AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s my good girl,” he purrs into the line, and it’s almost like I can feel his fingers combing through my hair all over again. How can his voice alone make me feel like that? “So good for letting me take care of you.”
I hold back a shaky sigh as something hot and strange pools low in my abdomen at the praise. For a moment, I think about touching myself, but I wouldn’t even know where to start. Virgins like me don’t just know how to do things like that.
“Will you let me keep taking care of you?” he asks, voice low and serious.
“Y-yes,” I whisper. My entire body is wound tight, warmth coursing through me and looking for an outlet. “I want to see you again,” I finally admit.
Is this … is this lust?
Santino breathes heavily, sounding almost winded. “I want to see you again too, baby girl. Want to show you how good I can take care of you.”
“I want that. I want you to show me.” Need continues to build up within me, my palms itching, my toes curling, unable to figure out how to relieve the pressure. I never expected to feel this for another person, but now I get what they mean when they say love drives people crazy. I feel like I’m halfway there myself and this is just a phone call.
What will it be like when we next see each other?
“Then let me take you out to dinner,” he says. “Use that check to get yourself something to wear, something that makes you feel as pretty as you are to me, and I’ll pick you up. All my treat.”
His offer rings in my ears. Something that makes you feel as pretty as you are to me … I’ve never been called pretty before. He’d called me beautiful earlier, too … does he really mean it?
He must because he asks me where he can pick me up (and I give him a nearby street corner instead of the crappy motel’s address, just to avoid the embarrassment), and after we end our conversation, he sends me a sweet text, wishing me good night and that I should call him if I need anything at all.
It hits me all at once that this feels almost like it’s moving too fast, and yet I’m all too eager to go to bed just to wake up and deposit the check. I make plans to myself as I crawl under the sheets. I’ll need the money sooner than a mobile deposit would hit my account, so I’ll go to a branch of my bank first thing in the morning. Are there any nicer stores nearby? Maybe it’s worth it to take a bus to get somewhere specific. And I probably need to check if I need to buy more data for my phone.
All of these thoughts and more run through my head, but soon, my eyes are slipping closed, and I fall asleep, getting the best rest I’ve had in days.
***
I’m running late.
After settling a time with Santino in the morning, I got started on my errands. As I looked up the locations of the different places I needed to go, it quickly became apparent that I’d need to drive to make the most of my time, so that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been careful all day, making sure to obey all rules of the road and keep my eyes peeled for any law enforcement, and it’s been fine. Turns out driving a stolen car isn’t that big of a deal when there’s no one around to ask if it’s stolen.
Everything was going fine, until I got stuck in traffic as I tried to head back to my motel to get ready for my date. I should have known that my luck would run out.
Just as I manage to get out of the bumper to bumper jam, I notice a cop car.
Instantly, my heart begins to pound in my ears.
“Breathe, Renee,” I whisper to myself. “Just breathe and drive with the rest of traffic.”
I try my best to remain calm, even though I know I’m screwed if they signal for me to pull over. As soon as they run the plate numbers, they’ll know the vehicle has been reported as stolen. There’s no way my stepdad didn’t report it. Even if this car’s a total beater and is a mere handful of miles from completely falling apart, his hatred of me is stronger than his pride. He’d rather make my life miserable than take the embarrassing loss of his useless step kid stealing his car out from under his nose.
And the last thing I need is to have him ruin my life even more than he already has.
Please. Please. Please, I chant in my head as I pass the squad car.
For a moment, I think I’m in the clear, the distance between my vehicle and the other growing second by second.
But then the red and blue lights flash in my rearview mirror.
Fear grips my chest, making it hard to breathe. All I can think is that this is it.
That it’s over for me.
My attempt to make a life for myself is over. I’ll end up paying more for stealing this tin can than my parents will ever pay for their neglect and abuse. The thought makes me grip the steering wheel tightly as I signal to pull over to the side of the road. I flip my hazard lights on as I fight back tears.
There’s no way out of this, nothing to keep me safe.
Not even Santino, with his promise to take care of me, can be here for this moment. Why would he? We only just met last night, after all. It was nice feeling wanted while it lasted, I guess.
