Page 105 of Ominous: Part 1

And I know it is. Impossible.

We can’t.

Our souls don’t know how to crawl closer. We run head on, seeing the impact up ahead, but we can’t stop. Or maybe we just don’t want to. We know the wreck will be worth it.

“I won’t let you get hurt.”

I don’t believe you.I want to believe you.

We stare at each other, the crunch in my neck, the ache along my jaw, with the angle he’s lifting my head, it hurts, and so does the bruising grip he has on my ass, but I don’t care.

There’s only one thing to say, so I say it.“Okay.”

He grabs me then, yanking me closer by my throat, and he tilts his head. His lips come over mine, his tongue sweeping along the seam of them, and I’m parting for him, my palms splayed along his chest, his heart finally,finallybeating faster, like it should. His teeth hit mine, his thumb presses against my windpipe, and I'm still on my tiptoes. He’s grabbing a handful of my ass, crushing me against him, and I can feel him growing hard between us.

“God,you’re fun.”He says the words as I gasp, and I think maybe it wasn’t a compliment, like I’m a toy, but I suddenly want to be only that for him as he keeps kissing me, opening his mouth wide, biting down on my lip, then opening again, tongue entwining with mine.

And all at once, when my heart is flying and before I can take a breath, he’s sinking to his knees, still kissing me, coaxing me down, too, his fingers pulling on my neck. “Let me push you under,” he says, his words breathy, his chest rising and falling so fast beneath my palms. I squat lower, and he’s tipping my chin up to keep me above water as he kisses me one last time, biting hard on my bottom lip.

Then he moves back, and before I can blink, he pushes his palm on my face, slipping his hand up over my braids to get better access and shove me down.

But I sink to my knees willingly for him, his hand gentle on my crown of braids as I kneel, going under.

I wrap my arms around his legs, resting my head on his thigh like he did with me as he stands back up. My eyes open as I stare at the cement of the pool, rendered bright blue from the clear water, my mind spinning, and all I can think is I hope he started the fucking timer.

I can still feel his teeth on my lips. His mouth devouring mine. I didn’t really get a breath, the way he kissed the life out of me.

I try to relax.

Under here, the sounds arefuller.

I think I hear the waterfall careening into the pool, but I can’t really tell where the sound is coming from, so I’m not sure. Noises in general are strange under the water, something I’ve known since I was a kid. Everything is distorted. Sight, sound, the lack of breath in my lungs.

I feel Eli’s hand press gently against my head and I shift on my knees, the cement hard beneath bone, but I don’t want to come up. Not yet.

I’m growing calm, like he digs peace out of me with his aggression.

I squeeze him tighter, and his fingertips push through the coil of my braids to graze my scalp, like a reassurance. His other hand must have the stopwatch.

I let my eyes flutter closed, soaking in the calm of the water.

“We can play on the edge.”

The beginnings of panic edges in, and I’m not sure if it’s because I need to breathe, or because of those words in my head.How far will we go? What did you mean?

I should’ve asked, I realize too late.

We should have talked about this.

But I stupidly trusted him.I’m a fuck up.

I know better. Boys like Eli don’t really care about girls like me. I should’ve learned that lesson at Shoreside. It’s a thought that’s been simmering in the back of my mind, only now it’s turned up to a boil, and I think it’s this position, on my knees, underwater, his hand heavy on my head.

Aphrodite, Aphrodite, Aphrodite.

The way I try to console myself is obliterated with pesky logic.

Rich boys with rich cars and rich parents going to rich schools with their rich friends… Boys interrogated by police, suspects in disappearances, then, maybe, murders…