Page 127 of Withered

“I love this jersey on you. But it’ll look even better on the floor.” He bites on my earlobe, and I push him away, giggling.

I return to my seat as Jake takes an unfamiliar road. “Where are we going?”

“Tyler’s place,” he replies.

“This is not the way,” I say.

“Relax, Evans. Just wait.”

Soon we enter huge gates onto a dark, hilly road covered with trees on both sides, eventually stopping at a door lit up with faint yellow lights. Tyler and Kristy emerge from the doors.

“This is your house? What about the other?” I ask Tyler completely confused.

“Well, this is my parent’s house, and the other one on the other side is mine,” he explains.

My eyes widen as I take in that information.

“I knew you were rich; I just didn’t know you were this rich,” I say as we follow him inside.

Tyler shows us around. The inside of the mansion is far more breathtaking than the outside. I couldn’t possibly find words to describe it.

“Why aren’t we staying at your place?” I ask Tyler.

“We can stay there, but the music will be loud,” he tells me, and I cringe at the thought.

“You can both get ready here; we’ll meet you downstairs.” Tyler shows us a room before leaving with Jake.

The room is huge. I drop my bag and glance around. The bathroom is what I can only call…posh. Everything exudes luxury.

As Kristy takes out our dresses, I ask, “How are you so calm? I’m freaking out here.”

“I did at first when I saw it,” Kristy replies.

“You’ve been here before? When?”

“Remember the second party; that’s when Tyler showed me around,” she tells me, and I nod.

She passes me a black dress, and I groan when I take a look at it. “No, why?”

“You have no choice but to wear it.” Kristy laughs.

I spare a glance at the dress again. It’s a thigh-high black dress with a deep V-neckline.

We take turns getting ready, and I put it on. I pair it with simple gold heels and leave my makeup to Kristy. She puts on a black smoky eye with some nude lipstick. We head downstairs after I blow-dry my hair.

Theboyspromisetomeet downstairs, but when we get there, we don’t see anyone. I look over at Kristy, and she shrugs her shoulders. I follow her as she walks toward the front entrance.

Tyler’s car is parked in the driveway, with Jake’s just behind it, but both are nowhere to be found.

“Where did they go?” I voice my question.

“No fucking idea,” she replies in a frustrated tone.

She pulls out her phone to call someone, guessing Tyler, but the front door behind us opens. We turn around to see Tyler grinning and an annoyed-looking Jake.

“What took you so long?” Kristy asks Tyler.

“It isn’t easy to persuade this one,” Tyler says, pointing a thumb at Jake. He looks at me and says, “I don’t know how you do it.”

---