Page 52 of Pleasure & Prey: Vol. 2

“Do you want to wait here?” Jed’s voice is gentle. His hand strokes over my knuckles, but I shake my head vehemently. I’d come this far. And I’d already told myself that if I can’t do this, then I can’t be with him. This is my victory condition, even though I haven’t shared that with Jed yet.

“No,” I promise him, my voice hard. “No, I don’t need to wait out here. I can do this.” I don’t think I can do this. “I’m⁠—”

The sound of my phone ringing makes me jump, and I glare down at it in the console, knowing that there’s only one person with this kind of awful timing.

Sure enough, when I pick it up and flip it over in my fingers, the phone reads Brenda in unwelcome letters.

“Your step-mom, right?” Jed’s hand closes over the phone, not giving me the chance to answer or not. “Who you’re not really fond of.”

“Right,” I whisper. “But she’s going to keep calling. I can’t ignore her forever.” The ringing stops, and sure enough, picks right back up as she calls me for the second time in the span of a minute.

“May I…?” He gingerly picks up the phone, making sure that I’m all right with it as he does. I know that I have the choice to take it back. He makes it clear with the hesitancy, the caution, in his actions. But part of me is too curious to stop him. The other just really doesn’t want to talk to Brenda.

Jed answers the call before it can go to voicemail again, and with his gaze firmly on my face, he hits the button for speakerphone.

“This is getting ridiculous, Saylor.” Brenda’s voice is like a whip. “I’m trying to plan your father’s birthday dinner, but you’re acting like it’s not at all a priority to you. Can you⁠—”

“I’m really sorry.” Jed’s voice is charming, apologetic, and sweeter than honey when he smoothly cuts her off. “But Saylor is asleep right now. We were out late last night, and she’s exhausted.” When he stops, Brenda is silent. Probably floored that someone has the audacity to cut her off or tell her anything she doesn’t want to hear.

“Who is this?” she asks at last, her voice full of suspicion. “I don’t recognize your voice.”

“I’m sorry. I’m Jed. Saylor’s boyfriend.” His explanation is still in that same, sweet voice that I don’t think she can argue with if she tries. How can she, when he sounds as if his heart will break at the first sign of confrontation? It’s fake, of course. I can see it in the glint from his blue eyes. It’s all an act for Brenda. “She’s asleep.” He repeats that part more firmly, solely for Brenda’s benefit. “Can I have her call you later?”

“Oh. Saylor hadn’t mentioned a boyfriend.” Brenda sounds almost put out by that. As if she would ever be the first to know. “Will you be coming to her dad’s birthday dinner?” God, she really never quits.

Jed looks up at me, brows raised, and I nod vigorously. I don’t mind if he wants to meet my parents. I’m just not sure if I’ll ever be up for the same with his family. “Yes,” he says, when I’ve nodded for maybe the hundredth time. “She asked if I’d want to go. But only if it’s not an inconvenience to your plans.”

“No, it’s fine.” She huffs a sigh. “I just need her to actually tell me these things. What did you say your name was again? Jade?”

His smile twitches on his lips. “Jed,” he corrects easily. “Just J-E-D.”

“Is that short for something?” Naturally, she’s going to start prying now.

“Maybe,” he chuckles. “But I prefer just Jed. Could I let you go? I want to get lunch going before Saylor’s awake.”

I can feel her surprise like a wave through the phone, and sure enough, her next words are, “You cook?”

“I cook,” Jed assures her. “I’d be glad to help out if you ever need anything in that department.”

I shake my head ruefully, a grimace on my lips. He’s asking for it now by offering to help her. She’ll definitely take advantage of him if she gets half a chance.

“I’ll have to consider that. Just make sure Saylor calls me? Today?” Her voice is whip sharp, and I roll my eyes at how typically Brenda it is. She can’t let anyone forget who’s on top, after all. At least in her own mind.

“Sure.” He hangs up on her with a polite dismissal and slides the phone back into the console. “She sounds lovely.”

“Oh, she’s a peach,” I agree, sucking in another deep breath. At least her call has given me some time to get myself under control, and while I still feel shaky, I don’t feel like I’m going to toss my cookies everywhere.

“Are you ready?” His hand grazes over mine, and he clasps my fingers lightly. “If you’re still sure you want to go in.”

I’m not, but I nod my head a couple of times in jerky, singular motions. “Yeah. I’m uh, so ready.” To prove it, I open the door of the Jeep and slide down to land on my feed, blinking up at the old, broken-down barn.

It certainly looks like a place to commit a murder. It’s clearly abandoned, and the wood has turned gray with age. The building leans in on itself, with panels missing from the roof and large, rusted nails sticking out on all sides.

“Are we sure it isn’t going to collapse?” I mutter, following Jed to the back of the SUV. “Like, I’d rather not die today from a barn falling on my head.”

Jed chuckles and opens the back of the SUV, exposing a tarp-lined interior and his chainsaw. Today, the blood has been mostly scrubbed off of it, and he picks it up like it weighs nothing. When he awkwardly reaches for the tarps, I reach out to help, though I have no intention of carrying the tarps.

Which he realizes, when I point at the weapon in his hands. “Oh, Saylor,” he sighs, shaking his head. “You just never give up. Fine.” Easily he hefts it in my direction, lifting it higher so I can more easily grab the handle he’s holding onto. “Just don’t drop it,” he requests, and picks up the tarps in his other hand to bundle them in his arms. With his elbow he closes the hatch, and I follow him to the barn, trying to pretend that the chainsaw isn’t the heaviest thing I’ve ever carried.