Page 65 of Like An Animal

I grab a beer out of the fridge before closing it, choosing not to answer her question. I walk over to the couch and have a seat, but only a moment later, just as I’m lifting the mouth of the beer bottle to my lips, the kid plops down next to me.

Jesus fucking Christ.

“What is your name?” she asks, her voice way too fucking cheery for two in the morning.

“Jeremy.” I grind my teeth, trying my best not to snap at the kid to leave me alone.

“We had cat named Jeremy. I called him Mister Whiskers. He went to a farm.”

Bronwyn named a cat after me?

Weird.

“My name is Lottie.” She grins without a care in the world.

I run a hand down my tired face before muttering, “Why don’t you go play with your dog, Lottie?”

She nods. “Okay!” She jumps up to her feet before turning to look at me, that same smile across her face.

“What?”

She shrugs. “Your eyes are like mine.” Then she skips off to the dog that’s sleeping at Xavi’s feet.

What the hell did she mean by that? We both have brown eyes, sure, but a lot of people have brown eyes. It’s the most common eye color in the world.

Maybe it was just something she was making note of.

Who knows? Kids are weird.

Throughout the flight,the kid kept trying to ask me questions and get me to talk, but every time I sent her back to play with the dog. I figured at some point it would stop working, but it didn’t.

She has the mind of a goldfish or a four year old kid.

Once the plane landed, Xavi left with the kid and the mutt in his car, which left me to deal with my little ghost.

I walk back to the room I left her in and notice how quiet it is. She was screaming and kicking when I locked her in the box.

Most people would feel bad about punishing someone by confronting them with their worst fear, but I find it poetic.

I either heightened the fear that was already present or made her realize there’s nothing to be afraid of.

I never said it was healthy. It was a punishment for a reason. She needed to know that it was in her best interest to do what I say when I say it. I don’t put up with insolence from anyone, not even her.

Grabbing the key off the dresser next to the box, I bend a knee and unlock the box. Without warning, my little ghost’s fist connects with my nose. She put a lot of power behind that move and I stagger back before shaking away the disorientation. Blood fills my nostrils, but thanks to my training, there’s no pain.

Bronwyn climbs out of the box, anger across her face.

This is something I didn’t account for.

“If you ever do that to me again, I will cut off your pierced dick and shove it up your ass with no lube.”

She probably thought that would scare me, but all her actions managed to do is make me hard as a rock in my pants. Her bloodlust is intoxicating. However, we don’t have the kind of time I would need to fuck her right now. We’ll get to that later.

Snatching her throat in my hand, I yank her body against mine with anumphfrom her. Her nails dig into my wrist as she tries to peel my grip away, but it’s useless. I’m way stronger thanI used to be. She might’ve had a chance to fight me back then, but that boy she once knew doesn’t exist anymore.

I had a short list of things I wasn’t willing to do to reach my goal, but that list has narrowed down to one singular thing.

Killing my little ghost.