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“Because your life might depend on it one day.”
I could see he was not bullshitting me. He meant every word of that declaration.
I abruptly turned around and went inside the cabin. As I passed the table, Huck held out his hands as if to say, “Oh well”, all while Garrett just winked at me like, “You’ll be fine”.
Rolling my eyes, I found a corner not far from the front door, and like a child, I stood in it. I stared at the conjoined walls. Me complying so easily was quite intentional on my part. I didn’t want them to see me cry. I needed to be stronger than I had been the last twenty-four hours, I had to get myself together.
The men droned on about boring hunting stuff, and I leaned my head against the wall. The more I thought about what brought me to that point, the more pissed off I got. Especially because I had to pee— really, really bad.
Why did I suddenly not have a say in my own life? Why did my rescuer think he knew better than me when it came to things concerning me? Why didn’t I get an opinion?
Grrr.
My rescuer wanted control over everything I said and did? He thought he knew better what I needed? He thought himself fucking omniscient where I was concerned? Fine. I’d play his game.
It would be a cold day in hell before I asked to leave this spot. I wouldn’t bother letting him know when I was tired, hungry, or needed to urinate.
Oops.
I stared at the warm puddle at my feet.
Someone grabbed me by the arm and swung me around. “I won’t tolerate your acting out.” He glared at the floor then back at me. “I ought to rub your nose in it.”
All innocent like, I blinked prettily. “You said you wanted me to obey you without question. You’re the one who sent me to the corner. I stayed in it. It’s not my fault you didn’t release me from my punishment before I had an accident.”
“And this is what I meant earlier about acting your age—like a goddamn adult. Rather than work with me a little, you’d rather make me the villain and yourself the martyr.”
I shrugged flippantly. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Bo smacked the wall near my head. I jumped and screamed as my heart thumped wildly. He leaned in close, intimidating me with his sheer size.
“A mature woman would have just asked to use the outhouse, even if it meant having to return to the corner afterword” he explained pointedly. “A mature woman would have not pissed herself to protest what she felt was unfair treatment like a fucking toddler. A mature woman would realize that I’m only trying to protect her from danger because this is not the world she grew up in, that there is no room for missteps or mistakes here, so she needs to trust me or risk dying horribly.”
Angry tears streamed from my eyes. “You’re punishing me for wanting to check on my family.”
“Because your family is dead, Acedia.” He stormed out the front door, slamming it behind him.
No—no, the fuck he didn’t! I bolted after him. The two brothers gave chase.
“Don’t walk away from me,” I yelled as I caught up to him. “You don’t get to lay that at my feet and fucking walk away!”
When he refused to turn and face me, I pushed him in the back with all the weight I could force into my palms.
That got his attention.
He spun and captured my wrists before I could do it again.
His two brothers caught up but stopped short of intervening. Bo appeared ready to throttle me. All I could do was look between him and his brothers and silently implore someone to say something worth fucking hearing.
“Just tell her,” Garrett said.
Bo let out the frustrated breath he’d been holding. “If I tell you, you can’t cry.”
“Fine.”
“Promise?”
“Yes,” I agreed.
