Page 61 of Give In

The reminder that I was alive. Not existing.Alive.

Get out before you mess up even more.

Steeling my spine and my resolve, I said, “I still have school work to do.”

“You can’t do it from here?”

“No, my stuff is at home,” I lied.

He held my eyes for a moment before nodding and stepping away.

I redressed in a silence I couldn’t decipher. It wasn’t awkward, nor was it comfortable. It was weighty and somehow loud.

Once I was ready, we walked down the stairs. I opened the door and almost stepped out but was stopped when his hand wrapped around my arm. I looked over my shoulder, my argument on the tip of my tongue, when I saw he was holding my keys.

Kinda need those, idiot.

He didn’t give them to me right away. The silence stretched as he studied me before something in his demeanor changed. It was so infinitesimal, I wasn’t sure I hadn’t imagined it. He dropped the keys in my waiting hand. “If you change your mind and want to come back, call me.”

My answering nod was cut off when his lips covered mine, the kiss slower than the last one, but no less desperate. Something tinged the edges of it, something toxic that left a bad taste in my mouth.

In my soul.

Giving in, I leaned into his kiss, second guessing my decision to leave—reinforcing my need to.

Once again, it was him who had the strength to end the kiss. His midnight eyes seared into mine, whispering something.

A plea.

A promise.

A threat.

Breaking away before I got lost in the storm, I forced myself not to run as I made my way quickly to my car.

“See you, angel.”

Not looking back, I lifted my hand to give a flick of the wrist wave.

Once I was on the road, I heaved a sigh. “Freedom.”

Only it didn’t feel like it. There was no lightness. If anything, I felt as though the knot that tied me up was being pulled tighter.

“I’m totally doing the right thing.”

The car didn’t say anything.

But the silence did.

Chapter Fourteen

Dysfunctional Pendulum

Eden

My steps stumbled to a wobbling halt as I walked into the room later that night.

Shit.