Page 28

“Just a delivery,” I say with a shrug of my shoulder, then hop on the bed and tear open the box.

Felix moves over to watch me, and I’m not sure how he’s even standing. He passed out multiple times from being so hungry. He still hasn’t eaten, yet here he is.

Here he is.

I really hope my brother doesn’t find out about him. I’ll be in so much trouble.

Inside the brown box is another box. I pull it out. On it is a picture of… well, I’m not sure what it is.

A choked sound leaves Felix, and he takes a step back.

“You ordered that thing?”

I frown and hold it up. “What is it?”

His eyes widen, then his mouth opens and closes. “Someone sent you that?”

“No, it’s not mine.”

“Then why did you open it?”

“Because I live here now…”

He shakes his head, running a hand down his face. “It is a federal offense to open someone else’s mail, don’t you know that?”

“I have no idea what a federal offense is, so no…”

“How long have you been up here?”

I narrow my eyes at him, wondering how he knows I’m not from here. I didn’t tell him. Can he sense it? He may be able to, but I can’t be sure. Still, I want him to trust me, and I guess that means I should trust him.

“Twelve days. Are you going to tell me what this thing is?” I thrust the box at him and he shakes his head.

“I… I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you can’t? Why not?”

“Because it’s a… you use that with…”

His eyes flick to the box, then to me, and something in his eyes changes. They somehow grow darker, and his face loses every ounce of worry that was just there.

“It’s a sex toy,” he says breathlessly, sounding almost pained.

I look back at the box, noting the curved shape, purple color, and little hole toward the top. “This is not a sex toy.”

“Oh yes, it is.”

“No way. I’ve seen plenty of them when—” I pause, realizing I was carelessly going to give information that no one should know about. “I’ve just seen plenty of them, and this isn’t one.”

“It’s a new model,” he says, sitting on the bed in front of my feet and taking the box before pointing to the star-shaped sticker. “It says so right there.”

He peels the plastic off it, then opens the box and pulls it out. He presses a button, and a soft, airy vibration sounds. His eyes meet mine again.

“Let me show you,” he whispers.

“What?” I grab the blankets on either side of me, my body tensing.

“I want to show you how it works.”