Page 29 of Pleasure & Prey: Vol. 2

But don’t you want her to know? Some voice in my brain screams. Don’t you want her to take you out of here, you idiot?

Yeah, this probably isn’t my smartest move. But I still have time. I don’t have to decide just yet. There are a ton of moments between now and them leaving for me to change my mind so they’ll take me away from Jed and let me go back home. That has to be what I want, so why can I feel the ghost of Jed’s lips on mine, and the way he’d held my hips in his hands when we kissed?

Why can I suddenly remember every dream I had last night, when my face was buried in his pillows while I slept?

“How do you know Mr. Shaw?” she nods her head at Jed, jolting me out of my reverie. The way she’s looking at me, I wonder if she’d had to ask more than once before I’d realized she was talking to me, and I hope to God that’s not the case.

“He’s my friend,” I reply, then clear my throat, knowing that sounds…not very believable. “Sorry, it’s a habit that I tell people that. It’s new, so…” I suck in a breath. “Jed is my boyfriend.”

“That so?” There’s no shock on her face, but she jots something down in her little notebook. “How long have you been dating?”

“Two weeks, but we’ve been, uh,” I let my natural insecurity and inability to sound confident at the most necessary of times do me a favor here, and my hands come up to make stupid gestures in front of my chest. “We’ve known each other for months. You know?” I know what I’m hinting at, and I raise my brows at her before glancing at Jed with a rueful half-smile.

The other officer, Brown, catches my eye and nods with a comforting smile, like he’s convinced I’m telling the truth. Well, at least I’ve got one of them convinced.

“Have you seen anything suspicious since you’ve been here? We got a call about strange cars coming up here from town. And there’s been a man reported missing this past week. We’re checking our bases,” the female officer asks, explaining her reasoning before she’s done.

“No,” I shrug. “No, I haven’t really seen anything out of the ordinary. We walk the trails a lot, so I’d probably see something?” I gesture toward the door, pointing one way, then the other, to illustrate the two paths that I’ve now explored since being here.

But I still can’t look at Jed. I’m afraid I’ll crack if I see the look on his face, and more than that, I worry what he thinks of me right now.

I worry, because my brain is calling me ten kinds of stupid and I don’t know what to do other than continue on this awful, terrible path I’m on. At this point, I’ve committed to it right? I can’t do anything else.

Convince me. That’s what I’d said to him. That’s what I’d dared him to do before he came closer and let me kiss him. Fuck, Jed’s lips are so soft, so inviting, and so, so dangerous if I’m lying to the cops just to get another taste. But I’d told him to convince me. It feels only fair that he gets a chance to do so.

And it doesn’t feel right to expose him to the police now.

I continue to answer the officer’s questions, and while Rayez is more aggressive and fires them off at me without giving me much time to answer. Brown only chimes in a few times, asking me easy questions or allowing Jed to chip in with an answer of his own.

By the time Rayez stands up, my body and mouth feel numb from answering her questions and all the lying I’ve done. She sighs, like she’d hoped to find something, and I rise to my feet as well when she sticks a hand out for me to shake.

“Well, we just ask that you both keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary,” she tells me, looking between the both of us for the first time in at least ten minutes. It almost feels like she’s met Jed before, and isn’t impressed. Or maybe one of his friends? I’m sure Wren could do that to someone, if he’s given even half of an opportunity. “And we’ll be back if we have any more questions.”

She heads to the door, Brown on her heels murmuring to Jed in a tone much kinder than the one Rayez has been using. I wonder if she suspects that Jed is more than he seems. I wonder if she has a reason to suspect him. But I’m certainly not about to bring that up, when my first priority is getting out of this uncomfortable situation.

Before the door closes, Rayez turns, her sunglasses in her hand. “Hey.” She holds the door open with her hand, curled fingers white with the force of how hard she’s holding the door. “Saylor, right?” I dip a nod, confused. “If there’s something wrong…” She glances at Jed over my shoulder, her eyes narrowed in a glare. “If there’s anything going on here, you can tell me.” She sidles closer, and my heart does a flip while my stomach flutters. “I can help you.”

She can help me. My brain latches onto that statement and my lips fall open, parting like something will come out when there’s nothing there at all. Not even a whisper. I just stare at her, nonplussed, and wait for my brain to catch up.

“I can get you out of here, okay?” For the first time, her voice is gentle when she says it, and while I can feel Jed behind me, waiting, he doesn’t do or say anything. He doesn’t try to get between us, and I don’t feel his hands on any part of me, in reassurance or in warning.

He’s waiting for me to decide.

“I’m fine.” My eyes meet the officer’s, and my chin tilts upward with confidence. I say it again, repeating the words to her flatly. “I’m fine.”

The worst part is that she believes me. The suspicion fades from her gaze and she slips her sunglasses back on, nodding curtly while Brown waddles back to their car. “If you think of anything you’ve seen, please let me know.” She hands her card to Jed, who has come to stand at my side sometime in the past few seconds. “Have a nice day, both of you.”

Then she turns, gets in the car, and they drive away without stopping. Without seeing the slaughter shed.

Without taking me with them.

But all I can do is stand there while Jed pockets the paper, my hand tight on the door while the rest of my body vibrates with tension.

“Saylor…” There’s relief in Jed’s voice as he looks at me, and he reaches one hand out for me, stopping when I whirl on him.

“Stop. Please,” I whisper, holding my hands up in front of me like a shield. I can feel the tears burning at my eyes, and I see my upraised hands shake. “Please, Jed. I just…” Cutting myself off, I close my eyes hard, shaking my head. “I don’t know what I did. I don’t know why…” He doesn’t interrupt me. He doesn’t say anything as my stomach threatens to reject the water I’d had.

“I need to go. I need to—” I step out of the cabin, onto the gravel beyond as my breathing comes in sharp, jagged pants. “Just for a little while. Let me think.” He isn’t arguing with me. Hell, he isn’t saying anything.