Execution (Off Balance 2)

Hayden handed me the glass and I agreed. "Good idea." I paused. "So, if I take a shot when the truth gets too hard, you take one too?"

He nodded. "Or when I have a question and the answer you give me is not what I was expecting. But first, we take one just to get things going."

I watched as he poured another half shot for himself. After I had climbed onto his lap, he didn't say a word, didn't push me to speak, he just held me in his warm embrace and wiped the tears from my eyes. His faded blue shirt still had a wet spot from where I cried.

He capped the silver flask and nestled it between his thighs that were the size of tree trunks. Looking up, his crystal blue eyes glimmered with mischief. A timid smile curved the corners of his lips and I felt mine do the same. He was trying to ease me. His sandy blond hair was disheveled, like he’d run his hand through it.

"Ready?" he asked.

I exhaled. "Nope. Let's do this." We clinked our glasses. I brought the glass to my lips and our eyes locked as the cool liquid went down the back of my throat. I cringed. How anyone drank this crap was beyond me. Alcohol was not my thing.

"It feels like fire in my throat," I rasped through the burn.

"Sounds like a symptom of an STD." Hayden laughed.

"You should know, before you ask me anything, that Kova never pushed me," I stressed to him. "Not once."

His lips formed a flat line and he nodded. "You know it's hard for me to believe anything considering his age and status, right? He wields a lot of power, Aid. Maybe you don't realize it."

"I can see where you're coming from and why you would think that, but it's not the case. I promise on my life, it's not."

I could tell by the look in Hayden's eyes that he wasn't convinced.

"When did it start? Who else knows?" he asked.

"A couple of months after I moved here. The only other person who knows anything is Avery, but she doesn't know everything yet."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Eventually, yes. She's my best friend, but I'm worried she'll judge me."

"Would you have told me had I not caught you?"

I contemplated my answer for a long moment. Hayden knew the answer before I told him. "Probably not."

"You gave him your virginity," he stated more than asked.

I thrust my glass toward him for a refill. "Wow. No foreplay." We both threw back another half shot. The memory of losing my virginity filled my mind. Just like anyone's first time, it was uncomfortable and painful; but Kova had gone slow and allowed me to adjust to his size, then brought me more pleasure than I could've ever imagined.

"I did," I finally said, heat rushing to my cheeks.

He blinked. "So Kova knew you were a virgin and he didn't care?"

I shook my head in protest. "I didn't tell him. He didn't know."

He scoffed. "That's impossible."

"It's not. How would he have known if I didn't tell him?"

"I don't know, a hymen being there for one."

I ignored that. "He found out afterward and went ballistic."

A dark shadow cast over Hayden's blue eyes. They reminded me of the deep ocean. "What do you mean ballistic?" he growled.

"We had an argument over it. Things got a little tense."

"A little tense," he repeated under his breath. "Where were you when it happened?"