His hardness pulses against my stomach, and I’d love nothing more than to drop to my knees and return the favor, but he flips the water off and ushers me out of the shower.
“Now, do you want to tell me who exactly I’ll be getting rid of before the rest of your family arrives?”
My post orgasm glow is gone in the blink of an eye.
“It’s a long story, and as you said, we’re short on time.”
“Give me the condensed version then.”
I let out an unfair, annoyed huff. “We went to school together and ended up in the same peer counseling group. I was struggling in my sophomore year, and that’s how we unofficially met. But then the notes started, and the gifts wouldn’t stop. But it was him, breaking into my dorm and hiding in my closet, that got the school involved. I thought everything was fine. I hadn’t heard or seen him in over a year.”
Scott violently pulls two towels off the shelf. He shoves one in my direction, using another to wipe himself dry quickly, muttering something under his breath. When he finishes, he looks up at me, but I’m still caught in the break of my story, wondering if he wants me to continue.
“When all of this is over, I’ll need his full name and everything you know about him,” he says, and that seems to be the end of my story time.
“Okay? What are you going to do?”
“Well, now you’re going to get dressed in something you don’t care about. Then I want you to find all the cleaning supplies you can—hopefully bleach. Then, drown our clothes and the shower in it. But leave enough to deal with the kitchen.”
That didn’t answer my question at all, but now doesn’t seem the time to argue.
His fingers grip around the plastic shower curtain, and with a quick pull, the thing rips free.
“And I’ve got a body to wrap up.”
He says it so casually, like he’s about to step out to pick up takeout for a date night.
“Scott.” His name barely registers as sound. “I’m scared.”
The space between us vanishes. His strong fingers pinch my chin, lifting it to snag my full attention. I could get lost in the way he looks at me. Like the world could be on fire or aliens could be invading, and I’d still be the only thing he’d see.
“I won’t let anything happen to you. No one will ever know. I swear it, Ava. I’ll take care of you.”
With the declaration of a fucking lifetime, he captures my lips in a searing kiss and then walks ass naked out of the bathroom with the plastic shower curtain in hand.
Our bleach-soaked clothes in the trash bag over my shoulder weigh down every step I take through the snow. Scott leads the way, out of the clearing and back into the woods. The body-shaped plastic across his shoulders is probably doing the same, but he doesn’t seem to strain in the slightest.
The clear sky, dotted with bright, blinking stars, allows the moon’s golden glow to shine freely. It’s the only light we have to guide our way between the thick shadows and scratching branches.
“How far are you going?” I call up ahead after what feels like half an hour, but Scott doesn’t stop.
“Keep moving,” he grunts back, swapping hands on the shovels he’s also carting like a pack mule.
The cabin had far more cleaning supplies than I’d ever noticed. I have my mom to thank for that. Hopefully, she doesn’t miss her apocalypse-sized stash if they ever actually show up. It was enough to rinse the shower clean and scrub the kitchen free of any blood we could find. The extensive discoloration on the hardwood is a problem for when we get back. I can excuse away a stain, a dead body on the other hand…
An owl screeches high above our heads, stealing a surprised yelp from my throat. Scott’s weighed-down shoulders somehow bounce with the chuckle I catch over the crunch of our boots.
“It’s so not funny,” I mumble under my breath. Closing the gap between us as the forest grows thicker, cutting our limited light.
Straining my eyes is the only way I can make out the roots poking through the thin layer of snow. I narrowly miss one in the shadow of the hulking figure beside me, but still manage to crash into his side.
“Okay, this is far enough.” He halts to a stop, and a resounding thud comes a second later.
“Are you sure? We can keep going.”
“No. You’re cold and tired, and I’m not going to let you gethurt so that we can stumble another mile through the woods. This is far enough.”
“Yes, sir,” I tease, and his head whips in my direction.
