Page 9 of Save Me

My mouth is dry and my brow is damp with sweat despite the cold air around me.

“I should have brought water,” I mumble to myself as I stumble over a log and into a small clearing.

“Now that’s the best idea you’ve had all day.”

I jump at the deep voice, spinning around quickly. I’m shocked to seehimstanding a dozen feet behind me.

Fear and shock take over as he walks towards me, stepping over the log with no effort. I take a few quick steps backward, almost tripping over a root in the process, as he closes the space between us only stopping a few feet away. He gives me an assessing stare and the only thing I can hear is the wind wailing between the trees and the sound of my own ragged breathing.

“How long were you planning on walking in circles for?” he asks. When I don’t answer him, he continues, “Do you even know what direction you were headed?”

“Away from you.” I try to keep my chin held high despite the fear and exhaustion settling deep in my bones.

“And how’s that working out for you?” he asks with a smirk.

“Not as well as I hoped, clearly,” I say, gesturing to him.

“Come on, let’s get you back.”

“No,” I say, holding my ground as a shiver wracks through me.

“No?” he asks with a raised brow.

“I’m not going back there. You can’t keep me locked up waiting to be traded like I’m something. I won’t do it.”

“You can and you will. Unless you’d rather freeze to death out here tonight,” he says as he looks me up and down before his gaze pauses on my bare feet. “How are those feeling by the way?I bet they’re starting to feel numb. They look a little blue, which your lips already are.”

I look down at my feet, now covered in dirt and tingling from the cold. I shift back and forth, the mulch crunching under my weight as I try to decide what to do, looking around me for a way out of this mess.

“Don’t even think about running,” he says.

“You said you wouldn’t do anything if I tried to get away,” I say as frustration builds inside of me.

“I said I wouldn’t domuch,” he responds. “Andthisis me not doing much. Just be thankful you didn’t pull this shit with Rhett or Tanner here.” He scoffs.

I take a few steps backwards, trying to put more space between us.

“Why are you even doing this? Why are you even helping Rhett?”

“You owe him money, I owe him a favor,” he says with a shrug. “Now, you can either walk back with me voluntarily or we have a repeat of ourmeetingoutside of Poison Ivy,” he threatens quietly, the tone of his voice promising violence.

I weigh my options quickly, and it only takes a moment before my shoulders sag and the hope that was starting to bloom inside of me begins to wilt. Against every instinct within me, I walk towards him and follow quietly as he leads the way back to the boathouse.

It doesn’t take long before we’re standing at the base of the wooden stairs and I start to wonder if I actually was running in circles, having not put much distance between myself and this place at all. My feet feel as though they’re burning, the bite from the cold settling so deep that I wonder if they’ll ever feel normal again. I wince as I climb the stairs one at a time, and slowly make my way back inside my prison cell.

CHAPTER 5

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Time passes slowlyas I lay in bed staring at the ceiling above me, thinking about everything and yet nothing at all. My feet are aching, though no longer cold, nestled under the blankets for the last few hours. I guess I’m lucky I didn’t do too much damage to them running through the woods; a few scratches and a couple of bruises are all that’s visible after I rinsed off the dirt that covered them.

I sigh, wondering if Jax is on his way yet, wondering what is going on outside the four walls of the room I’ve retreated to in defeat.

I sit up slowly, grimacing as pain flashes through my body, still sore from the other night and now from my attempted escape. As I walk towards the bedroom door I hear someone—him—moving around the living space. I open the door only to find him in the kitchen, pouring himself water and grabbing another muffin from the plastic container.

He barely looks at me but grabs another glass from the cupboard and pours me a cup of water.

“Here,” he says blandly, pushing it towards me on the countertop.

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