Page 35 of Running from Drac

“Get fucking dressed,” I ordered.

“What?”

“We’re going to the pharmacy.”

“For what?” she asked in shock.

“The Morning-After Pill. There’s no fucking way I’m gonna take the chance of you getting pregnant.”

Her smile etched into a scowl, brow furrowing, fists clenched by her sides in pure hatred. “You can’t force me to take that stupid pill.”

“You don’t have a choice, Pippa. You either take the pill or consider this friendship over.”

Her bottom lip quivered. “You’d throw out six years of friendship over sex?”

“For unwanted sex, absolutely.”

She grabbed the first hard thing from off my dresser and hurled it at my head. I ducked to avoid it just in time. “Why am I not good enough for you, Eddie? Why can’t you just love me the way I love you?”

My eyes narrowed at her, my adrenaline rushing through my veins like venom. “Because I’ll never love anyone the way I love Amber, Pippa. Not even you.”

She gave up fighting with me after that, reluctantly taking the pill even though she assured me she was on birth control. I made sure she swallowed it too. Sure, it was majorly fucked up for me to force her to do that, but so was her taking advantage of me the way she did. I didn’t feel right when I woke up in the morning, and it reminded me of my night with Jinafer. That loosely drugged type of feeling. I hated it. There’s being drunk… and then there’s being drugged. I definitely felt drugged.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Amber observes.

“Sorry, just got lost in thought. Did you find something for your mom?”

She holds up a bag and smiles. “Yeah, I went to the cool Earth store over there. It had some really cute incense burners.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to go?”

She shrugs. “Yeah, I guess so.”

My phone chimes in my pocket. I look down to see a text message from Pippa.

Pippa: Hey, this is the third weekend in a row that you haven’t been home. I was hoping we could talk about what happened. Are you free?

I quickly shoot a text back.

Me: I’m busy.

Pippa: Eddie, we need to talk about what happened. What time will you be home?

My gaze darts over to Amber who’s discussing something with Wesley, Rich, and Poppy. Our eyes meet, and she smiles, melting me like ice.

A thundering drum kick starts my heart, and I can’t help but look away, unable to hide the attraction and love I feel for her. I’d do anything for her, even put my phone away.

“Everything okay?” Amber asks when I rejoin them.

“Yeah, everything’s cool. So, who’s riding with who?”

They all glance at Amber. There’s only enough room in my truck for one person, and she knows it.

“I can ride with Rich and Wesley if Amber’s okay with it,” Poppy offers.

“That’s fine,” Amber says shyly. “You okay with me riding with you?”

“Absolutely,” I say quickly. “I mean, sure… that’s fine.”