“Don’t. Don’t finish that sentence.”
His lips flatten and my leg twitches with the desire to pull away from him, but his gentle strokes on my ankle hold me hostage.
“I won’t. I promise not to use my power. What other rules?”
Deep breath.
If you’re going to feed into his crazy shit, make the rules.
“Don’t jump out and scare me. No taunting, teasing, or trying to sneak up on me. I need to hear you wherever you are.”
“Done. Anything else?”
You can’t be serious right now.
Why not?
Realistically…what do I have to lose?
“That’s all.”
“Okay, so those rules and a race ran on legs?”
His hands switch sides, but he doesn’t force my foot to lift from the ground. He waits.
“Yes.”
My foot glides in.
He stands, holding the glowing contraption he made between us. His fingers uncurl from around it as he passes it to me like a peace offering.
“So you can see the whole way. The darker it is, the brighter it glows.”
I exhale slowly and my trembling hand wraps around it. It’s pitch-black dark behind me.
You’ve faced darkness darker than that.
“Do you need a head start?”
My narrowed gaze whips up to him and his taunting little smirk.
“You’re underestimating me.”
“I’m not. Just trying to be gentlemanly.”
I scoff and turn from him. My fingers clench the tubing as I stare into the forbidding darkness. Whether it’s my mind playing more tricks on me or not, I swear little glowing eyes scatter about.
My chest expands as I shake my legs out. There’s nothing in there that can hurt me more than what I’ve already experienced.
Everything vibrates within me as I attempt to replace my nerves with courage. It doesn’t work. My knees wobble together so harshly, it’s taking effort to stay standing.
Just turn back and go inside.
He’ll stop me. He wants to play this little game.
Fuck this game. Your bed is safer and the room smells like cookies.
The air out here is fresh and crisp from the dew.
