there. However, I doubt she’d dumb enough to attempt something in class anyways. The only class unaccounted for is second period.”