Hate me

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the bastard almost looks offended. Almost. 

“You think I had something to do with this shit?” 

“No, I don’t think,” I say, closing the space between us. “I know.” I hold his stare, mustering up the bravado I don’t quite feel yet…but I will. 

“You’ve fucked with me for the last time.” Rising on my tiptoes, I brush my mouth against his ear, because I want him to hear this. “And now? I’m going to fucking ruin you.” 

His hand wraps around my wrist, and he walks forward until my spine meets the wall behind me. “Go ahead and try…I dare you.” He grips my chin with his free hand. “Maybe then you’ll learn not to make threats you can’t carry out.” 

“Oh, it’s not a threat, Knox. It’s a fucking promise.” I’m positive the smile on my face looks downright psychotic, but I don’t care. “First, I’m go

He tugs my hair so hard, I yelp. “You’re go

I pierce him with a wicked glare. “Not try…I will.” 

Just like he destroyed me. 

His grip on my hair tightens, and he dips his head, skimming his nose along the column of my throat. “You’re forgetting something, Stray.” 

“What’s that?” 

“Your little plan will take some time.” His teeth sink into my neck and I cry out in pain. “But mine will only take a few minutes.” I close my eyes when his fingers hover over my throat, threatening to squeeze. “I thought you’d be smart enough not to threaten to ruin someone’s life. Especially someone who’s very capable of ending yours.” 

I struggle and thrash against him, scratching him with my nails so the police will be able to gather evidence later…but he’s bigger. Stronger. 

He pins me against the wall with the strength of his body. A moment later, his fingers begin to close around my throat. 

This is it. 

He’s finally going to kill me. 

If he’s expecting me to beg him not to, he’d have better odds of watching pigs fly. 

I hold his stare as he slowly, meticulously wrings the air from my lungs, like he’s done this a hundred times before. 

Hell, maybe he has. 

For a brief moment, I let myself give into the fear. There are so many things I wanted to do with my life. 

I wanted to go to college. 

I wanted to open a bakery one day—a pipe dream really, because it’s not very practical, but still…I wanted it. 

Suddenly, he releases his hold on me. “Someone who went out of his way to help you.” 

I open my mouth to ask what the hell he’s talking about, but he takes a step back and grunts, “I found you in the street last night.” 

I blink in confusion. “What? Where?” 

He walks over to the nightstand and takes a cigarette from the pack. “In front of the house.” He brings a lighter to the end of it and inhales. “It was raining pretty hard, and you had been out there for a while by the looks of it. I tried to wake you, but you were knocked out cold. The moment I picked you up, you puked, so I didn’t think it was a good idea to leave you alone.” He pins me with a menacing look. “I brought you here so I could keep an eye on you.” 

I look down at the t-shirt I’m wearing. “And took off my clothes.” 

“You were soaked and shivering. Trust me, it wasn’t like I wanted to see your hairy little snatch.”  

Mortified, my cheeks flame, but I quickly recover. “Well, if you’re expecting a thank—”

“I’m not.” 

I gather my clothes off the floor. “You swear you had nothing to do with this?” 

“Aspen.” He waits for me to look at him before he says, “If I wanted to set you up, I’d do it myself. I wouldn’t enlist other people to do my dirty work for me.” 

As fucked up as that might be, he has a point. 

I’m heading for the staircase when it hits me. 

It’s two in the afternoon. 

“I missed breakfast.” 

Knox’s dad is strict about eating our meals together like one big happy family. He probably wasn’t thrilled about my disappearance. 

“I covered for you.” 

I shuffle my feet. “What did you tell them?” 

He flicks the ash from his cigarette and shrugs. “That you were sick in bed.” 

I raise a brow. “And my mom—” my sentence falls by the wayside when I realize that she wouldn’t check up on me. 

Because she doesn’t care. 

No one does. 

“Right.” 

With that, I head up the stairs, but not before I hear Knox bark, “This isn’t over, Stray.” 

I have no idea what he’s talking about. 

I turn. “Wha—”

“You threatened me.” He takes a long drag from his cigarette and exhales, blowing the smoke in my direction. “And every action has a consequence.”