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He’s pissed. His stance rigid. His face wild. But his words are steady and almost concerned as he asks, “Did you want to die, Morgan?”
“No. That’d make it too easy on you.” And a few other fuckers that I still need to torment. Yeah. Staying alive is appealing if only to make others miserable—what else is there to live for at this point?
“Dealing with you is fucking hard, Morgan. You’re pigheaded, menacing, and downright hateful. But living without you would be harder. So, if you really feel like that’s your best option, I will make it my full-time fucking job to stick by your side to ensure you don’t ‘make it easy on me.’” He grabs his dry T-shirt—since he’d apparently had the foresight to take it off before jumping into the pool—and quickly pulls the fabric over my head to cover me. It reminds me of that stupid night. And it makes me want to sink beneath the pool’s surface again.
14
CADE
“Do you think she was serious?” Ryder asks, his concern apparent while watching Morgan, who is now sitting on the island, pour herself another drink.
Savannah and Neil stand next to her, all of them laughing at whatever their conversation is about. She seems unbothered by what happened just hours ago because she’s smiling. Though, with her, that means nothing. She’s clearly still trying to deal with what happened. And the only way she ever deals is to cause hell.
“I don’t know. But I know she wasn’t even trying to swim, and she was already out of breath.” I watch as she downs a shot then refills it. Like nothing ever happened. Like she wasn’t almost dead a little bit ago. There’s still a chance she might’ve inhaled water and have some in her lungs. “If she starts showing the slightest sign that something isn’t right, I’m calling EMS and not giving her a choice but to get checked out.” And I’ll deal with her wrath afterwards.
“Okay. I’m gonna head home if she’s ready to go.”
“Why not stay here? There’s still a curfew in effect, and some of the roads are flooding from what I’ve heard.” The water levels aren’t too bad, but with the low-profile car Ryder has, a little water could end in disaster. “If the roads are still underwater in the morning, I’ll give y’all a ride home in my truck.”
He looks like he’s pondering the options before he says, “Neil did say I could stay.”
“Yep.” And if he’s staying, that means she’s staying. Hopefully. At least for me to keep an eye on her for the time being.
“Let me see if she’s on board.”
“Good luck.”Please let her be.I’m too freaking exhausted to chase her across the damn city tonight. But I can’t let her out of my sight, not after seeing her display. My hand unconsciously rubs against my T-shirt. The one I’d placed on her before she yanked it off and tossed it at me, then picked up her dress, put it back on, and pretended the entire event never happened.
After speaking to his sister for a few moments, she punctuates the conversation with an eye roll before turning away. Ryder nods his head and points to the floor, mouthing “We’re staying” once he’s out of Morgan’s line of sight. Well, part of the dilemma is solved. Now, it’s just a matter of waiting until she’s ready for bed. Whether she likes it or not, I’ll be in the same room.
Fuck. How does she yank me in so many different directions? I’d been all right giving her some space. But after her stunt, I don’t want to let her out of my sight. Later, when she heads upstairs, I follow her, making no effort to conceal the fact that I’m on her tail. There’s no point in hiding it. She knows for certain now that I’m never going to let her go. And after that spectacle, I’m going to stick to her side until I know her rage is stronger than her need to hurt herself.
It doesn’t escape my notice that the room she enters is the guest room I always stay in, the one we’ve stayed in together on occasion. Before she’s all the way in the room, she pulls her dress over her head and drops it to the floor. Wasting no time, she walks directly to the bed, slides under the comforter, and exhales as she says, “Stop fucking lurking around and just go to bed.”
Not an invitation, but not a dismissal either. I take my shirt off and push my still damp jeans off. Once I grab a dry pair of boxer briefs out my bag, I change into them, then slip into the bed beside her.
“So desperate.” She lets out a soft laugh.
I prop up on my elbow, guiding her onto her back so I’m hovering over her, while she looks up at me. “This is my bed. And you knew that when you got into it. So do us both a favor: shut the fuck up and go to sleep.”
There’s a slight smirk on her lips as she lifts up to press them softly to mine. “We’ll pretend you won this time as long as you can shut the fuck up too.”
“Deal.” Not that there’s anything I can say that would make a damn bit of difference anyhow, and I’m too fucking exhausted to follow her around this house all night. I lie down, my back flat on the mattress, slide my arm under her shoulder blades, and pull her to rest on top of me.
The smell of chlorine in her hair is a clear reminder that everything isn’t all right. The only thing making me feel better is the slow, steady rise of her chest against me, which lets me believe she’s okay and not having any trouble breathing. At least there’s no trouble that I’m aware of physically, but I’m more than certain there’s a demon rising from somewhere deep inside her that won’t be content until it’s destroyed everyone and everything in its path.
15
MORGAN
The moment in my dream where I faceplant into the gritty concrete of the uninhabited hospital is the moment I snap out of the dream. My eyelids shoot open as I look around the room. It takes me a few seconds to remember I’m at Neil’s house. The bed beside me, where Cade was sleeping, is empty. He was here when I fell asleep. When did he leave, and why the fuck did I have to wake up? Looking at my phone, I read 6 a.m. across the screen and get out of the bed. Searching around the room, I pull on my dress and try to remember where in the hell I left my sandals last night.
I was exhausted and drunk and still I couldn’t sleep through the fucking night without that stupid abandoned ward invading it.
“You’re awake,” Cade says as he enters the room, holding up a bottle of water and shaking a bottle of aspirin. “Thought you might need these.” His voice is grouchy, but the gesture is way too fucking sweet.
Why the fuck did I stay here with him? Oh yeah, because I wanted to snooze for a few hours and knew that would happen with him in bed with me. But I can’twanthim to be beside me. Fuck that. I need to sleep, and I can manage that somehow without this dickhead being beside me.
I don’t take either of his offerings before I walk out of the bedroom and down the hallway. “Ryder.” Where the fuck is my brother at? He’s going to show me the video. And I’m going to have proof that it’s not as unnerving as my recall has convinced me and my rational brain will take over so I can fucking sleep.
