Page 34 of Evil King

I looked over my shoulder. “What?”

She pulled a t-shirt off of one of the racks and turned it to face me. It was a black t-shirt with some faux-faded letters that read, “I just got out. Don’t fuck with me.” Some school books and pencils surrounded the text and were meant to suggest that getting out referred to graduating, not getting out of prison, but the obvious joke was too good to pass up.

I chuckled. “Oh my god. Hold it there.” I slid my phone out of my pocket and took a picture of the shirt. I sent it to Deon with a “Should I get you this?” caption and hit send.

Avery hung the shirt back on the rack and came up to me to peer over my shoulder. “I wonder what he’s gonna say.”

A few seconds later, as opposed to a response text, my phone started to ring with a video chat. I hit the answer button, and then Deon’s face appeared. He was so good-looking it was like getting punched in the face. “You think you’re real fucking funny, don’t you?” he asked, but he had a huge smile on his face. “Yeah. Get me three.”

I laughed, pointing at Avery. “It was Avery. She found it.”

Avery smacked my hand. “Hey! Don’t throw me under. I’m still in the brownie-point earning phase.”

“What makes you think that doesn’t earn you brownie points?” Deon responded with a wink.

A squeal escaped Avery’s lips. “Well, then Iwillget you three!”

Deon laughed. “Good. I’ll need an extra-large to coverthese.” He leaned away and flexed a little, flashing those arms that I couldn’t stop imagining lifting me up with ease.

I shook my head. “Now you thinkyou’refucking funny.”

Avery gasped. “Potty mouth.”

“Oh, just you wait. I’m bringing theoldCherri back out. She swears like a sailor,” Deon replied.

Avery looked at me, and I shrugged and nodded, and her grin got a little wider. “Guess I better brush up, then.”

Deon chuckled. “Guess you better. Well, listen. I’m glad I got to see you guys, but I don’t want to interrupt. Enjoy your time, and I’ll talk to you later, beautiful.”

I grinned. “Okay.”

“What the fuck!”

Avery and I looked over our shoulder, along with everyone else in the store. Nathan was storming into the store, blasting past people without concern and beelining for where Avery and I were standing. The screen went black as Deon ended the call, and Avery intelligently snatched the phone out of my hand just as Nathan was reaching out to take it himself.

He glared over at Avery. “Give it to me.”

Avery looked Nathan up and down like he’d lost his mind. “No.”

“Stop it,” I ordered. I took my phone back from Avery and slipped it into my pocket. “You’re making a scene.”

“What were you doing talking tohim?” he asked.

“I can talk to friends on the phone,” I replied. “If you can fuck teachers, I can do whatever the hell I want.” With that, and with no desire to attract additional attention, I turned my back to Nathan. “Come on, Avery. Let’s go pay.” I tried to walk away, but Nathan’s hand wrapped around my left bicep, his fingers digging into my arm, and pulled me back. “Ow. Let me go. You’re hurting me.”

Everything after that seemed to crawl to a stop except Nathan and me. He reached up and pinched my face in his other hand. He backed me against a wall with his fingers pressing against my cheek, causing my jaw to feel like it was going to break. My heart was pounding so hard that I was certain it was going to just stop, and sweat started to gather at the edges of my hair.

“You will not talk to him again,” Nathan hissed at me. “You’re fucking mine, do you hear me? Only mine. No one else can have you.”

It bothered me how frozen I was, but Nathan had never gotten physical with me before. Despite the fact that part of my brain was willing me to swing at him or try and bite him or do anything to break loose, it was like he had many more hands than two just holding me in place. My eyes started to water even though I was begging my body not to show weakness. My breath shortened, and all I could hear was a low, white hum in my ears.

Why couldn’t I move?

“Nathan! Let her go!” Avery shouted, and it brought me back to the earth. A guy who’d been in the store with his girlfriend came rushing over. He dragged Nathan off of me, and Avery rushed over to my side and put her arm around me. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

I watched as the evil and wild look on Nathan’s face faded and left a shocked, remorseful one in its wake. He went limp in the arms of the guy holding him and just stared at me. “Cherri…”

“You put your hands on me,” I whispered. “That hurt.”

---