Page 109 of Make You Mine

31

MADELYN

The chilly breeze whips my hair into my face, and I hold my arms to my chest.

Kayden’s taking too long.

I shouldn’t have let him go by himself.

This was a bad idea.

My mind self-sabotages with images of my stepbrother bleeding, screaming for help into oblivion, with me being too far away to help or hear his cry.

I don’t know why I always do this, imagine the worst possible scenarios. Never the positive ones. The hopeful. My mind is my own worst enemy. It makes my skin crawl, and I dig my nails into my arms, pressing hard enough to leave marks.

Kayden is okay. He’s okay. He’ll be⁠—

What if Devon got him, and he doesn’t come back? What if this was our unintended goodbye, and I never get to tell him how I feel?

What if I’m his only chance at survival, and I need to go in to get him, but I’m wasting my time out here?

I don’t want this to be our last time seeing each other. Not without him knowing how I feel, what I’ve been feeling for far too long, and was too scared to admit, disguising it with drunken nights and silly actions.

I lost my father when I was a kid, and I lost my mother when she married Kayden’s dad. Our relationship was never the same, no matter how much I tried to share with her throughout the years; we grew distant.

It’s funny because ever since Kayden walked into my life, he’s been my only constant. Despite our rocky relationship, he’s been there for me when I needed to talk, until he left.

And now he’s back.

I can’t afford to lose him again. Having him here, a sense of safety fills me. He shows up when I ask him to, no matter how much we annoy each other, he’s there for me.

I grab the door handle before I can stop myself, and rush in.

My phone’s barely hanging on by a thread of battery. Fifteen percent. But the garlands with the lights are bright enough that I can see the way ahead of me.

“Kayden?” My voice is low and hesitant.

Making small, soft steps, pushing myself to keep going straight.

I have no idea where Kayden went, so I create a map of the school in my head and attempt to plan where to go first.

To my left is the reception and the principal’s office. The next door should be the school’s psychologist, and then the nurse. And right in front of those, the teachers’ lounge. Followed by rows of lockers and classes cutting in between from both sides. Then, the stairs, leading to a second floor with more classrooms, and before that, the storage room to one side, the cafeteria, and the gym to the other.

I’ll have to check them out without triggering Devon.

Bzz. Bzzz.

The sudden vibration makes me weak in the knees in the middle of the hall.

A whimper slips from of my lips.

It’s not my phone vibrating in the pocket of my pencil skirt. It’s my freaking panties, giving me a ticklish sensation.

My whole body is electrified, a rush running through my veins as the vibrations continue, overwhelming my senses and my clit.

Delicious and torturous at the same time. I bite my tongue, adamant not to make another sound.

It’s him. He gave me vibrating panties, and he’s controlling them.