“Fuck,” he panted.

I closed my eyes, lying my head down and unable to swallow because my mouth was so dry. I really hoped the snakes were confined to the garden and not here.

But I couldn’t muster a muscle to care.

Aydin probably watched us from somewhere, too. The guys could’ve come back early for whatever reason, but I didn’t give a shit. I wanted a shower, and I wanted sleep, and I wanted both of them with Will.

But without another touch or kiss, he rose from the dirt and pulled up his soaked sweats, tying them closed.

I turned over and sat up, watching him as he walked over and retrieved my drenched clothes from the floor.

He tossed them to me. “Go piss,” he said. “And hurry up.”

I sat there, my eyes narrowing but my chin trembling a little. I clenched my jaw to stop it.

The eye of the storm…

I forced the lump down my throat. “That’s an old wives’ tale,” I told him, rising and starting to dress. “I’m on the shot, so don’t worry.”

Asshole.

Not that I was ready for any kids right now, anyway, but he wasn’t telling me that because he didn’t want them. He was telling me that because he didn’t want them with me.

It was just sex talk.

I swallowed through the needles in my throat, not looking up again until he’d walked out, leaving me in the wet dirt alone.

I rose to my feet and pulled on my glasses, cut-off pants, and T-shirt, and then I picked up my shoes and carried them through the quiet house and back up to my bedroom.

I secured the door, lost in my head as I showered and washed the dirt from my hair, still feeling him inside me.

I’d show him. I was strong, and I wouldn’t beg for anything.

I’d get out of here and live and keep my damn chin up.

The calm in the madness. The quiet in the chaos. The patience for my moment.

I dried my hair and wrapped the towel around me, heading into my dark bedroom and collapsing onto the bed.

I closed my eyes, hearing the rain outside and trying to concentrate on the next step of my escape plan.

A little more food, a hoodie, and I still needed some kind of tool from the shed. It would make a good weapon, too, if needed.

A draft hit me, and I rubbed my eyes with my fingers, so tired all of a sudden.

But I couldn’t go to sleep. Opening my eyes, I spotted a dark form looming at the side of my bed, and I sucked in a quick breath.

What the hell?

But before I could shoot up and away, she spoke.

“You let them watch while he ate you out last night?” she asked.

And then the lamp on the nightstand turned on, and I looked up at her, hair a little shorter than the last time I’d seen her and dressed like a cat burglar, complete with a black beanie on her head.

“Girl,” she cooed, smiling with approval. “I knew you had it in you.”

I stopped breathing, my eyes going wide. “Alex?”

She threw up her hands, striking a pose, and I popped up, grabbed her, and pulled her into a hug as we collapsed back to the bed.

Oh, my God. “What are you doing here?” I cried.

She clamped a hand over my mouth, quieting me as she shook with a laugh. “Missed you, too, little stick,” she whispered.

My body shook with a quiet laugh, and I squeezed her so tight she grunted.

Will

Nine Years Ago

She stopped and looked around as I took the key from her and unlocked her back door.

It was after one in the morning, and I hurriedly twisted the handle and pulled her in from the rain.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “The coast is clear. He’s still at work.”

I closed the door, locked it, and knelt down, slipping her heels off her feet. Taking her hand, I pulled her toward the stairs.

“We really need to stand up to him sometime.”

She leaned her head on my arm, yawning. “He’s scary,” she said.

I shook my head, sweeping her into my arms and carrying her up the stairs. “He’s a joke.” I hugged her close as she wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m your man now. He’ll have to get through me.”

She just let out a single chuckle into the crook of my neck, but didn’t say more.

I wasn’t trying to be funny.

“Paige?” someone called.

I froze, the weight of my footsteps halting the creaking on the floorboards.

Emmy popped her head up and shifted out of my arms, hurrying into her grandmother’s room.

“Yes, Grand-Mère.”

I hung back, not wanting Em to have to face questions about why she was with me so late.

“Where is your father?” her grandma asked.

I heard Em walk around the room, pour some water, and shuffle blankets.

Her father?

But Emmy answered, not missing a beat. “He had to go back to the flower shop. He got you yellow flowers, and he knows better.”

“Red flowers.” Her grandmother’s raspy voice held a hint of humor. “How could he forget?”

“Go to sleep,” Em cooed. “When you wake up, they’ll be here.”

Emory walked back into the hallway, yawning again as she pulled the door closed, only leaving it open a crack.

“Love you, sweetie,” her grandmother called.

“Love you, too.”

She gazed up at me in the dark hallway and took my hand, lying her head on my chest. She was fucking exhausted.

I led her to her room.

“Your father?” I inquired.

Adam Scott died with her mother years ago. Caught in their car when the river flooded during Hurricane Frederic that hit us head on about five years ago.

But Emmy clarified, “My grandfather. Her husband. She thinks I’m my mother sometimes.”

I nodded once, not really knowing what to say to that. It was a lot for a high schooler to deal with. In this moment, I was grateful she spared me any time, considering the bigger things she had on her plate. I was too hard on her.

We entered her room, and I turned on the lights.

But she protested, “No, leave them off.” She made her way for her bed. “I’m so tired.”

She crashed down, not even bothering to undress, and I flipped the switch off again, the room going dark.

“But I don’t want to sleep, either,” she said, yawning again. “Because when the night’s over, it ends. No more fun.”

I walked over, unable to keep the smile off my lips. “Nothing is ending.” I pulled at her comforter and then the blankets, working them out from underneath her to cover her up. “It wasn’t just fun to me, Emmy. Don’t you know that?”

I stared down at her as she turned on her side, and I covered her up.

We weren’t done. I needed more.

“You still don’t trust me?” I asked.

She remained still and quiet, refusing to look at me. Was she asleep already?

But then I heard her speak. “Part of me wishes I could have you,” she said. “Part of me wishes you were my man, but…”

I heard her swallow, and then she sighed.

“Everything will be real tomorrow,” she told me.

As if that explained everything.

Walking over to her window, I closed her drapes.