“No. No bodies. I had a hook-up tonight,” I finally admit. “And she kind of left me… a little tied up.”
Zeb snorts.
I huff. “Go ahead. Get it out,” I say.
He bursts out laughing, and I shake my head.
“I also can’t see anything, so can you please come untie me,” I almost beg.
He laughs again. “Okay, okay. I’ll be there soon.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
GEMMA
“—responding to a scene outside of a club in the early hours of today,”the news anchor is saying.“Multiple injuries reported. The club reports this happened outside of their building, and insists it does not represent their usual clientele—”
I tap backover to Kade’s messages.
Anything on the car? Lance?
KADE
Nothing.
Last night was sloppy.
I shove my phone into one of the pockets of my joggers as I exit the elevator, my mind running wild. I don’t know what happened with the car or the people outside who I beat the shit out of. I don’t know who found the car or Lance’s dead body, but neither are on the news. Someone got to the scene before Kade and Liam, wiped it clean, took care of my mess, and now, I’m sure I’m on someone’s watchlist that’s even more shady and powerful than Damien.
Maybe even Damien’s boss.
Kade didn’t even bother scolding me last night as he and Liam video-chatted me while I stitched my forehead at home. Maybe he could see the defeat in my eyes or hear the tremble in my voice.
And when I showered after, I watched even more of my blood circle the drain.
Another cut for failing her.
It’s always the insides of my thighs, and always in the bathroom—a habit I picked up when I was younger to try and hide how I was hurting myself. It was the only part of my body that I could hide the marks on during track meets in high school. The shower the only place that would wash away the blood with no trace of it ever happening.
And now I watch it disappear in memory of the girl who thought she’d have to do the same.
I crawled to Bonnie’s apartment last night just to watch her sleep, to silently cry as I replayed killing Lance in my head. Every word I said to him. The way it fucked with my head as much as I wanted it to fuck with his. I became so overwhelmed watching her dream that I had to touch her. I needed tofeelher.
The highlight was hearing her call out my name.
Shit, I want to hear that again.
I shouldn’t be as happy about that turn of events as I am. I shouldn’t have been so delighted at watching her struggle to call Zeb to come untie her on the cameras. Still… it was a happy bonus that lifted some of the weight on my shoulders—even if it was only for a few hours.
It’s back this morning after listening to her voicemail.
I can’t believe I missed it last night.
I feel like such a horrible person for that. I should have texted her back, even if Kade said he’d called to make sure she was okay once the noise alert went off on her cameras, letting him know she was talking to someone or someone was in the apartment.
I wish I could be the confident person I was just two days ago, flirt with her as if nothing is wrong, butfuckthis is hard.
There’s a dewy dampness in the air that I can feel even inside her building. The smell of it hitting the grass outside somehow wafts into the hall. The sun hasn’t even peeked over the horizon yet. I’m standing on the other side of Bonnie’s door in a cropped band tee and wide-leg printed pants that pool perfectly around my sneakers, waiting for her to answer after a couple of knocks.
