“What were you talking about with them?”
She shakes her head, hiding her face in her hands.
“You shouldn’t have let them pay. That was my job. We still had that leftover burger, anyway. If you wanted to eat, you could have had that.”
She sighs loudly. “You were sick, and I just wanted some air. Is that such a crime? Are you going to punish me for it? Want to go find a few guys to rape me just so you can knock me down a peg?”
My entire body tenses and I edge backward, staring at her like I’ve just been shocked.
She seems to regret the words as soon as they’re out of her mouth, biting down on her lip so hard it bleeds. For a moment, neither of us says a thing, and then I stand up stiffly.
“Let’s go back to the motel room,” I mutter.
She shuffles submissively behind me, and when I open the door to our room, she walks in, sniffing quietly.
“I’m sorry, Quill,” she whispers.
I don’t answer. I don’t have the energy to deal with any of this right now. I hear her cry softly as she goes to get the bag of toiletries then locks the bathroom door behind her. I grab my pillow and settle down on the ground, closing my eyes because even the small rectangle of light coming from the bathroom door hurts me.
A moment later she’s back, stopping uncertainly as she sees me on the ground.
“Don’t you want the bed?” she says in a strained voice.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you…” she clears her throat. “Are you angry at me?”
I sigh wearily. “No. I’m not angry at you, Piper.”
The bedsheets rustle as she gets in. “Uhm. Would you like theblanket? Or a sheet?”
Iamcold, but I don’t think a blanket would be able to warm me up.
“It’s fine.”
My body is tense all over with pain, and I wonder if this is how Piper felt when she woke up after I shot in her direction.
I fucking hate myself.
But I can’t think of a single thing to say to make it okay, so instead, I slow my breathing and close my eyes, hoping she’ll believe I’ve fallen asleep.
She waits a little while, and I hear the rustles of the sheets as she sits and then stands up. I hardly dare to breathe, wondering if this is the moment she tries to leave me. Is that what was happening before? Is she trying to get away from me?
I locked the door. I don’t think she noticed that I locked the door when I entered after her. I’d been too far gone with the migraine to even think of doing it earlier, but I made sure to lock it this time.
The key is in my pocket, and there’s no fucking way she can leave me. Still, I’m going to have to be on my guard. I won’t rest easy until she’s asleep.
No. She’s not heading for the front door. I breathe in relief when I see the light from the bathroom flicker on and the tinkling sound of her pee moments later. Then there’s the loud rumble of the flush system, a sound so loud it would have awakened the dead, and when she comes out, I can feel her eyes on me. She’s probably wondering if I really can still be asleep after all that noise. I’m a very good actor.
She returns to bed, and I wait for her to lie back down, hoping I’ll hear the sound of her light snore that tells me she’s not planning to leave. Instead, there’s the rustle of sheets again, before she stands up once more. I grit my teeth.
This girl. Is she really going to make a run for it? How am Isupposed to hold onto her?
Once more, my mind fills with a thousand possibilities, each feeling more cruel than the other. It takes me a moment to realize she’s not heading for the door.
Instead, her feet pad on the thick, probably very dirty carpet, and it suddenly occurs to me that she’s… walking toward me.
I keep my eyes screwed shut as she nears me, her pillow in one hand. She lies down in front of me, pressing her body against mine, and as I breathe in the citrusy scent of her hair, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done not to squeeze her to me.
