Page 45 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares (The Society #1)

Georgia

T oday was the first day since I arrived here that I enjoyed myself. Rachel had some projects to do, so she left me alone for most of the day. I did have to suffer a very thorough questioning about what happened last night.

It was surprisingly hard to lie to her. For someone who seemed so superficial, she was observant. She picked up on almost all of my tells. Mind you, I wasn’t a very good liar, but I did manage to convince her that I simply decided to go home.

After that, I was free to do what I wanted.

I spent some time in the library, did extra work in the geophysics lab, and then watched my favorite documentary, “Ring of Fire,” which explored the tectonic chain of volcanoes and faults encircling the Pacific.

I even got to spend some time going over my Mount St. Helens data. It was a fantastic day.

For the first time since I got here, I felt comfortable.

I was really starting to think that Renfrew was cursed or that I was.

I suddenly understood what my grandma meant all those times she told me to stop being afraid and grab life by the balls.

She probably didn’t mean for me to kick someone in the balls, but if it worked, it worked.

“Oh oh, you think you’re special…” I sang along with Shania Twain while twirling the wooden spoon I used to mix cookie batter.

My kitchen smelled like fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, I had my own little dance party going on, and in about ten minutes, I was going to have a relaxing shower. Nothing could ruin my mood. Not even the owl who had flown out of his tree and was now perched outside the kitchen window.

I bobbed my head back at him while singing, “That don’t impress me much.”

Know what did impress me? The way Issac crumpled to the ground like a little girl. That’s right, my tiny almost, five-foot frame, brought down a big, strong man with one knee.

“How you like them apples?” I asked the owl.

He twisted his head to the side and hissed out a low, long, “Whooooo.”

Okay, that thing still creeped me out regardless of how upbeat I felt. Why was it over here when it tended to stick to its tree? Could one be stalked by an owl?

Shaking off the shiver crawling up my spine, I turned off the timer, dropped the wooden spoon in the sink next to my mixing bowl, and opened the oven door. The scent of fresh-baked cookies wafted over me, making my mouth water.

It took Mom and me years to perfect our recipe, but we did it.

There wasn’t a chocolate chip cookie out there better than ours.

They had the cookie crunch but were still soft and chewy with melt-in-your-mouth sweet goodness.

I would’ve eaten one right then and there if they weren’t so hot.

They would be cool enough after my shower.

After setting them on the cooling rack, I turned to head for the bathroom.

A knock on the door stopped me.

My brow arched at the clock on the wall.

It was 9:45 pm. Not too late for someone to come calling, if they were a friend. But the only friend I had was Rachel, and she wouldn’t knock. She’d walk in. So, who was here?

I looked at the owl, as if he would know—which he didn’t—then at the door. “Who is it?”

A male voice said. “I’m looking for Georgia Pyne.”

That sounded oddly formal.

I crept over to the door and lifted up on my tiptoes to look out the peephole.

The man standing on my porch definitely looked formal.

The black suit he was wearing was well-tailored and obviously expensive, and the way he carried himself, with his shoulders rolled back and head held high, was almost regal in nature.

In short, he was not someone who should be knocking on my door. And certainly not at ten at night.

“What do you want?” I asked through the door.

He didn’t look threatening, but that didn’t mean I trusted him. The fact that he was knocking on my door at all was sketchy.

“Can you open the door, please, Miss Pyne? I would like to talk to you about my brother Kash.”

This was Kash’s brother? I could see the similarities. Same eyes and dark hair, although this guy didn’t have Kash’s playful charm. He was very straight-faced. The real question was, why was he here at all? Did something happen to Kash?

Creaking open the door, I looked out at him. “Is Kash okay?”

“He’s fine. I came here to find out what you want.”

What I wanted?

“I don’t want anything.” Why would he assume I did? Was I missing something?

“My brother might buy that line of bullshit, Miss Pyne, but I don’t.” His stern eyes narrowed in on me. “I know girls like you, and I will not let my brother fall prey to your games.”

I was so confused. What games? “Are you sure you have the right person?”

“Oh, I have the right person.” One sweep of his eyes down my length, and I felt more judged than I ever had before.

“Now…” He cleared his throat and pulled a check book out of his jacket pocket. “How much will it take for you to leave my brother alone?”

What the hell was this guy talking about? “What?”

“Money, Miss Pyne,” Kash’s brother explained. “That’s what you’re after.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“Of course you do,” he snorted. “That’s what all you gold diggers want.”

Wait… he thought I was a gold digger? “I really don’t care about your money.”

“Right,” he pocketed his check book. “Why settle for money when you can have the Murphy name?”

Wow, this guy had a bad perception of humanity.

A stern finger pointed at me. “If you think I will let this relationship with my brother continue, you have another thing coming.”

