No. I’m thrillingyou. Look at you, trembling. Flushed. You feel me even when I’m not touching you.
My pulse slams harder. My skin prickles like his hands are already on me.
And when I look up, I swear I see movement at the far end of the hall. A shadow peeling itself from the darker corners, tall, broad, silent.
Watching me.
The hallway is dim, lit only by the soft flicker of a jack-o’-lantern perched on the end table. I freeze halfway down, my breath catching when I see him.
Triston.
He’s leaning against the far wall, shadows clinging to him like they belong. His face is half-lit by the glow of the pumpkin, andhis eyes, God, those eyes. They are fixed on me with an intensity that makes my knees weak.
My phone buzzes in my hand. I don’t need to look to know it’s him, but I can’t stop myself.
Don’t run. You want this as much as I do.
Heat blooms in my chest, crawling up my throat. He knows. He sees the way I’m trembling, the way my body betrays every frantic scream inside me.
Another buzz.
Look at you, shaking. My good girl. You’re already mine.
My throat tightens. My fingers clench around the phone like it’s the only thing tethering me to the world. My heart’s hammering, my body begging me to move, backward, forward, anywhere, but I can’t. I’m rooted. Trapped by him.
He pushes off the wall, slow and deliberate, like a predator who already knows the prey won’t escape. His footsteps are soft against the hardwood, but each one thunders in my head.
I swallow hard, trying to breathe, trying to think, but then the phone buzzes again.
Every flush of your skin belongs to me. Every breath, every glance. Do you feel how badly I want you?
My knees threaten to give out. I clutch the banister beside me, heat rolling through me so fierce I’m terrified someone else will see it, see me. But no one’s here. It’s just us. Just him.
And then, voices rise behind me. The swell of laughter from the party, footsteps pounding closer. Dad’s voice. My stomach twists so hard I nearly double over.
Triston doesn’t stop walking. His gaze doesn’t falter. But his mouth curves into the faintest, hungriest smirk, like he knows exactly how cornered I am.
My phone buzzes one last time.
You can’t hide from me, Sammie. By the end of tonight, you’ll be where you belong.
And then he’s only a few feet away, his shadow stretching across the floor to swallow mine, while Dad’s voice grows louder, nearer, until it feels like the walls are closing in on all sides.
I can’t breathe. I can’t move. All I can think is that something’s about to shatter me on this night, the fragile secret we’ve barely held together.
Chapter Five
Triston
Wayne’s voice cuts through the muffled bass of the party, sharp as a blade. Sammie freezes. She doesn’t even breathe, her phone still glowing in her hand with my last message.
Don’t move. Don’t speak. Let him walk by.
And she obeys.
From the shadows of the hallway, I watch her do exactly what I told her to do, her wide eyes darting, her chest rising and falling in quick, shallow bursts. She doesn’t even realize how much she gives away—the trembling, the flush spreading across her throat, the way her knuckles whiten as she grips the phone like it’s the only thing tethering her to sanity.
Wayne’s steps echo closer. My fists tighten, the urge to step out and block his path strong, but I don’t. No. This is better. This is proof.
