I was relieved when the two of them parted ways at the end of the corridor with nothing more than a wave goodbye, exhaling a long breath which turned into a squeak when a hand landed on my shoulder.
My eyes were frantic as my head twisted, paranoid in my expectation to find the other two guys towering over me. But no. It was Carolyn, her laugh bright as she giggled at my surprise.
I put my hand on my heart as I pulled myself together.
“You scared the shit out of me,” I told her, and managed a smile right back at hers.
Hers was genuine. So genuine it felt like a light in the dark.
“Donut time?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Donuts are on me today,” I told her and led the way.
They’d be my only splurge from my seedy payday, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to share it with as we rocked up at the counter and placed our order for a tray of their finest.
Carolyn Lane was a curious friend. Her questions were pointed as she devoured the best of the icing.
How was your evening? What did you get up to? See anyone? Not anyone? Really?
I guess that’s when I first knew she was onto more about me than my superficial interest in her sister’s sixty-day mission for obscene cash.
“I heard you were out pretty late last night,” she commented, and I struggled not to rise to it.
“I guess so,” I told her. “I fancied a walk on the beach.”
“Enough to go running back to university in tears and a wedge of cash in your arms?”
Oh, how I hated it. College gossip knew no mercy.
I dropped my donut back on the tray and fumbled with the napkin, hoping to scrub the discomfort off me along with the stickiness.
The campus was twitchy. Windows everywhere. I should’ve been more careful. More guarded on the way back.
“You asked a whole lot of questions about Rebecca the other day,” she continued, but there was no hostility in her tone. I knew right there and then I liked Carolyn Lane more than I’d liked anyone else I’d met in quite a long time. “Just wanted you to know I’ve got an ear waiting right here if you wanted to talk it over.” She shrugged. “Talk, eat donuts, hang out and study… I’m up for the whole shebang. Even if you spend your time running from the beach with cash in your hands.”
I didn’t get it. The words were out before I’d even weighed them up.
“Why do you want to be friends with me?” I asked her. “I’m a nobody.”
Her next shrug was at odds with the strength in her eyes.
“Because I told you everything about my sister a few days ago and not one of those details has made it around campus. Believe me, I’d know.”
I shrugged right back. “I keep secrets. That’s no biggie.”
“Oh, but it is,” she said. “It’s the biggest biggie going right now, and it happens to be one I value deeply.” Her fingers were sticky when they reached across the table and grabbed for mine.
I ignored the sensation of fresh icing on my skin in favour of appreciating the beauty in the gesture.
A friend.
She could be a real friend.
Hell, how I needed one.
It was her who spoke next.
“I can handle some pretty big biggies too, you know,” she told me, and leaned in close. “I’m pretty good at keeping a secret too, so how about you tell me what you were really doing last night?”
And there it was, now or never.
Where to start?
I took a deep breath before I began.Chapter FourteenBrandonUnder my watch, it only ever took a few days for a girl to lose her senses. Annabel was no exception, already well beyond knowing night from day when I made her acquaintance that afternoon.
The sun was still bright outside when I made my way up to her blacked-out bedroom, but she was caught in slumber unawares. I flicked on the harsh overhead lighting with no warning and she started like a rabbit in headlights.
She blinked fast as she adjusted to the change, pulling her legs up to her chest and holding tight as I closed the distance.
She flinched as I took her jaw in strong fingers, her eyes meeting mine unabashedly as I tipped her face in my direction.
It both pleased and disappointed me that the girl hadn’t yet learned her manners.
“Asking for punishment,” I said. “Silly girl to start the evening so provocatively.”
She caught herself and dropped her gaze, lips closed tight as she swallowed. “I just woke up,” she told me. “You can’t expect me to remember the rules as soon as I open my eyes.”
“I’ll have to give you a reminder then, won’t I?”
I heard her struggle with the bedsheets as I turned my back and headed for the web cam controllers. The countdown was already ticking, the notification ping having sounded loud to our hungry host of viewers around the world.