“Whoa…” I held up my hands. “You have the wrong idea. I’m not dating Kash.”

I had no interest in ever dating Kash. The guy made sex appointments.

He glared down at me and crossed his arms. “Do you really expect me to believe that? I saw the video, Miss Pyne.”

What video?

“You think you’re pretty smart playing both the Murphys and the Kratzes. Either way, you come out on top, don’t you?”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was done with the conversation.

I didn’t need another asshole in my life.

However, it was kind of sweet that he was looking out for his brother.

He obviously loved Kash—he had the completely wrong idea—but he was only trying to protect his family.

For that reason alone, I could excuse his rudeness.

“I can assure you that I have no interest in your brother. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” I moved to close the door, but his arm shot out, stopping me.

“I’m warning you, Miss Pyne, stay away from my brother.”

That was it. No more being nice. I kicked one guy in the nuts today and wasn’t above doing it to another.

“Listen, you tiny little man…” I opened the door enough to jab my finger in his chest. “For the last time, I have no interest in your brother. I don’t want to date him, talk to him, or see him.

I don’t care how much money he has. All I want to do is have a shower, eat a couple of cookies, and go to bed.

Now, get off my porch before I beat you to death with a rolling pin. ”

He stared at me for a second before letting go of the door. “I’m watching you, Miss Pyne.”

“You do that,” I said, then closed and locked the door.

What the hell was all that about? Kash better not be telling people that we were dating.

Something gave his brother the wrong idea.

Oh well, I could deal with that later. First thing in the morning, I would find Kash and make sure he set his brother straight.

Right now, I was going to enjoy the rest of my night, starting with a shower.

“Hoo.”

I pointed at the owl still staring in the window at me. “Don’t you start.”

Thank God there weren’t any windows in the bathroom.

While the visit from Kash’s brother disturbed my perfect night, it didn’t destroy it.

My mood remained upbeat. Whatever tension had rolled into my body quickly melted away when I stepped under the warm spray of the shower.

Steam curled around me until there was nothing left but the steady rhythm of water on my skin and the faint scent of my coconut shampoo.

I let my head fall back and closed my eyes as water streamed over my face.

Each drop washed something else away. Stress, anxiety, the various confrontations I had with Issac.

They all swirled down the drain as my muscles loosened and my breathing evened out.

For once, my mind was at ease. Free of the thoughts and fear that had plagued me since I got here.

This shower was preciselyhow I wanted to end my day.

I huffed out a contented sigh and looked down at the suds circling the drain. My feet looked so small on the tiled floor, tiny toes padding about in the water. I wiggled them about and thought back to when I was a child and mom took me swimming for the first time.

I’d always been small, but I felt tiny walking into that pool.

Everything was enormous. The benches, lockers, and showers were these grand things that made it seem like I was in a world of giants.

As I grew older, I became accustomed to being the smallest one in the room, but this shower took me back to the public pool with Mom.

There was so much room in here that two full-grown men could fit comfortably in with me. I appreciated the multiple showerheads on the ceiling, but the size was too much. The closet Ravi, Issac, and I were in last night had less room.

“Seven minutes in heaven,” I snorted. “More like seven minutes in hell.”

Trapped in that dark place with nowhere to go while they put their hands on me.

That was not heaven. So why did I keep thinking about it?

I occupied myself with other things, but no matter what I did, my mind kept pulling me back to when Issac made every nerve in my body light up. How did he do that?

I used to roll my eyes at all the sex crazed teens in my high school. Now, I understood their behavior. If that was how touching felt, I couldn’t imagine what actual sex would be like. Not that I had ever questioned that before. I never considered myself a sexual being. Maybe I was wrong?

No. I didn’t have time for boys. Not to mention, every guy I’d met here was a dick. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t explore myself, right? Self-exploration was normal, and probably overdue in my case.

I was very distracted today, and that wasn’t good. I needed to focus on my education, and I couldn’t do that if I were thinking about some stupid party game. But I made myself orgasm…

My eyes dropped down.

Could I do it? Of course I could. How hard could it be? Issac wasn’t the gatekeeper of pleasure. He was a harbinger of evil. It was my body, therefore I controlled it.

I slid my hand over my stomach, inching closer to the apex between my thighs as a chime rang through the air.

Startled, I snapped my hand back, then calmed down when I realized where the sound was coming from.

“Get a hold of yourself, Georgia,” I blew out a breath. “It’s just the clock.”

There was nothing to worry about. It was the clock announcing the time, that was all. I placed my hand over my chest, attempting to steady the erratic beat of my heart, and mentally counted down the chimes.

Dong.

Eight.

Dong.

Nine.

Dong.

Ten.

Every light in the house went out, casting me into darkness.