Page 37 of Make You Mine

I’m trying to sympathize. Throwing hints of our shared past at him.

Why doesn’t he understand that he can’t have her?

He will get it.

For now, I watch them interact. Him, making lame jokes that’ll get him nowhere with her. And my girl, blushing at every word he says.

I see it in her eyes. The lust. That’s how she’s supposed to be with me, not Kayden. I’m the good one.

He’s the bad seed, the rotten one.

I’ll change her mind. I’ll forgive her sins this time.

I browse through the bag of goodies I brought home for her.

Pick a white box with a red ribbon and prepare the next surprise.

This one caught my eye when I first read a certain line in her journal.

I take out the notepad I bought specifically to write notes for her on, and jot down the phrase she used in her fantasy. She’d better appreciate my gift this time. I’m respecting her. Not overstepping. Giving her a taste of what’s hers, what she’ll get with me.

I’ll leave it by her door so she’ll find it when she gets home.

It’ll blow her away. Every single part of her.

Fingers crossed that stupid stepbrother of hers is there when she opens it.

13

MADELYN

I stroll through the corridor with aching soles and my heels in my hands after Kayden drops me off at home.

I mentioned on the way back that we ran out of milk, and that I completely forgot I was going to stop by a market after work. So, he said he’d go get some from one of the convenience stores nearby.

He’s been acting different than usual, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. But I let him get me my milk, regardless. I’m too tired and flustered to argue about that.

Thoughts of how Kayden asked me to pretend to be his girlfriend in front of that guy at the diner are somersaulting my heart. I didn’t end up asking him about it. We ate and busied ourselves with ordering the stuff we needed for the charity event.

The closer I get to our apartment, the clearer it gets. There’s something by our front door.

I stop right in front of it. It’s a white box. Simple, with a red ribbon on top.

A chill runs down my spine. Not again.

I’ve got a feeling I know what this is.

I move my heels to one hand and pick up the box with the other, running inside.

I don’t want to. But there’s no way I’m letting Kayden find it first, and it won’t take long until he’s back.

Placing the box in the middle of the kitchen island, I undo the ribbon. My fingers tremble as I do.

Inside, a plastic toy in the shape of a red rose bud, and on top of it, another piece of folded paper.

The familiar handwriting reads,

You said you wonder what it’d be like to be overstimulated by your lover’s lips.