“Be a good neighbor and make me a cup.” He clicks his teeth as he continues picking at them with the knife.
I swallow, my heartbeat beginning to race. “Sure thing, how do you like it?” I ask, my words barely steady as my voice wavers.
“Black,” he says breathily.
I walk over to our little heater and see the water is still hot, so I fill up a mug and add spoonfuls of the instant coffee mix, stirring it with one of the spoons.
Turning around on my heels, I run right into him, and the coffee goes all over his naked chest.
“Oh my god!” I let out a shout, my eyes widening in shock.
“What a mess you’ve made.” Jared pins me with his gaze as his skin turns bright red before my eyes from the burn.
I sprint over to grab a towel and ice from our cooler, and I hurriedly pat him down.
In a flash, Jared seizes my wrists, and the ice and towel drop to the ground. He squeezes them harder, watching my face to get a reaction out of me.
“Jared, you’re hurting me,” I whimper, struggling to free my wrists.
Gripping them with more force, he backs me up into the side of the truck as I wince.
“I bet little whores like you love pain,” he grits, grinding his bulge against my pelvis.
He’s obviously trying to scare me, so I decide to switch my character, and I push back with my pelvis, grinding right back against him.
“Who doesn’t like pain with pleasure?” I ask him inquisitively.
Shock cuts across his face but only momentarily.
He leverages his weight on the truck with both of his hands, releasing my wrists. “Oh, Marley, you are one hell of a neighbor.”
My eyes stay locked on his as I massage my wrists, and I fake a laugh.
He pats the truck. “Stop wasting time; let’s go fishing.” He grins sinisterly at me.
Urgently searching for something, he locates it. Throwing the shoulder strap of his bag on, he embraces me by wrapping his arm around my shoulder, holding me closer to him. “We are going to have such a great time together.” He jostles me roughly a few times for emphasis.
“You should go ahead without me. I still have to brush my teeth and throw my hair up,” I suggest, plastering a large smile on my face.
He takes in the sight of me with a haunting look in his eyes. “Alright, I’ll go help Ryan set up the lures. See you in a few…neighbor?”
Wordlessly, I nod, desperately hoping he doesn’t see me shuddering.
He strides toward the lake, and I linger a few moments until his head is barely visible in the distance.
Lunging for the truck at full speed, I scramble inside and lock the doors.
I take a steadying breath as my hands clam up and won’t stop shaking.
What the fuck?
Finding my phone in one of the bags, I check it, only to find that there’s still no service.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Finding the lake easily, I stop and take in the beautiful view of the sun rising, wistfully imagining that today is going to be a good fishing day.
