Page 222 of Lessons in Cruelty

…get out…

…he’s coming for you…

Sweat prickles at the back of my neck.

The podium digs into my fingers where I’ve got the sides gripped white-knuckle tight as I try to work moisture back into my mouth.

“I’d like to thank the academy…” I force a laugh. “Whoops. Wrong speech.”

Silence.

I mean, seriously?

“Okay, I’m going to be honest. I didn’t know I was supposed to give a speech tonight.”

More silence.

I lick my lips, swallow.

My eyes are adjusting. I can see the edges of the crowd now, and they’re all staring at me with blank faces.

You know what? Fuck them.

Fuck them all.

“Because I never got the invite.” I let out another laugh, and it’s easier this time, because it’s bitter.

“Because, until quite recently, I’d been living in my car. And trust me, you can leave your window open, but Ted still won’t deliver your mail.”

That gets some laughs, which is fucked, because it wasn’t a joke. Not really.

“Guess that’s why they want me to make a speech, right? If anyone knows about being poor, it’s me.”

I can’t yell at these people. They’re not responsible for my shitty life.

But it feels good getting this off my chest when I’ve been trying to hide every aspect of my life in case someone found out I was a fraud and sent me packing.

“Funny thing about poverty…it either breaks you, or it makes you unbreakable. I’ve seen it break a lot of people. Practically everyone I know, in fact.”

I glance off to the wings where a nervous Melissa is staring at me with big eyes.

“I’d like to think that standing up here and giving this stupid speech after almost falling flat on my face puts me in the unbreakable category.”

The crowd breaks out in applause.

What the hell? I was being sardonic.

I search the faces I can pick out in the crowd, trying to understand what they find so inspiring about my sad life.

And that’s when I see him.

Kai.

He looks so fucking hot in his tuxedo that my mind goes blank for a second. My cheeks flare red. A tingle starts up between my legs and tries to bury itself deep inside me.

Like his fingers had.

My pussy clenches, remembering. The nearly healed cut on my ribs throbs, remembering. The bite marks he left on my tit.