Page 53 of Burn Me Down

“Hey sexy, are you still coming? From Cherry Popper?”

My eye twitched. I was going to kill Chase. “Yeah, it’s not what you think.”

Beck crossed her arms as she glared at me. This was weird, and it felt strange being on the other side of a jealous glare. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it.

“Oh really? You may want to explain it then.”

I swallowed hard. I’d never been terrified like this before, but my heart pounded in my chest as I stared into her steely gaze. It was different than the fear of physical pain or even the mental games my father played. Beck being angry could lead to her leaving and her leaving was a death sentence on my heart and all the strides I’d made. Worrying over my own sanity was second nature, but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that if I lost her, no on would be safe. I terrified myself.

Just then, the phone dinged again, and I knew this wasn’t going to be good as she growled at the phone.

“Don’t forget you promised to barbeque for me again soon. I love it when you bring all the heat and get down and dirty. Can’t wait to see you, Boo.”

If there was one noise a woman made that could make your blood run cold, it was when they sucked air in between their teeth. She sounded like a dragon, ready to burn everything down.

“I’m trying really hard to believe that all the sweet things you’ve said the last few days have been real, but this…this would make even the most confident woman second guess themselves.”

“This is going to sound really fucking weird, but Cherry Popper is Chase,” I said, and her eyebrow rose. I could almost see the wheels spinning as she tried to piece that one together. “No, I didn’t have sex with him or anyone. Although we did get a blowjob together, does that count?”

Beck’s glare went from ‘I’m going to break your phone’ to ‘I’m going to tear the limbs from your body and beat you,’ and fuck was it hot. Shit, this only made things more awkward as my cock stood at attention like it was ready to take orders.

“It was a long time ago, I swear.” I licked my lips. “Fuck, you’re making me hard.” I shifted in my seat, trying to get my brain back in gear.

Beck glanced down at my jeans, and it felt like her hand was touching me. I hadn’t been the type to crave a sexual connection. Adalyn had been it—as far as women went—and I never wanted to think of her again. The fires and the pain they caused were the only things that sustained my interest, but this was new. My cock ached to be in her even though it had only been a handful of hours. Shit.

“Finish the story before I have a full-on meltdown and tell you to pull the truck over, then get out right here at the side of the road.”

That would never happen. Even if it meant I needed to tie Beck up and toss her in the backseat, I wasn’t letting her walk along a highway alone.

“Okay, for this to make any sense, I need to start at the beginning. When I was in the hospital, I met a nurse. She brought me my meds and checked in on me, and after a while, I thought we were more than nurse and patient. Even though we never had sex, she was my first kiss and stuff. No one wanted to touch me before her.”

Beck tilted her head as she stared at me. “Is being a nurse your thing?”

“No, it’s just a really odd coincidence. Other than occupation, Adalyn is nothing like you, and I hate even saying her name in your presence.” My hands gripped the steering wheel tight. I never wanted to talk about this with anyone. “I thought she genuinely liked me and tried to protect me, but in reality, she had sexual tastes that I fit the bill for. Anyway, she ended up being attacked by orderlies and raped in front of me while I was tied down.”

Beck’s mouth fell open. “Oh my god.”

“They beat me and drugged me, and the entire time, I wanted to kill them all. I didn’t see her after that night, and I thought she’d quit or they forced her to work a different floor. It was the final straw that pushed me to put my plan to escape in motion, which is when I burned the place down. I didn’t care about anything or anyone that night. I wanted to teach all of them a lesson for everything they did to me and to her.” I glanced over at Beck. “But when I got out to the parking lot, her car was there.” Her hands flew to her mouth. “No, I didn’t kill her. I thought I had, though, and ran back to the fully engulfed building, trying to see if I could get in and find her. I was already so broken, and to think that the one person I thought cared about me had died by my hand…it sent me on a revenge spree.”

“So that’s when all the fires started? You were going after all those that hurt you?”

“Yes. The doctor who treated me, the orderlies who beat me, and those who hurt her that night. I planned each of their deaths, and then…then I found out that Adalyn was still alive.”

“Oh shit.”

“So, I went looking for her, stupidly thinking that she would want to see me. But I was nothing more than a kink, a way to fill a need in her, I guess. She had a boyfriend and told me to go away like I was a stray dog and not the man who had lit half the city on fire in her name.”

“So what did you do?”

“I took revenge on her as well for using me and hurting me just as deeply as any fist could. She loved fear and danger, so I made sure she knew I was indeed dangerous and that she should fear me by the time I left. You can say I exed her out of my life. I don’t want to get into what I did right now, but I will tell you one day if you really want to know. Anyway, I was lost. I always had been, but more so at that point. I was not who you see now.”

I looked over at her and realized that the only reason I was not still that crazed man set on killing everyone was because of her. I couldn’t tell Beck that, though. She would choose to stay with me out of duty, and I wanted her to stay because she loved me. As impossible as that may be, it was what I wanted more than anything else.

I sighed. “My revenge was wasted, and I ended up at this rundown bar, which is where I met Chase. He was going through a bunch of shit, and we just hit it off.”

“Okay, but how does that make him your Cherry Popper?”

“It’s not sexual. Chase found out that I’d never had a drink before because of my father and decided to make a party of me having my first drink. He was determined to get me hammered. Chase is the one who took me to the Foxy Rail for the first time and loaded his name as Cherry Popper in my phone. I never bothered to change it.”