Blind Beast Mate(24)

I heard gulping sounds, and the bottle slammed on the bar. I blinked a few times but didn’t startle. “Mom partied, so I know what you mean.”

Jamie gulped down another drink. “Been watching our house. The girl who brought your dog back is Vice’s…pair. She left him, and I want to know what she told you.”

“I don’t know her at all.”

“Hm.” Jamie ran a claw down my shoulder. “How did she get inside the house, Rey? I lock the house when I leave. Every single day.”

I hung my head. “I test-drove the bike and forgot to engage the security when I went back inside.”

Gently, he turned my chair and stepped between my bare thighs. “You what?”

“Forgot to lock…”

“No, the bike. Tell me about the bike.”

“The house programmed the directions to places in the city into the phone. The house said I could hook the phone to the bike and that it’d take me where I needed to go. Like on autopilot. The marketplace. The fridge is empty, and you want MachoBeast razors. The blue ones.” When he didn’t say anything, I continued, “I didn’t go. Obviously. I moved it up and down in the driveway. Pretended, you know.” I needed to come clean.

“I’m gonna sell the bike.”

I nodded.

Taking a strand of my hair, he said, “I’m braiding it.” He kissed my forehead, and tears spilled from the edges of my eyes. “I watched you with the cane and the guide hound. I’m thinking the best thing for me to do is to leave and go for a ride. But I can’t ride, because you might bail like Dewlyn bailed. You wanna go back to places you know. I understand. Sure is better for you. Safer where you know everything. You gonna leave me, Rey?”

“Are you gonna return me?”

Jamie dropped my hair and stepped back. “You’re not a fucking piece of candy. You are mine!”

I stood too. “I’m not deaf!”

Silence resumed.

I sat back down. “My hearing is somewhat as good as yours. I also have a great palate. I can tell different coffee brands of medium-blend coffee just by tasting it. I really can cook anything and make gourmet butter cookies from just sugar, butter, and flour. Dad used to say it’s art. Also, I have a sixth sense for bullshit, so I know you’re trying to contain your anger. You’re mad.”

“Fuck yes, I’m mad. Thinking of the kind of shit that could’ve happened… Why didn’t you tell me? This isn’t something to hide.”

“At first, I wanted to run. But then we…we bonded as a couple. I didn’t want to ruin it. I planned to tell you, but I wanted to try on my own. I can’t depend on you to do everything for me. You’re not my babysitter, you’re my better half. I should be your better half, not your pain in the ass. I hate being a burden. I wanted to be—”

“Worth it?”

“Productive. But yes, you paid a fortune for me. I also want to bring something into our pairing. I didn’t know how. Don’t return me.” There, I’d said it.

“I want to know why that is. What’s wrong with going back? Leslie seemed nice, and your uncle is a pussy. Most girls we get wanna go back home. Your sister went back.”

“She’s dead, and he’ll shoot me too.”

“Say that again.”

“He’ll make me disappear. I’m useless to him. I won’t entertain any of his games. I can’t fuck—”

“Shhhh, don’t say it,” Jamie interrupted. “That’s what he told you, didn’t he? To shut up and put up, and that’s what you’ve been doing. Leading me on so now I gotta decide.”

“I’m sorry.” I started removing my rings. I yanked them off and placed them on the counter. “It’s a horrible mistake, a horrible lie, I’m a horrible person, but don’t take me back. Uncle Sam lied to you about many things. I’m not worth the price you paid. He’s ripped off more of your men than you’d care to know.” I giggled hysterically. What I was about to tell him would doom the girls in the pairing program, but I didn’t care. Someone had to speak up. “Community Seven? Damaged goods. None of us are virgins. Most of us were used goods since the day we bleed. All that glamor during the parties? It’s all bullshit, Jamie. The pills? Come as a standard package for the paired brides. We all get the pills to keep cool and shut up. If you can’t keep cool, they tell us to swallow the bottle. Then it’s your problem to clean and not theirs. See, they have games. They herd us and make us run through the community. If you get caught, you get raped.”