Page 46 of Loverboy

“Oliver, you fuck, you just gonna sit there?” I shouted, grabbing at the walls.

Oliver only laughed nervously, as if he wasn’t entirely sure he was allowed to intervene without getting murdered.

I was a hostage, goddammit.

Inside my bedroom, Jasper dumped me unceremoniously onto the mattress with a grunt. I flipped him off with what little dignity I had left and rolled toward the wall. Unfortunately, I wasn’t nearly as good at giving people the cold shoulder as he was.

“You’re the worst,” I grumbled.

“Uh-huh.”

“Where are you going?” I whipped back as soon as I heard him walking away, propping myself up on my hands and watching his form disappear through the doorway with blurry vision.

After a beat, he circled back and leaned against the doorframe. “I’ll be ten feet away. In the next room.”

“Don’t go.” My voice cracked.

“Why?”

“You know why. Don’t be a dick.”

He waited.

“Please,” I asked so quietly, I wasn’t sure he heard me.

He hummed. “I still don’t know what you’re asking.”

“Kiss my ass.” I groaned, pulling the blanket over my head and flopping back.

He didn’t leave.

The mattress dipped as he sat beside me, tugging the blanket down to my chest. The look on his face mirrored the one he’d worn in the hospital—raw, terrified, angry. I didn’t do anything wrong this time, so why was he looking at me like that?

“Why do you always play games with me?” he asked, nudging me onto my side and rubbing my back in slow, steady strokes. “If you want something, say it.”

My eyes fluttered closed, and I melted into his touch. He made it sound so simple, as though asking for what I wanted didn’t carry the risk of being the final straw that ruined everything.

“What if you say no?” I murmured, my face half-buried into the pillow.

“No, to you needing me?” His nails dragged lightly down my spine, making me shiver. “Highly unlikely.”

21

Milo

I CRAWLED ON my hands and knees up the stairs, the wood slick beneath me. Each time I dragged myself higher, a red torrent swept me back down, erasing my progress. There was too much blood. My muscles ached and my chest burned, but I couldn’t give up.

They were at the top—a shadow, merely a silhouette, unaffected by the flood that was determined to drown me. I didn’t know who it was, but I had to reach them.

Please, please, please.

I stretched my fingertips forward, grazing their feet before my nails scraped the floor. It was too slippery. My knees smacked against the steps twice, and then I was weightless, tumbling into a sea of red. It filled my mouth, my nose, and my ears. I was going to the bottom.

I jolted upright upon the imagined impact, tremors rocking my body. My skin was damp with sweat, and my heart was hammering wildly against my ribs.

“Jasper?” I rasped, scrambling to my feet. I stumbled toward the bedroom door where the light spilled in through the cracks, the warm glow doing nothing to dampen my panic. The darkness against my back felt threatening, like something would sneak up from behind me and I’d never escape. Unable to get a good grip, I struggled with the knob.

I was going to die.