Page 74 of Evil Deeds

I hand him a towel like the obedient little bitch I am. “What happens if I don’t anymore?”

While he towels sweat off his absurd muscles, he studies me like a future serial killer studies the ants under his magnifying glass as he burns them to a crisp in the sun.

I’m not sure which is worse, him or Duke. Gloria said they were dangerous, but I’ve barely scratched the surface, and something tells me it’s better that I leave it at that.

“You’re asking the wrong question,” Baron says at last.

“What question should I be asking?”

“What happens if youdo,” Duke answers for his brother, sitting up and holding out a hand. I guess Cotton’s too good to serve him like a dog, so I fetch him a towel.

“What happens?” I prompt.

Be eaten alive or burned to a crisp, my mind supplies helpfully.

“You get to be one of us,” Duke says, dragging me down on the bench beside him. He throws a sweaty arm around me, and Cotton does the same on the other side. “All the sex, drugs, and rock and roll you can handle, baby.”

“Doesn’t that sound good, little buddy?” asks the smug, condescending dickhead who is now my brother.

Suddenly I know this isn’t an offer. It’s an order. They don’t care what I want. They’re not putting their arms around me because I’m their best bud. They’re caging me in.

To prove it, or because I’m a dumbass who doesn’t know when to shut up and take it, I try to stand. I don’t make it an inch off the seat before Duke’s arm tightens around me, and he slams my ass back down.

“You ever tested the product?” Baron asks, standing over us. He’s a step too close, like he’s lording his huge dick over us even when it’s concealed by his baggy basketball shorts.

“No,” I say sharply. “I’m not an idiot.”

“That’s debatable,” he says. “Since you believed Lo was a virgin.”

Duke cackles beside me. “Yeah, dude. We banged that bitch so many times. Ran whole trains on her ass. Ain’t no way she’s tight enough to feel like a virgin.”

“Unless you went in dry,” Baron says, watching me like he’s expecting something.

I glare back at him, refusing to be intimidated by theirThugs R Usroutine. I’m not dumb enough to fight them. But if he’s going to reach down my throat, drag out my intestines, and hang me with them, at least I can go down without cowering like a pussy little bitch.

“Interesting,” Baron says with a slight nod.

“Little bro’s a savage,” Cotton says, laughing and squeezing my shoulder. It’s not a warning squeeze like Duke’s, though. It’s a bro hug, good-natured and filled with comradery. For the first time since I moved to Arkansas, someone seems impressed by me.

Duke laughs with him, and an indulgent smile ghosts over Baron’s lips.

I wish I could say it didn’t affect me, that I was too cool to care. What a couple ‘roid heads and a date rapist think of me should be less than irrelevant. But the relief is palpable, like I’ve finally spotted a fire up ahead in the dark, through the barren trees of the winter wasteland I’ve been trudging through for months. A little ball of warmth glows to life inside me. I want to bask in it until I die.

My shoulders slump under the weight of their arms, and I let out a breath and laugh along with them.

I tell myself it’s Amber I’m looking out for, that it’s on her behalf that I’m relieved. Though the Dolce twins have shown no interest in her so far, they make no secret of how they treat girls. I can’t count on her voicelessness keeping her invisible forever. If I’m in the group, really in, they’ll respect me enough to leave her alone.

And it’s reasonable not to want to be strangled with my own intestines. That doesn’t make me a bad person.

“Tell you what,” Duke says. “Since you’re such a good boy you didn’t even take a sample, we’ll give you one for free. On the house.”

Cotton gets up and goes to one of the metal lockers.

“What?” I ask.

Baron nods. “You should know your product.”

I open my mouth to say I don’t do drugs, that I’m committed to living sober, and I don’t care if that makes me lame to everyone else.

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