Page 97 of Like A Moth To A Flame

I turned away bashfully, desperate to hide the color creeping into my cheeks.

“It’s nothing,” I mumbled.

Her hand on my shoulder spun me around, and she ripped the front of my sweater down. With an accusatory gaze, she reached in and plucked the necklace from where it sat against my collarbone.

“Dude,” she gasped.

“It’s nothing!” I grumbled, batting her hands away.

“Where did it come from?”

“It was in my room!”

“Who gave it to you?”

I stayed pointedly quiet.

“Your stalker?!” she gasped, louder this time. “Dude!”

“It’s just a necklace! No big deal!”

She blinked owlishly at me, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish out of the water.

“You’re kidding right?” she said finally. “You know what this is, don’t you?”

I stared at her, eyes looking into every line and plane of her face, searching for a sign. I felt stupid. Why did I feel stupid?

Maybe it’s because Iwasstupid.

“It’s a pretty necklace?” I said, unsure. Now I was a little scared.

“It’s a collar!”

It was my turn to blink at her.

“Collar?”

“Anownershipcollar?”

“What does that mean?!”

I could feel panic rising in my chest now. What had I agreed to last night?

“Is it locked?”

Reaching down, my shaking fingers ripped it out of her grasp and yanked on it, desperately pulling against the chain, but no matter how hard I pulled, it simply wouldn’t give.

It was. It was locked.

“Shit!” I bit, pulling until I felt a pinch in my skin and an ache in my neck. “It’s locked! It’s fucking locked.”

Except I knew that, didn’t I?

He’d said that last night.

Amelia snorted, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Wow, dude. You are indeep.”

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