Page 6 of Sinners’ Appetite

I can’t get my mind off everything that happened. Especially the fact that if it wasn’t for Malachi, I’d probably be dead right now.

It’s a strange feeling—knowing someone saved your life, but also knowing that the person that nearly claimed it is running free. I’m surprised they haven’t caught him by now.

One thing is for sure, I won’t be walking anywhere by myself until he’s behind bars.

The pain medication they have me on is giving me strange dreams, so I haven’t gone back to sleep since earlier today, after Sammi left.

I saw myself buried alive, barely able to breathe beneath the earth’s surface.

I could feel everything, even though it was just a dream.

I woke up shaking and crying, in a total panic.

I hate to admit it, but Justin really fucked me up. Not only physically, but mentally. His demonic eyes are all I see when I close mine. Visions of him finding me again somehow is haunting me.

It’s clear that I need to talk about it. In my experience, bottling everything up inside has greater consequences. I reach for my phone on the nightstand to text Sammi.

I’m so tired. I can’t go back to sleep and I think these meds are giving me really fucked up dreams. I don’t know what to do. Every time I close my eyes, I see him. It’s really freaking me out. Am I going to need therapy? I hate therapy.

I’m sorry, that was a lot.

Almost immediately, she texts back.

Babe… take a breather. I’ll be right over.

You really don’t have to. I’m sure I’ll be fine.

Nonsense. I love you. Be right there.

I make my way to the front door to unlock it, since Sammi reminded me to lock it earlier. As soon as I open the door slightly, she greets me by shoving a bag of gummy worms through the crack of the door.

“What would I do without you?” I say, grabbing the bag from her hand with a wide smile on my face. I have an unhealthy addiction to gummy worms and she knows it.

“When you’re all better, we’re drinking the bottle of tequila in my pantry,” she chuckles, bending to remove her shoes.

For some odd reason, instead of responding, I start thinking about the fact that Sammi has always kept it together through everything tough we’ve experienced together.

She’s always been the strong one. She has no idea how much I look up to her.

The tears start to well up in my eyes and Sammi notices right away.

“Come here,” she says, kicking her shoe off and reaching for me with a sympathetic look in her eyes.

I step closer to her and wrap my arms around her neck, sobbing so hard that I’m barely able to take a breath.

“Breathe, Nikki.” Sammi steps back and takes my head into her hands before grabbing my hand and leading me into my living room.

“I want to sleep,” I whimper as we take a seat on the couch.

“You should call your doctor tomorrow. Maybe they can switch you to a different pain medication, or give you something to help you sleep. Just for a while, until your mind can rest a little.”

“His eyes… they were so fucked up! He didn’t have any color in them. Just black. His eyes were fucking black , Sammi.”

Sammi squeezes my hand. “I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel right now. Keep talking about it. Tell me everything, if you feel like it’ll help.”

So, I continue. “I think he wanted me dead. Or close to it, anyway.”

Sammi doesn’t say a word, just shakes her head and waits for me to say something else.

“My dreams… he buried me alive in my dreams. Nobody could find me. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t scream…” Pausing for a moment, I take a deep breath before continuing. “It was so dark. Every single part of my body hurt, and I could feel everything. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“What part did you wake up at?” she asks, still holding my hand tightly.

“I was trying to claw my way out. The dirt was so tight against my body though. I couldn’t move an inch.”

She nods her head then starts to open the bag of gummy worms, handing one to me.

Surprisingly, the taste brings me more comfort than I was expecting. For the next few minutes, we don’t say a word to each other. We just sit here, eating candy in peace.

“Remember when I used to play with your hair in class when we were in college?” she finally asks, breaking the silence.

“Professor James fucking hated you doing that.” I laugh, recalling hundreds of times when he would give Sammi shit for being distracted. He eventually made us sit on opposite sides of the classroom.

Just like old times, Sammi reaches for my hair, running her fingers through slowly. For the first time since this morning, I finally close my eyes. Next thing I know, my head slumps forward and Sammi places a blanket over her lap for me, guiding my head down to it.

“Shit.” I whisper as I lift my head and look around me. I thought my head was still resting on Sammi’s lap, but I’m surprised to find a pillow resting under my head instead.

I can hear people talking in the kitchen. I assume it’s Sammi and Jeremy, so I slowly stand and head off in that direction. When I walk around the corner, I’m met with Sammi, Jeremy—and Malachi.

They all look over to me and I fake a smile, caught completely off guard. The last thing on my mind should be dick, but holy shit—Malachi is even hotter than I thought he was at the club. Jesus Christ.

I offered to go have coffee with this guy and here I am, barely able to hold myself together in front of him. Wait—why is he in my kitchen?

“You’re up!” Sammi exclaims cheerfully, a comforting smile on her face.

“How long did I sleep?” I ask, noticing the sun setting through the window behind Sammi.

“Three hours. I had to get Jeremy to come over and help me move your head without waking you. Oh—and Malachi brought you some comfort food.”

I can’t help but smile at the gesture, though it’s so hard to look him in the eyes.

They’re so blue, it gives me fucking chills.

I step closer to the table and sit down in the chair beside Sammi, reaching for the basket that Malachi brought for me.

It’s filled with an orgasmic amount of gummy snacks and chocolate bars. White chocolate, specifically.

“I had to ask Jeremy about what to buy. I knew better than to guess,” Malachi says, his eyes shimmering under the light above the table.

“This is amazing…thank you so much,” I manage to say while my heart pounds nervously through my chest.

Is this because of the pain meds too? I’m clearly horny as fuck, and I definitely shouldn’t be, given the circumstances.

It’s the pain meds.

It has to be.

“I’m still looking forward to that coffee date once you’re feeling better,” he says.

I adjust myself in my chair, mortified by the fact that every word that comes out of his mouth makes my clit throb even worse.

When I glance toward Sammi, she’s sitting there with a dumb grin on her face, staring at me deviously.

Alright, this is way too awkward. If I sit here much longer, I’ll be leaving a massive wet spot behind.

What in the ever loving fuck is happening to me?

“Sammi—can you help me… uh… get into the bathtub?” I ask, frantically trying to find an excuse to dismiss myself from this fuckery.

“Sure, babe,” she says, standing at the same time as me.

I look back at Malachi and smile. “Thanks again for—all of this. For everything, actually,” I blurt out.

He nods his head and fucking winks at me. “Not a problem, Nikki.”

Fuck. Me. Please.

I need to calm these tits.

When Sammi and I make it past where they can’t hear us talking, I let out a heavy sigh. “Something weird is happening.”

“If you’re talking about Malachi bringing you stuff—”

“No! That was adorable.” I shake my head. “He’s just—”

“Hot?” She shoots me a teasing glare.

I take an exaggerated breath. “So. Fucking. Hot. I can’t handle it. Like, where the fuck did he even come from? They don’t make them like that around here…”

Sammi starts to laugh so hard that she can barely catch a breath. “Girl, fuck the three date rule with this one. Did you see the size of his fucking hands?”

“So—no judgment? I was half expecting you to give me a warning or something… you know, a “take it easy, you almost died” speech or something.”

“Nope.”

“What do I do? I can barely look at him. He’s intimidating.”

“I say—find out how intimidating that dick is.” She nudges me in the side. “Know what I mean?”

“You’re no help sometimes, you little slut,” I tease.

“Hey, Jeremy knows I think Malachi is fine as fuck,” she giggles. “Now—let’s run this bath. I think Malachi is heading back to the studio. He just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

I smile and follow her into the bathroom. Of course, the whole time I’m in there, I’m thinking about his baby blue eyes. Picturing them looking back at me from in between my legs is even better.