Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“Monster,” I snap, jerking the mirror and twisting it down.
Breathing a sigh of relief that I don’t have to look at myself, I continue to barrel down the road. His apartment is on the other side of town, about fifteen minutes away. I feel like time is slipping through my fingers. The longer it takes, the more time Baker has to hurt Tate.
When did Baker turn into this?
I don’t remember him being gay or liking men. I certainly don’t remember him being abusive in any way. He was always the life of the party. The guy who was always down to have a good time. And he never stopped fucking grinning. As a teen, that kind of person was fun to be around.
Going back further, when we were kids, he was rambunctious and adventurous. We’d get into a lot of trouble together for tearing shit up with one of our shenanigans.
Never once did I think him to be violent or cruel, though.
If anything, he was the exact opposite.
Some people hide their ugly deep inside.
My ugly is on my face for all to see.
I swerve around an old person driving twenty below the speed limit and race past them. If a cop sees me, they can follow my ass all the way to the apartment building and provide reinforcement.
Of course I don’t have such luck.
When I was sixteen, I got plenty of tickets. Where’s a cop when you’re actually trying to get caught?
As I get closer to my destination, fear curdles my stomach, making me nauseous. Baker has been leading two very distinct lives—like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—so the very fact he’s letting those two lives intersect right now is terrifying.
He’s losing control.
If he’s losing control, that means he’ll be reckless and might do something he can’t take back.
Please, for the love of God, don’t hurt my sweet boy.
Pain lances at me from all directions until my heart feels like it has thousands of stab wounds. I can’t lose another person I care so deeply about. It’ll destroy me completely this time.
My phone rings again and it’s Dad. I answer just to get my mind off terrible thoughts of Tate dying.
“Where are you going?” Dad demands through the line.
“Tate’s apartment. Baker has him.”
“Baker? The kid you used to run around with until…” Until Mom’s death.
“Yup. And I’m guessing he just bullshitted me when he said you gave him my number?”
“Jude, I haven’t spoken to the kid since you were in high school. Why?”
“He’s no kid anymore and apparently he’s Tate’s ex. The one who’s been vandalizing his car and sending the sex videos to his employers.”
“No shit?”
“Tate was so fucking scared of his ex. And now that I know Baker has him, Tate must be terrified.”
“Isn’t Baker a firefighter? Why would he ruin his life by abducting Tate?”
“Because he’s fucking crazy? I don’t know, Dad, but he has my boyfriend and I can’t let him hurt him!”
He’s silent for a moment. “Boyfriend?”
Cat’s out of the bag. Not that I give a shit.
“He’s mine. I’m his. We’re a thing. I’m fucking happy. I can’t lose him.”
“You won’t, Son,” Dad assures me. “Everything is going to be okay. We’re going to get our boy back.”
Our boy.
I clench my teeth together hard, fighting emotion. “I’m going to kill him.”
“You can’t kill Baker,” Dad says with a grunt. “Just get Tate away from him. Let the cops do the rest. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Can’t make any promises.”
I hang up before Dad can argue. I’m not going to vow not to do something stupid. If I have to beat Baker’s face to a bloody pulp just to make Tate feel safe again, I will. Old friend or not, Baker is not the guy I knew. He’s fucked in the head and messing with my man.
My heart rate starts to race when I pull into the apartment complex. I drive around the back of the building and discover a Suburban that’s been wrapped in Park Mountain Fire Department vinyl.
They’re here.
Relief vies for attention, but fear is still the star of the show.
Time to rescue Tate.
I will have him safely in my arms no matter what.
Tate
“Is my little toy finally awake?”
I blink away the lingering darkness and try to make sense of my surroundings. Is this a nightmare? A firm smack on my bare ass sends awareness jolting through me.
Not sleeping.
This is definitely real.
As my eyes come into focus, I recognize the furniture in my living room. It’s been destroyed. Someone—obviously Sean—must’ve taken an ax to it as it’s punctured in a million places, white, cottony stuffing pulled and discarded all over.
I’m sure that was a result of one of his tantrums when he realized I’d ghosted him.
I attempt to move and come to the conclusion I’ve been bound. Based on the cold, hard surface I’m on and location, it must be my dinner table. I’ve been placed naked and face down on the surface. Rope binds my wrists and it stretches down over the other side, no doubt attached to two of the legs.