“Jarrod, don’t.”
“Then handle it. Tell the guy no and move on.”
I groaned and grabbed my jacket from the couch. I left the trailer and let the door slam behind me. It was petty, but I knew it’d drive him crazy.
Outside, the wind was crisp. I paced back and forth, annoyed Cora had my car. I couldn’t leave until she came back, and I didn’t want to be around Jarrod right now.
I’d expected him to be more—something. Protective? Helpful? Anything but that. He’d acted like this was no big deal, like men made marriage deals with women all the time. Calvin wasn’t someone I wanted to mess with, and the idea of telling him no stuck like a knife in my throat.
Would he hurt me if I said no?
I cursed and started walking away from the trailer. I needed to clear my head. Stupid Jarrod had me freaking out again. I’d wanted him to help, but instead he’d acted like this was no big deal, and that only pissed me off even more.
He’d done a lot over the years. He’d protected me from Dad again and again, and I owed him so much for that. He had been the one who’d gotten Dad thrown into jail and out of my life forever—and I was so grateful.
But there was a dark side to him. Like he couldn’t be bothered about other people. Only Cora was different. He looked at her like she was the shining jewel in his life.
Like Calvin looked at me.
I heard a sound. It was several footsteps from a set of overgrown bushes in the yard next to Jarrod’s small gravel driveway. I turned, frowning, expecting a stray cat or a neighborhood kid—
Instead, Calvin strode toward me.
It took a few seconds for his presence to compute. I’d never seen him in the trailer park before, but there he was, glorious Calvin, looking like a shining god, a smile on his lips as he raised a white rag.
“What are you doing?”
“You should’ve said yes.” He leapt forward, grabbing me by the back of the head. I gasped in shock—
And that was when he shoved the rag against my mouth.
I breathed in something acrid and harsh. I struggled, but my limbs felt numb and heavy and my head swam. Light flashed at the edges of my vision, then it began to tunnel, a thick black spreading quickly.
Calvin’s arms wrapped around my body before I fell.
“Sorry, love,” he whispered. “But you should’ve made this easy.”
Then the black finished, and I was gone.
Dear Robyn
Sometimes I can’t control myself.
There’s a gun range on my father’s estate. He took me out there when I was five years old and taught me how to shoot. He stood behind me and corrected my aim and made me fire, over and over and over, until my legs were tired. When I cried because I was hungry, he kicked me in the thigh and told me to keep going until he was satisfied.
I hated shooting. I still hate shooting. But my father said weapons are a part of my blood. They are my future.
Can you imagine?
Killing and death and blood. I was born into all that.
He wanted to make me hard.
I think he took something from me.
Can you give that back? Can you help me find it again?
Whatever humanity I’ve lost.
I was thinking about you today at football practice. I dropped my shoulder and slammed it into this freshman’s chest. I think I broke his rib. It felt like heaven when he was on the ground, gasping for air.
I thought of what it would taste like to pin you down in the middle of the field and lick your soaking wet cunt.
That boy’s pain, it meant nothing to me.
But your pleasure? That means everything.
I dream about you, Robyn. Your breasts pressed together and shaking as I thrust deep into your pussy. Your clit swollen and pink and soaking wet as it grinds against my tongue. Your lips parted and wide open and moaning.
I want to pin your arms above your head and fuck you until you scream my name.
I like it when you struggle. When you fight back. When you make it hard.
My cock’s stiff right now, thinking about you screaming my name and digging your fingernails into my skin so hard they leave deep red welts.
Robyn, Robyn, Robyn.
Will you marry me?
I think you will.
I know something’s going on with Cora and Jarrod.
They did something terrible.
Would you forgive me if I did something just as bad?
I don’t think you would.
Not unless I made you.
Love,
C
3
Robyn
I woke in a haze.
It was hard to think at first. Like my head was all sludge. I groaned, rolled to the side. I was slumped over in a chair. A big, comfortable chair.
Something vibrated. The whole room vibrated and hummed.
I touched armrests. Felt a seatbelt.
I blinked at bright lights and looked out the window.