Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
The crack of his knuckles makes me flinch, but he’s silent, staring at his own hands as if he’s considering twisting my neck with the same hands that held me only moments ago. That would get rid of his problem.
So maybe I am bitter, but is it really so strange to want more?
I’m on the verge of hiding in the bathroom when he speaks, voice dense with tension. “Can’t give you a scapegoat, Clyde.”
I put my cigarette out on the bedside shelf with so much frustration I struggle to breathe. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with him. I would have rather spent my whole life as an unsatisfied mess instead of whatever I am now.
“Why not? I would have done it for you!” I lash out and get up. I’ve already said too much, so I raise my arms to wash my hands of it. “Fine. Forget I said anything. Let’s just… do what we’re doing until one of us ends up dead.”
“It was me. I killed him.”
Chapter 27
Clyde
Road won’t even meet my eyes, but it’s as if he grabbed a sledgehammer and slammed it into my face. My heartbeat speeds up. I don’t want to believe it, so I stare at him, looking for any sign of lying.
“You’re covering for someone,” I say. That’s the only thing that makes sense. Now I regret putting out my cigarette, because he’s still like a statue, and I know he’s telling the truth.
“I’m not,” he says and reluctantly meets my gaze, opening and clenching his fists. “I beat him up, then put the noose around his neck and watched him die. And then I got into the crane and pulled his carcass all the way up.”
I’m gonna be sick. I watch him, so startled I feel hot and cold at the same time. “What the fuck?” I utter, taking a step back, painfully aware of how naked I am. I bared myself to him, and now he’s telling me he…
Road fills his lungs with air and moves closer, sitting on the edge of the bed, both feet firmly on the floor. The atmosphere has shifted, and now even the tacky bedding seems like yet another element of my worst nightmare.
“You want trust? This is me trusting you. I killed Roy.”
Heat strikes my face as I watch him in disbelief. And even now, as my fists fill with fury, I know I won’t give him up to my club, and I hate myself for it.
“Jesus fucking Christ! All this time… You lured me. You pursued me. And then you fuck me. After killing my brother? What is wrong with you!?”
Road stands. “I thought you hated him! So why does that matter?”
I despise the calm with which he says that when I’m about to lose my shit. “Don’t turn this around on me! You had no idea what I thought of him when you humped me like a dog in heat. Who the fuck are you even? Any other skeletons I should know about?” I grab my pants and pull them on because I’m not doing this bare-assed. It’s bad enough that I still have his cum inside me, and I’m pretty sure it keeps slowly dripping out.
“It was meant to be just sex. And we agreed to not discuss clubs,” Road protests, grabbing my forearm, as if he doesn’t want me to get dressed.
I slap his hand away. “Maybe we should have stuck to that. But now here we fucking are!”
“Yes, here we fucking are,” Road snaps, kicking the nightstand so hard it rattles and threatens to fall over. “When was the best time to tell you? When I visited your home, or in a message during the past two weeks? Oh, by the way, I was the one who offed Roy. I hope you’ll understand.”
I don’t have the answers, because there are no good ones, but I’m not telling him that. “I don’t understand. And that’s the fucking problem! Why? What did he do?” I stare him down, trying to compose myself as I zip up my jeans. I can’t believe this is happening. I want to both throttle him and hug him, and it’s so confusing I wish I had a baseball bat so I could take my frustration out on the shitty TV in the corner.
I expect a list of Roy’s misdeeds, even if some of them were petty, but Road’s quiet, his lips twitching as he looks away. “Why does it matter? What happened happened. But things changed, and I can’t hide it from you anymore. I don’t want to lie to you, even though I know you might now walk away and sic your club on me. So what will it be?” Road asks, taking a step back before stretching out his arms. Naked, with all of his scars bared, he almost seems vulnerable. Almost.