Page 186 of Psycho

“I want to go back,” I said.

I couldn’t just stay home on a school day while Micah went off to do whatever the hell it was that he did with his day.

I saw him nodding in my peripheral vision. “Then that’s what we do. But you don’t need to worry about those pieces of shit.”

I took a deep breath and looked down at my lap. I’d told myself I didn’t want to know. That I wasn’t going to ask, but…

“Are they alive?”

“For now,” Micah said.

I turned to him.

His face was closed off, and I didn’t know why he had let them go in the first place when it clearly sounded like he was going to go after them.

I opened my mouth, but when nothing came out, I nodded.

He reached over and curved his big hand around my thigh.

The same thigh he had carved his name into. It still stung, but it wasn’t as bad anymore, nor was it bleeding still.

I wiggled closer to him.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said, and it sounded like a vow to my ears.

“I know,” I said.

“Good. How about I take your mind off this on the ride over to school?”

“How?” I asked suspiciously.

His lips twitched, and his eyes glinted with mirth.

“Take off your pants, sweetheart.”

My breath caught, but I didn’t do as he asked.

“No…”

I looked out. The windows were tinted, so I doubted anyone would know what we were doing inside his truck, but still. To take my pants off while we drove—to school…

I shook my head, and his smile widened. It was a cruel kind of smile.

A smile that sent chills down my spine and excitement spiking in my blood.

I didn’t stop him when he traced his fingers along the hems of my black leggings.

Then, he undid my seat belt and pulled me by my legs toward him until I was lying on the bench.

I focused my eyes on the roof of the truck when I felt him pull my pants and panties down.

He pushed one leg down on the seat and started the car, shifting it into drive.

I stayed where I was as I watched the top of the trees surrounding the property pass me by.

I jumped when I felt his hand on me.

I looked over at Micah, and his eyes were focused intently on the road, but his thumb…