"It's disgusting."
Silver winks. "You know where you can get a good cup of coffee."
"I'm seriously regretting not making one this morning."
"Why didn't you?"
I shrug. "Had to get to work."
"Can I at least give you my number?" Silver darts his gaze between mine and flickers his attention to my lips, the simple movement sending heat straight between my legs and my mind running to recall the events of last night.
"Yeah, of course." I pull my phone out of my back pocket, unlock it, and hand it to him.
He takes it and pushes a sequence of buttons before giving it back to me. "I texted myself. I hope that's okay."
"After what you did to my body, it's safe to say I'm okay with you having my number."
Silver reaches forward and grazes my cheek, cupping it gently despite him being such an aggressive and dominant man. "Hopefully you'll let me do it again."
I wish I could tell him the truth, that I would love nothing more than for him to explore my body however he sees fit, but that whatever we have is short-term, that it cannot last, not because I don't want it to, but because it can't.
11
CORA
Ididn't sleep last night. Not for lack of trying. I was dead ass tired. I still am. I just couldn't.
I wasn't comfortable. My mind just wouldn't stop racing. And even though my dad was tucked away in his bedroom, I couldn't become okay with being in the same house as him. I don't want to hate him, but the situation makes it difficult.
So instead, I dozed on and off all night, tossing and turning and wishing I would have taken Silver up on his offer and at the very least, crashed at his place to get a decent night’s sleep.
Not to mention all the other perks that would have come with it.
A lavish apartment with every amenity imaginable, minus a television, and a sexy man who seems so in tune with my needs that he knows what I want before I do.
But I didn't. I thought about it. Oh, did I consider it. But my self-control is greater than I thought it was and ensured that I stayed put at home, miserable and sort of alone.
Part of me was worried that Ricardo would call, and if I didn't answer it immediately, he would send out a search party. I can't be certain he would really do that, but I don't put it past him, either. He's a loose cannon like that.
And if he did, I wouldn't want him to find me at Silver's. Because then he would ask questions I don't know how to answer and put Silver's life in danger. That would be selfish of me, and I've never really been the type to carelessly disregard how my actions impact others.
"How much concealer are you going to put on?" June asks me from her spot sitting on her bed.
"As much as it takes." I stand in front of the mirror in her bedroom and blend under my eyes. "I'm too young to have such dark circles."
She hops from the mattress and walks over, taking the stick from my hand. "Cora, you're fixating..." June replaces the concealer with my glass of bourbon. "Here, try this instead."
I roll my eyes at her even though she's totally right. I'm doing that thing where I focus on something I can control since everything else in my life feels sooutof control.
"What's up with you lately?" June crosses her arms over her chest and stares at me. "And don't tell me nothing, because I know you...something is up."
Where do I even begin?
My mom has cancer.
My dad had such a debt with a loan shark trying to get her treatment that the guy showed up to the house, threatened my parent’s life and I foolishly stepped in and offered my body in exchange for payment.
I went to work, and my boss got handsy so I stabbed him to death, and then Miller walked in, called some dude to clean up the body, and then he fucked me until I could barely walk.
