Once we were both calm, I wriggled my head out from beneath his chin and peeked up at him, trying to break the intensity of the discussion and our fears with my earlier teasing.
He gave me a knowing look, his lips twitching. “Yes, I’ll still tie you to the bed later.”
I grinned. “Now you’re talking.”
With a final kiss and swat on my butt, he sent me off to my next session.
I went reluctantly, taking what he’d said to heart, knowing he’d shared it from his. Hoping it never came to that, who was saved and who was lost, for any of us.
Chapter Seventeen
After my run with Landon, I made it throughStrategywithout winning a single chess game,Sublimationwith an angsty mess of red and purple paints to show for it, andElementswithout kneeing Ben in the crotch or whipping out my pocketknife.
He spent most of the session leering, running his eyes over my body as I tried to climb out of the mud pit.
Frustrated, I gave up and sat in the corner, planning to wait until time ran out.
“I can help you out.” His eyes gleamed in the sunlight. “For a price, of course.”
Lip curled with disgust, I shook my head. “I’d rather rot.”
“You’d change your mind.” When I ignored him, he chuckled. “They always do.”
Glaring up at him, I crossed my arms over my mud-soaked chest. “Okay,Silk. Whatever you say, buddy.”
His cruel, answering smile dropped like lead in my gut, and once our time ended, I kept one hand on my pocket while I grabbed his hand and let him pull me out.
“Thanks,” I said before I could stop myself.
He winked. “Oh, the pleasure is all mine.”
I wrinkled my nose and spun on my heel, unable to stand another second in his presence.
Proud of myself for not resorting to violence, I went intoSparringagainstElaine, focused on blocking out her bullshit. Lasting through the hour without raging was my crowning achievement, since she was as intolerable as she’d been last time.
Weirdly, though, my next session with Vivian was as anticlimactic as the first.
I couldn’t figure out her angle, and I didn’t like it.
She wasn’t beingnice, by any means.Thatwould’ve seriously worried me. But she wasn’t being a bitch, either.
I came in ready for a fight after a night spent tossing and turning over Max and two sessions reining in my need for blood. Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I was ready to rumble.
Brad groaned beside me. “Calm down, Rocky Balboa.”
Ignoring him, I stayed light on my feet. “What? I’m floating like a butterfly. Stinging like a bee.” I shuffled my stance, practicing a few jabs. “Eyeing the tiger.”
He rolled his eyes at my energy level.
“It’s what Josh said to do,” I snapped. “Maybe you want to chime in with some advice?”
Despite my eagerness, I should’ve listened to Brad and calmed down since Vivian spent the same amount of time discussing technique with Josh.
Meanwhile, I listened to Brad write sonnets about Elaine and tried not to lose my lunch.Only because I had nothing else to do while I waited for Vivian to finish chatting.
As Brad waxed poetic about Elaine, I contemplated the way things had worked out.
If only fate had paired them together during the Trust Challenge, he might’ve swept Elaine off her feet. She might’vegiven up on Landon, never gone to her parents to invoke the statute, or drawn more attention to me than I ever wanted.
