Hard.
My eyes bugged out as my breath caught in my throat, the feeling of his fingers searing into my skin causing my heart to race. “Simon! You’re hurting me!” I exclaimed, reaching over to pry his fingers off with my other hand.
He leaned into my face, a sick smile crossing his features, his face contorted in anger. Everything inside of me seemed to speed up and the world around me seemed to slow down at the same time.
I glanced helplessly around the parking lot, looking for someone to help me. But there was no one. I was on my own.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic!
“I’m sorry,” he said, easing his grip a little, but his features not softening a bit. “Does Cane not typically grab you this hard?”
My skin felt like a blowtorch was being applied to it. I could feel my pulse throbbing in my arm, white noise rushing past my ears. I tried to block everything out except for the man in front of me.
I have to take control.
“If you don’t get your hands off of me right now, I am going to scream with everything I have.” My teeth were clenched as tears from the pain began to sting my eyes. I continued to yank on his fingers with my other hand to no avail.
Panic began to set in.
“Oh, Jada.” He pulled me forward. I slammed roughly up against his body, his hand releasing my arm in the process. I tried to pull back, but he had ahold of the back of my neck with one hand and his other arm wrapped around my back. “You’re a little cock tease.” His pupils were dilated now and his eyes hard.
I have to find a way out of this.
“I’m not,” I said firmly, trying to keep myself from losing control.
My stomach was threatening to expel the little dinner I had eaten. I raised my hand to cover my mouth when I realized my keys were still in my hand. I put one between two of my fingers—the sharp point out—and encased the base in my fist. I raised my hand back as far as I could and jammed the key into his back.
His eyes went wide from the impact and he loosened his grip. I shoved him away and he stuck his hand out to grab me, knocking me off balance. I caught myself on the side of my car, my hands slamming into the metal.
I looked over my shoulder. Simon was rubbing his back with one hand and was watching me, eyes blazing.
“Is everything okay over there?” Someone’s voice rang out from a few cars over, but I didn’t look up to see who it was. I jumped in my car and darted out of the parking lot, leaving Simon to deal with any questions.
JADA
The thirty minute drive home felt like an eternity.
I was in shock, both physically and mentally. I had never been grabbed like that before. Even when Decker had threatened me or backed me against a wall, he had never actually touched me. The feeling of someone’s hands on me made me feel so violated, so vulnerable.
At least he’ll feel that pain in his back for a little while from the key.
I checked my rear view mirror a few times, fearing that he had followed me out of the driveway. But I didn’t see his Avalanche.
Surely he wouldn’t be stupid enough to follow me.
I felt numb, unable to clearly process what had happened. My head felt like it was full of Styrofoam packing peanuts. The only thing that I could really feel was my arm and it hurt like hell.
I swung my car into the driveway and ran into the house, looking over my shoulder. I burst into the front door, slamming it behind me and locking it. I leaned my back against it, closing my eyes and letting the scent of coconut wrap around me and comfort me.
Breathe …
“Jada? Is that you?” I heard Kari’s voice call from the kitchen.
Please, God, don’t let Max be here.
“Yeah, it’s me!” I yelled back. I cleared my throat and made my way through the house to find Kari taking a pizza out of the oven.
“I don’t know how I burn frozen pizzas! I set the timer and everything!” she whined, smoke coming out of the oven.
I sat my things on the counter, jumping when the oven door slammed closed.
“Jada? Are you all right?” Kari asked, eyeing me.
I rubbed my eyes with my fingertips, not trusting my voice quite yet.
“What’s going on?” She sat the oven mitts down and put her hand on her hip.
“What’s going on with what?” Max asked, coming around the corner.
I must have done something really wrong in a past life.
Kari and I just stood there, staring at each other. She knew something had happened and I wasn’t about to tell her yet—especially not in front of Max.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. So you tried to make frozen pizzas again. Nice.”
“You’re a liar.” She crossed her arms in front of her.
“Not now, Kari,” I said through clenched teeth. “Don’t we have some Charlie to watch?”