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)
Always the pictures.
She has more of them than Aubrey does. I grab one, a picture strip of her and a red-haired girl making silly faces, sticking their tongues out, and hugging in various shots taken in a photo booth.
I don’t know the other girl, so I put that one back and continue looking.
I stop when I find one that appears more important. It’s old, the edges yellowed over time. It’s a photograph of a little blonde girl in a blue frilly dress with smiling parents behind her, each of them holding one of her hands. The picture was shot in the driveway in front of this house and appears to be the sort of thing there would only be one copy of.
I slide it into my jacket pocket.
Once I have what I need, I cross the large room and approach the bed.
My presence still hasn’t woken her and I don’t have all night, so I sit down on the edge nearest her. Her body shifts slightly as the bed sags, and her eyes flutter open.
Then widen with horror when she sees me sitting on her bed.
Gasping, Hannah grabs at the blanket draped over her, clutching it to her breasts and quickly sitting up.
“Hello, Hannah.”
Her chest rises and falls rapidly, fear glinting in her big blue eyes. “Wh—what are you doing here?”
I reach over and run my hand across the blue silk covering her body. I hear her fearful gasp, then look up to meet her gaze. “Letting you see how easily I can get to you.”
She draws a shuddering breath but doesn’t say anything. Her gaze breaks away from me and darts to her bedroom door. She looks around the room, probably to see if Anae is lurking, too. When she realizes I’m here alone, her gaze returns to me. “Why—why would you need to get to me?”
“I think you know why.”
She shakes her head, still looking at me like I’m here to crush all her dreams.
And I can be, if she fucking tests me.
“I thought our last talk went well,” I tell her. “Imagine my disappointment when I went over to Aubrey’s tonight and discovered a little bird had been in her ear.”
I knew Aubrey was lying when she told me it was Janie she’d run into as soon as she told me what was said, but I don’t tell Hannah that because I don’t want Aubrey to curry any more favor with her. Let her think Aubrey sold her out to me.
“You told her I was in an open relationship with Anae.”
She swallows. “I told her the truth, nothing more. That Anae let you—”
I reach out and grab her by the throat. She gasps with horror, dropping the blanket as both of her hands go to my wrist.
And they’d better, because I’m squeezing hard.
“Stay the fuck out of my relationships,” I say slowly, clutching her delicate throat even tighter.
She struggles to breathe and her nails start digging into my hand as she frantically fights to free herself from my grasp. I don’t want scratches that I can’t explain to Aubrey, so I ease up a little, but don’t release her.
“I thought you were going to be a good friend,” I say. “Good friends support their friends’ romantic relationships.”
Even though I literally have her by the throat, she glares at me. “Not when those friends are in relationships with abusive assholes who jerk them around.”
“That’s a bit foolish when I have my hand around your throat, isn’t it?”
“You’re not going to kill me,” she says.
“You’re right. Tonight, I’m only here to scare you. See, tonight, I left Aubrey’s house with my balls empty, so I’m in a pretty good mood. But if you have your way, I have a feeling Aubrey will stop opening her door to me. I can’t have that.”
“If she stops wanting to see you, it will be your fault, not mine.”
“No. See, I have a pretty good hold on her when it’s just the two of us. She doesn’t have any other friends at this point, so there’s no one to make waves but you. As Anae’s stepsister, you’re in a unique position to make even bigger waves than the average person. I need you not to.”
She pulls on my arm, trying to get loose of my grip.
I let her go.
She rubs at her neck, shooting me a wounded look. I’m hoping she’ll roll over nice and easy, but she dashes those hopes. “That poor girl has been through enough, Dare. I won’t help you trap her.”
“Well, then I’m afraid you won’t be her friend any longer.”
“It’s up to Aubrey who she’s friends with,” she says, but I can see she knows better even as she says it. “She’s not like Anae,” she adds quickly. “If you lay a finger on me, she’ll blame you, not me.”