The Imperfections

“I won’t,” I snap, not even letting him finish. I stab a piece of broccoli like it’s his face and put it in my mouth, chewing more aggressively than I need to. I glare at him so he knows it’s his head I’d like to chew off instead.

“You better not,” he warns me, not even cowed by my glare. “If you do, I’ll kidnap your little ass again, and this time I will lock you up and not let you leave.”

I huff, stabbing another vegetable and popping it in my mouth, glaring at him real good while he threatens me. “Maybe if you think I’m so untrustworthy, you shouldn’t even let me go home.”

Eyeing me, he says, “It’s not that I think you’re untrustworthy. I just know you’re young and impressionable, and consequences aren’t always the first thing you think about when you’re deciding whether or not to do something. I put a gun to your head and you quietly packed your things and followed me to my truck to be taken God knows where and have God knows what done to you. In less than a day, I was able to bring you to my side without even trying. As much as I’d like to think I’m special, your past actions and the things he told me himself make me think Theo had it just as easy when you were with him before. If he decides to pivot and play nice, I need to know you’re not gonna fall for it and go back to him.”

My face feels like a space heater, burning up with flames of shame, embarrassment, and anger. “So, not untrustworthy because I’m a bad person, just unreliable because you think I’m easy and I don’t think about the consequences of any of my actions. That’s nice. Thank you for that.”

“I’m not trying to insult you,” he states. “This is a necessary conversation, unfortunately, and I need to make sure you’re not gonna backslide.”

I don’t even dignify his words with a response this time, putting a big bite of steak in my mouth so he won’t expect me to talk.

“I may not be willing to squeeze the life out of you, but make no mistake, I won’t sit back and watch you keep making the same damn mistake again, either—especially because my sister’s married to that goddamn mistake and had two of his babies.”

“I’m so mad at you for continuing to say this stupid shit,” I inform him.

“It’s not stupid. Your behavior changed along with your environment and your company. I have to make sure you’re prepared to go back to real life and still make better decisions when I’m not around anymore. And it’s not just that, either. Like I told you before, worthless as he is, if Theo looks at you and sees a threat to his family, he could be dangerous. He did send me to kill you, after all.”

“I am quite aware of that fact, but thank you for beating me over the head with it.”

“He’s not a good guy,” Brant states, as if I’m some kind of idiot.

“I know,” I reply coolly. “Can we please stop talking about him?”

“I’m not trying to piss you off.”

“Well, you have.”

“Well, I’m sorry,” he says, not sounding sorry at all. “I’d rather be clear about this beforehand than send you home and have another mess to clean up before long.”

Still, I shake my head. That he thinks I’d sleep with Theo again drives home the point that whatever we’re doing here, it must not be anything romantic in nature. I guess I should have figured that when he told me I could move into the empty cabin on his property and ‘do whatever I want’ there. He might as well have told me he’s not interested in anything serious so I can fuck whoever I want, and of course he’s not interested in anything serious—he thinks I’m some young idiot he has to fuck to keep off his brother-in-law’s dick.

I like how when he’s calling me easy and putting down my ability to comprehend consequences, he only says the things that make me look bad. I got in the truck with an armed stranger because he threatened to hurt my family—because of the consequences. Not because I thought a trip to potentially be murdered sounded like fun, and not because it didn’t cross my mind that there might be any unpleasant consequences.

After he watched that video and pressed his cock against me in my bed, I pretty much assumed I would be raped at the very least if I went with him; I made the conscious choice to go anyway because the alternative was worse.

He doesn’t give me credit for anything.

Well, this night has taken an unpleasant turn. I didn’t know if Brant was interested in dating me, but I did think he at least respected me more than this.