“He believed I tricked them into the adoption, that I was the harbinger of the revelations, and that if he beat me hard enough he could kill the demon inside of me.”
“He was insane.”
“Yes, he was.” Vic inhaled deeply. “He was a great father but then he started to get sick and delusional. The delusions were aimed at me. My mother was weak-willed and my sister was only a child then.”
I hugged my knees. “My mother died when I was eleven. I have my dad though. He doesn't beat me.”
Vic laughed. “So there's that.”
I nodded. “So there's that.”
Silence settled over us, our own thoughts keeping us company until Vic offered: “I have a cabin.”
“That's cool,” I said, not really sure what to say to this non sequitur.
“I was going to go this weekend.”
Still not really sure what to say, I just nodded.
“I want you to come with me, Lennox.”
My eyebrows popped up in surprised. Vic and I were friends. Yes, there was sexual tension between us, but I think we both understood that we couldn't go down that road. An isolated cabin with just the two of us? That was decidedly romantic. And with the sexual tension between us? It all just seemed so precarious and fragile, and, dammit, exciting.
“Lenny.” Vic's voice cut through my speculation. “Stop overthinking it.”
Ugh, I hated when he did that. He just knew me so well didn't he? I glared at him.
“Fine,” I replied.
He smirked. I pouted.
I hated how sexy he looked when he smirked, it made our friendship really hard. Like his abs, and his arms, and other things. God, he looked really good today. He was wearing his hair down which he never did. It was brown-black, long, and sleek; I wanted to run my fingers through it. It showed off his hard (practically chiseled) jaw tremendously. I bit my lip.
We'd been having these little chats for just short of two weeks. Mostly they were nothing serious, but occasionally they got heavy. Like today.
If I have to run away like before, like I did from Seattle, I don't know if I could stomach it. I felt inexplicably tethered to Vic.
“Lenny?”
Uh-oh. I'm pretty sure I was staring. He was sporting that smirk again. I crossed my legs and looked away.
“Lenny, did you hear anything that I just said?”
“Yes! Of course! Why wouldn't I have?” Me thinks I doth protest too much.
Vic's smirk was now a broad grin. “So, you know we're leaving Friday morning? It's only an hour drive. Up in the mountains. It's a little cold, so bring some sweaters.”
“I already knew all of that because you said it before, and I was paying perfect attention,” I snapped.
“Of course you were,” Vic smiled. He stood up, clapping his hands together. “I have to go now, but it was so great talking to you. I do enjoy these little chats.” He was being pretentious on purpose.
I threw my shoe at his head. Regretfully, the shoe narrowly missed its target.
Eyes narrowing to black slits, Vic glared at me.
My gut turned to ice.
“Lennox,” Vic whispered, “do you know what happens to girls who disobey?”