Page 72 of Crushed

“Anyway, I used to think that maybe he sought out the unattainable, so that he would always be miserable. Like pouring salt on the wound, you know? So for him to find you, that’s pretty crazy.”

I wasn’t sure what to think of it. Cormac might have had some serious trust issues, but I did too. It was hard for me to imagine getting close to anyone after my parents died. He was the first person since Lizzy that I had actually opened up to. And that had to mean something.

Even when talking to two friends about their lives, I couldn’t get away from him. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way he left his mark on me, when he wasn’t around. It didn’t matter if it was my yellow-tinted thighs, or the fact that I hadn’t had a nightmare since he had water-tortured me, or my daydreams of the way he fucked me in his bedroom.

He was in my head, and I knew it. I had given up the assignment already. I had to try again, at least once.

My phone buzzed. I glanced down at it, an unknown number. I swiped through to read the text and saw a picture of a woman strapped to a chair, a hood over her head, a silver ponytail sticking out of the bottom.

My chest tightened. My forehead beaded with sweat as I read the text.

I have your leader, it read.Finish the assignment, or Lizzy dies.