Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I inhale, my fists balling at my sides. I have to force my breaths to even out. That fucking woman gets under my skin like a damn rash. I turn and slam the door behind me so hard that the framing cracks. She does things to me no woman has ever done, and I almost hate her for it.
I’ve barely spoken to Jude for the last two days. I woke up this morning with him wrapped around me like a vine. My emotions are all over the place. I hate him, but I’m drawn to him. He tried to talk to me, but I’m so fucking angry at him, and I’m angry at myself. Jude could never be accused of being the understanding type, so in true Jude fashion he gave up after all of two sentences and left.
When did this become the norm? When did I stop finding this abhorrent? When did I stop finding him abhorrent?
I’m sitting on the bed watching a game with Caleb. I still have no idea what the hell is going on, no matter how many times Caleb tries to explain the rules to me.
“For the millionth fucking time, woman, it’s a penalty if you step out of bounds! That’s what the flag is for.” He throws his hands up in exasperation.
The door flies open and Jude steps in. “We’re going out. Move,” he commands before leaving the room.
“So cheery,” I mumble to Caleb.
He shrugs. “It’s Jude, what do you expect?”
True, very true.
A few minutes later and I’m following Caleb down the stairs. I still don’t like walking through this house, or being near his uncles. I can feel their eyes on me, watching me. I don’t feel safe unless I’m with Caleb or Jude.
Jude looks up with a glare. “You ready?”
“Yeah, calm down.” Caleb grumbles, grabbing a set of keys from the table we’re passing by.
I start to ask where we’re going, but I decide I’d rather not know because it’s not like I have a choice in the matter anyway. We go out to the car and I climb in the front passenger seat.
We’ve been driving for at least thirty minutes, and Jude does his usual strong and silent thing whilst Caleb and I bicker over the radio station.
“I am not listening to this grungy shit!” I shout at Caleb, elbowing him as he leans between the two front seats.
He laughs and grabs my arm, pinning it to my side. “Let me guess, you want some fluffy English crap?”
“English crap? Because of course, I’m British, therefore I must only listen to my own kind. Idiot.”
“Stop flirting with each other!” Jude reaches over and turns the station. He stops on some hard-core metal. “Shut the fuck up. Both of you.” He turns the volume up to the point I can feel my eardrums rattling in my head. Jude is drumming his hands over the steering wheel, nodding his head in beat with the music.
“Fucking degenerate thugs, the pair of you!” I shout over the music, crossing my arms over my chest.
He doesn’t look at me. He just turns it up even louder. Ass-hat. I turn my face to the window, dutifully ignoring him. The world outside is pitch black; there’s no moonlight, no street lights. Where the hell are we?
Jude takes a sharp right turn, and I slam up against the door from the sudden movement. The car bumps over the uneven road and I peer out the windshield, trying to see where in the hell we are going.
“Is that dirt? Are we on an unpaved road?” Oh, my god, he’s taking me out to the woods to bury me. I turn to Caleb. “If you let him kill me, I’m coming back to haunt you, fucker.”
He rolls his eyes and smiles.
Jude ignores me, still banging his hands over the steering wheel to the song.
Within minutes we’re pulling into a gravel lot. The building in front of us is nothing but painted cinder blocks, a Confederate flag tacked on the dented metal door. The entire lot is littered with motorcycles and a few pick-up trucks. There are several pudgy men in leather vests and bandanas standing to the side of the door, smoking cigarettes.
This is not a place I want to be.
Jude slams the gear into park and turns back to Caleb. “Don’t let her out. Don’t let anyone come up to the car either.”
Reaching under the seat, he pulls out a gun and hands it to Caleb. He reaches back, pulling his own gun from the waist of his jeans and placing a bullet in the chamber. “If I’m not out in fifteen minutes, you leave, got it, Caleb?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, he just opens the door, and I watch him walk up to the door and disappear inside.
I spin around to face Caleb. “What does he mean if he’s not out in fifteen minutes? What the hell is he doing? Why have you got a gun? Who does he think is going to come near the car?”