Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
My tummy drops and I frown. “You… want me to lie about everything?”
He shakes his head. “It’s not what I want. It’s what I need.”
“Dare, I can’t just—” I shake my head, vaguely disbelieving. “She wanted to kill me. If she gets out, she will try again.”
“No, I know. Obviously, I wouldn’t let that happen. I told the lawyers there was no deal if she got off completely. I don’t want to go to fucking prison, but I’m resourceful, I’d find a way out of it. The deal I worked out still keeps you out of danger. Anae will be getting inpatient treatment hundreds of miles from here. She won’t be back at school this year. She won’t graduate. She’ll actually have to do senior year all over again next year.”
With Hannah?
“No.” I shake my head. “I can’t.”
“Aubrey.” He stares at me. “I know it’s not what we wanted and it fucking sucks. I did all that work, you think I wanted it to go this way? But there’s really no other option here. I’m your boyfriend; it’s not unbelievable you’d lie to protect me. If they investigate Anae’s claims, I’m completely fucked.”
“So, I tell these lies, and she gets a slap on the wrist, basically? She helped kidnap and assault me, wanted to carve me like a holiday turkey after watching you rape me. She wanted to have me seduced and my heart broken over a goddamn shirt, and then she wanted to viciously kill me which she actually tried to do, and you really think what I should do is lie for her so this psycho fucking bitch doesn’t have to serve time for her crimes? Really, Dare?”
His jaw locks. “I’m not saying it’s ideal, Aubrey, but the alternative is that I go down with her. Is that what you want?”
“Of course it isn’t.”
“Then this is what we have to do. I did all this shit to protect you, and now, as unpalatable as it fucking is, I need you to do this for me.”
This is so fucking unfair.
“She’s dangerous, Dare.”
He grabs me and pulls me closer to him. “I know Anae’s unhinged, but I would never let her hurt you. I know this wasn’t the outcome we expected, but this still accomplishes everything we need it to. By the time she gets out, we’ll be off at college. We won’t live in Baymont anymore. If she’s still nursing a grudge and has the bad fucking judgment to come anywhere near us, I will get rid of her. I promise you that.”
I shake my head. “She deserves to pay.” I look over at him. “And maybe she can’t hurt us anymore, maybe you’re right. But what if she hurts someone else?”
I can see that he understands the enormity of what he’s asking. He tries to make me feel better about it. “Hey, you never know. Maybe that time at the psych hospital will actually do her some good. She’s probably better off there than prison, anyway. Prison would just teach her new tricks.”
“It would contain her,” I mutter. “Honestly, I am not Anae’s advocate, and I don’t care about her getting better. I just want her to be removed from the rest of society so she can’t cause any further damage.”
He takes my hand and brings it to his lips, luring me in with his big brown eyes. “But you don’t want me locked away with her, right?”
I pout. “It depends on which day you ask.”
He smirks, leaning over me and kissing my pouty lips. “Fuck, you know I can’t concentrate when you do that.”
“You want me to unleash all this literal evil on the world, and I hate it.”
“Hey, you’re doing your part to contain Baymont’s evils,” he teases, moving on top of me and kissing my neck. “Can you imagine all the damage I would do out there if I didn’t have you to keep me occupied? You can’t save everybody.”
I sigh, tilting my neck. “I need to assemble a team.”
“Someone call the Avengers,” he murmurs biting my neck and likely leaving a brand new bruise on my skin. Immediately, he kisses the same spot, soothing the hurt he caused.
When he’s done getting me all riled up with his kisses, he wraps me in his arms and pulls me against him. I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth and security of his embrace, but dreading tomorrow.
As if he can tell, he kisses my forehead. “Don’t worry, mermaid. It’ll all be over soon.”
___
It’s strange showing up at school Monday morning in Dare’s car, but not having to worry about people seeing us.
They still stare—more than usual, as a matter of fact, but the reasons are different, and so are their attitudes.
It’s all friendly smiles and treating me like I’m one of them now. Even the asshole who stole my picture off the ground and made that comment about me sucking a dick includes me in conversation as they chat on the quad.