She holds out the plate to me. “Take it,” she says. When I don’t respond, she sets it on the sofa beside me, sits back down in the chair, and starts to eat her sandwich. She looks around the den. “Jax said you guys made this into an apartment so that you could rent it out for extra cash when you first opened JZS’s.” She glances at my untouched sandwich. “Zeke says it’s now where he comes to kick your ass in Grand Theft Auto. So,” she looks up at me, “is that what you’re doing with your life? Fighting and playing PlayStation with your little brother. What happened to college? Did you get your degree?”
Fuck. She’s going there. Well, I’m not. Instead of engaging in any conversation, I pick up the sandwich. Might as well eat. I hope that it’ll digest before I start puking my brains out from the withdrawals, and it’s better than talking about my fucked-up life. And I’m right. It shuts her up; she doesn’t say another word. She turns on the TV, and we sit in silence for the next couple of hours.
I’m waiting for it. I feel the first tremor, my finger twitches, and I get nervous. Another hour ticks by. I get up and start to pace the room. Curled up on the chair, Rayna keeps her eyes glued to the TV as though she doesn’t notice my restless prowl. But I know she does.
I have to get out of here. I need to pop a pill, and I know there’s a few stashed in my room, which is right above my fucking head. I climb up the stairs, grab the knob with my sweaty palm, and jiggle it. “Jax! Zeke! Come on, you fuckers, open this fucking door!” Nothing, I hear absolutely nothing. It’s getting late. They’re probably at JZS’s. I hammer back down the stairs, head straight for the door that goes to the gym and try to open it. It’s fucking locked. I push my shoulder against it then I give it a few kicks but the thing won’t budge. They must’ve boarded it up, too. Motherfuckers!
I go and sit back on the sofa. She’s still staring at the TV. I scrub my hands over my sweaty face. I swipe them over my jeans. “Hey,” I say and Rayna’s eyes slither over to me. “Monkey, you really gotta let me go.”
Assessing me, her eyes move from my face to my trembling hands. She drops her feet from the chair and sits up straight. “I’m sorry, Slate. You’re going to have to push through this.”
I shoot to my feet, hands balling into tight fists. “Fuck!” I take a step toward her. I see her flinch and every muscle in my body tightens. I’m scaring her. Not good to know. If I get desperate enough, then I might just use that fear to get to my stash. “Fuck!” I clench my hands. “This is dangerous; let me the fuck out of here before I do something we both regret.”
“Relax.” She holds up a hand. Her fierce green diamonds beam up at me as she rises from the chair. “Take deep breaths.” She moves a little closer. “You will get through this.”
Heart racing, my tightened muscles ache like hell, and my eyes start to water. The chills should be hitting me soon along with the abdominal pains, not to mention the nausea and vomiting that’ll follow. “You have no idea how this fucking feels.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” Her tone softens. “Try to exert some energy, do some sit-ups or some push-ups.”
This is usually about the time that I’d jump in the ring to get rid of some of the aggression, but I can’t do that now. “Sit-ups aren’t going to fucking work.”
“Well, I don’t know.” She throws her arms out in the air. “Do something that’ll take your mind off it.”
“Okay.” I nod and try to relax my tight fists. Fuck it. She pushed me into this. “Come here,” I say, hearing the persistent aggression lingering in my voice.
Her brows gather. “Why?”
“You wanted to help me, so get your ass over here.”
She slowly moves toward me. “All right.” She lifts her head and our eyes meet. “Here I am, now what?”
“Now-” I lift my shaky hand, the unblemished one, and slip it around her nape. “We’re going to see if you can help me keep my mind off this shit.”
She barely gets, “Slate,” out as my mouth slides over hers. I push my tongue between her soft, moist lips. The second our tongues meet, I forget everything and lose myself to the sweet taste of her. She’s always been like a drug to me that I could never get enough of. And, normally, I could restrain myself, regulate myself, but right now, I’m too hyped up, and all I want to do is strip her clothes off and fuck her. Fuck her hard until she’s beating my chest and screaming out my name.