Page 68 of PET

“You’re mad, huh?” he asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Not at you,” I admit, shoving my hair back again. “Is that all?”

When he doesn’t reply, I look over at him again and frown. He looks guilty of something and it makes my insides twist in fear. Zeke has been my boy since we were kids—even before our first days on the recess monkey bars. We’re OG friends, and it kills me we haven’t been able to be honest with him. I should have told my best friend about the society and the things expected of me well before now, but I was afraid that if he knew, they’d take him away from me. He’s the only normal person I have in my life, besides Billie now, and it kills me to think I’ve had to lie to him all these years.

“Kind of…”

This piques my attention, making me turn to glare at him. “You can be honest with me, man.”

He nods. “Just like you can be honest with me, too?”

My brows pinch together when I ask, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Billie—we both hold secrets from each other regarding her, don’t we?”

I feel my jaw tick when I clench my teeth, hating that he’s right. Wedoboth hold secrets from each other regarding her. And once we tell them, I’ll have to reveal why I had to cut her from our life and he’ll know once and for all about the society and my role in it. Honestly, I can’t wait to get this weight off of my shoulders.

“I want to keep her for myself,” he admits.

Anger licks up my neck when I pin him with a glare. It’s not exactly what I was expecting him to say. I thought he might tell me how often they’ve banged behind my back—this isn’t something I’m ready for.

“Yourself…” I say, noting it’s not a question as I try to figure out what he means. “You want to cut me out of the deal?”

He laughs. “Dude, the deal is fucking dead now, don’t you think? And honestly… I guess I don’t know exactly what I want anymore.”

The way he nervously pulls his eyes from mine, skating over my bare chest, has the butterflies flapping wildly in my stomach. What the hell is this look for? And why do I not hate it?

My phone dings, alerting me to a new text message. I know what it is without having to look at it, but I do so anyway.

Private number: Last chance to make an appearance, Veradin.

Gripping the phone, my knuckles turn white as I read the message a few more times—then the messages above it that provide a time and address.

“Who’s got you all twisted?” Zeke asks, nodding at the phone in my hand.

I guess now is better than ever to tell him my own secrets. Tossing my phone on the bed beside him, I say, “Read it.”

He’s slow at first, moving a hand from behind his head as he takes my phone and stares into the screen. I watch his eyebrows furrow before he glances back up at me.

“What the fuck is this, Christian?”

Blowing out a breath, I take my phone back and tell him everything I can. “That’s what I’ve been hiding from you for forever. My father sacrificed me to the society in order to level himself up. I’m their puppet—they do whatever they please to me. And when they call, I go to them without question. Except for now.”

He shoots up, staring at me with so much confusion on his face. “Sacrificed you? What the fuck does that even mean? And what the hell do they make you do?”

“He sold me to them, Zeke. I do… sexual things for them. Well, to their wives and daughters… and sometimes the men.” I scratch the back of my neck, hating how my best friend is looking at me right now.

“That’s why you always ditch out on me at random times, isn’t it?”

I nod. “Yeah, because if I don’t comply, they find me and punish me.”

Laughing, he runs a hand down his tired face and blows out a long breath. “Punish you how? Does this have anything to do with why we cut Billie out of our lives?”

Nodding again, I shove my phone back in my overalls and stand to look at him, leaning against the dresser behind me.

“My father threatened me—well, he threatened my mother. Said he’d harm her if I didn’t push Billie away. I had to publicly separate her from me and bullying was the only way I knew how to do that without physically harming her.”

A rock forms in my stomach. I hate how my father controls me, using my mother as collateral. And I definitely hate how he made me shun Billie. She’s the only girl who’s ever meant something special to me. But I can see I’m not the only one who feels that way.

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