Page 78 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

No, that’s how she wanted this to work because then she could hate me instead of hating herself. Did she really think I’d make it that easy?

I tipped my chin towards the driver’s door of her truck. “Get your shit.”

She hesitated for a split second before begrudgingly storming over to snatch a pink backpack off her seat.

I eyed the strap slung over her shoulder and cocked a brow. “That’s it?”

“Yeah?”

“You have everything you need in that little bag?” I’d seen girls pack more than that for one night.

“How long do you think I’m staying?”

Whatever, if she forgot something that was on her.

“Come on.”

NOVALEE

Every thought in my head screamed for me to run away when Gio started walking towards the door. I made this arrangement to save my brother, and I didn’t expect it to be easy. The more likely scenario was a great deal of pain and frustration that eventually led to my untimely death.

Gio hated me. I hated him. One day, things would go too far and I’d get his whole family thrown in jail, or he’d finally choke the life out of me. Those were the only two possible outcomes. Shoving his hand down my shorts and making my entire body light up, was not in the cards.

In fact, it was so far away from the cards that cards were just specks in the distance. Pain I could take, but pleasure… what kind of bullshit was that?

My fingers curled around the pink strap slung over my shoulder. This backpack was one of the many things I’d stolen from Memphis. It wasn’t big, but it was sturdy, and I managed to cram a lot of crap in it so it had some weight. But was it heavy enough to beat Gio to death? That was the real question.

Gio stopped to tip his gaze over his shoulder. “What the fuck are you waiting for?”

An anvil to magically appear in my backpack so I can smash your skull in.

“I’m contemplating murder.”

“Great.” He rolled his eyes. “You can contemplate murder in the house.”

He’d like that, wouldn’t he? How many other of my firsts was he going to ruin in those walls?

My first orgasm was supposed to happen in the back of a dirty pickup with some drunk frat boy, whose name I’d forget the next day. The moonlight would be shining down on our sweaty bodies. Then he would ask me if I liked it and I’d stick my head over the side of the truck and throw up.

That moment was not supposed to happen in Gio Mancini’s driveway with some guy who smelled good and had all his teeth. What kind of bullshit was that? I refused to live my life in a romantic drama.

When I didn’t move, Gio’s brow arched. “Do I need to carry you?”

Normally, the answer to that question would be yes. No walking meant less energy I had to use. But my stupid teenage hormones kind of liked him right now, so that was probably a bad idea. Give a girl one measly orgasm and her body turns traitor.

“No, I’m perfectly capable of walking.” I stomped my foot, held onto my shorts so they wouldn’t fall down, and marched forward with my head held high.

Clutching onto the fabric of my bottoms probably didn’t help the look I was going for–Maw Maw was going to be pissed about me losing another button–but it was better than walking around in my underwear. It was kind of hard to give off an ‘I don’t give a shit’ vibe when Michelangelo from the Ninja Turtles was smiling on your ass.

Gio pushed open the door and waved for me to go inside, which I did.

I stepped across the threshold with my chest puffed out and chin in the air. Because fuck Gio. And fuck Memphis too. If he had been better at explaining sexual things, then I might’ve been prepared for the butterflies that fluttered in my gut when Gio’s eyes raked down my side. Whatever happened tonight was Memphis’s fault.

What was going to happen tonight?

I paused to eye the staircase on the left side of the entryway, then shifted over to the one on the right. Much like on the outside of the house, there were two sets of steps in here that curved around the walls on either side. Despite the open concept, I felt claustrophobic.

The walls were moving in on me, while moonlight beamed in from the skylight above. The balcony on the upper floor loomed down at me. As if it had some impenetrable barrier it was waiting to slam down and trap me when I walked up those stairs.

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