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One foot outside.
The voices are louder.
Second foot outside.
I can hear their footsteps.
I’m pulling the door shut, and I see their feet on the stairs.
My whole body freezes.
I can’t shut the door while they can see it. If I close it and run, I’m as good as dead––no money. No clothes. And even though it’s not what I want to do, I know what I have to do.
I push the door back open, pretending like I just got home.
They’re halfway down the stairs, but I don’t look up. I just wrap my arms around my middle.
“What the fuck are you doing home?” Arthur snaps.
“I’m s-sick,” I stammer through the first excuse I can think of. And with the way my stomach is rolling, it’s not even a lie.
“Gross,” he sneers.
I hear Bobby snicker as they both walk straight to the kitchen.
Not needing an invitation to leave, I dart up the stairs and into my room. And even though I want to spend my time sanitizing every inch of the room they might have touched. I don’t have time.
I need to pack.
Now.
Because I’m leaving tonight.
* * *
Nero’s chestis rising and falling against my back. It’s the only sign he heard my words as they scraped their way out of my throat.
“I was so scared for so long after I left. And the thought of someone touching me…” I press back into him, and his arm tightens around me even more. “I wasn’t ready. Then I wasn’t sure how.”
The mattress jostles as Nero shifts onto his back. “Come here.”
Twisting around, I turn and lay against him while he readjusts the blankets around my shoulders. My head goes to that spot between his shoulder and chest. My leg hooking up over his.
Nero’s arms encircle me in a hug.
“But then I met you.” I say the words into his chest. Hoping he understands how much he’s meant to me already. “And it finally felt like it was time.”
“I should’ve made him suffer.” Nero’s words are gravel over sandpaper.
“What?”
He hugs me tighter. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s over now,” I tell him, reassuring him. “It took me longer than I’d planned but I got to control the experience. And no matter what happens once youfigure things out, I don’t regret giving it to you.”
“I’ll make sure you never do.”
A large hand strokes over my damp hair.
