Page 31 of Depraved

Do I run to the kitchen, or away from the kitchen?

Jesus.

I pulled the door open, ready to sprint, only to look right into Neon’s face.

“Seriously, Swan Lake. You’re seriously going to try to make a run for it when there’s an entire bar filled with mean-ass motherfuckers who would break you in half just by looking at you?”

I tried to swallow, but my mouth and throat instantly went dry. “I, ah…I’m not⁠—”

She shoved a bundle of clothing into my chest. “Take a damn shower and quit fucking around. Your two minutes just slipped down to thirty seconds.” She placed her hands on either side of the doorframe. “I’ll wait right here.”

I clutched the clothing tighter. “You’re going to watch me take a shower?”

“Yup.” She didn’t even blink.

I took a few steps back, watching her watch me. “At least you got Swan Lake right this time.”

“I’m a quick learner.” Her head leaned to the side. “Let’s hope you are too.”

From the look on her face, I knew she wasn’t kidding about the whole thirty-second thing. So I tried to ignore the fact that she was watching me get naked and hurried myself through the shower. Even though I would have loved to drag it out, to concentrate on how good it felt to have the water cascade down on my aching body, I decided it best not test Neon. Washing my hair and face, then lathering the vanilla scented soap bubbles on my skin, all happened in record time. When I stepped out of the shower, a towel got tossed right in my face.

“Hurry the fuck up. They’re here.”

“Who?” I wrapped the towel around me.

“Granite and the rest of the guys. You can hear their Harleys coming from a mile away.”

Drying myself, brushing my teeth, and grabbing the clothes Neon brought me all happened in fifteen seconds flat. I glanced down at the t-shirt I just pulled over my head. ‘Bra off. Hair down.’

I gave Neon a knowing look, and she shrugged. “It’s the best I could find on such short notice. Now, hustle.”

The pair of jeans she gave me was about three size too big, but I was in no position to complain.

Neon rushed me across the hall and back into the room I woke up in. We could hear the stomping of shit-kicker boots downstairs, and Neon seemed about as frazzled as I was.

“Here.” She held out two chocolate energy bars. “He said I should make sure you eat something. So, eat.”

My stomach churned, thinking of the last time I binge-ate a shitload of chocolate bars. “I can’t⁠—”

Her glare bored holes into my forehead. “Now is not the time, Swan Lake. Eat the fucking bars now, before he gets here.”

I hesitated.

“Now!” Neon pushed the bars against my chest, forcing me to take them.

My hand quivered as I tore the wrapper open. The mint toothpaste taste was still in my mouth when I took the first bite of the energy bar. It masked the sweetness of the chocolate and tasted all kinds of wrong. But Neon’s glare my way made it clear I had no goddamn choice but to stuff both bars down my throat as quickly as possible.

The more I ate, the more I started to taste the chocolate as the toothpaste flavor dissipated. It had been two years since I last tasted anything chocolate. It was good, the smooth taste of cocoa. The sweetness of refined sugar. And the bitterness of a fuck-load of calories. Each mouthful I swallowed became heavier, moving down my throat as if coated with sandpaper.

Neon frowned. “You must be the only woman in the entire fucking world who doesn’t like chocolate.”

“It’s not that I don’t like it.” I chewed some more. “I had a bad experience once which ended with undigested chocolate pieces on my parents’ front lawn.”

“Oh,” she nodded, “kind of like the experience I had with vodka which ended with pieces of undigested spaghetti on my bedroom floor.”

I stilled, my stomach giving a violent churn. “Yeah,” I said slowly. “Like that.”

We heard footsteps coming from the stairs, and Neon grabbed the empty wrappers from my hand. “It’s been swell, Swan Lake.” She rushed to the door, but just as she reached to close it, Granite appeared, towering over her like Goliath. Neon was taller than I was, but she was nowhere near as tall as the hulking biker.