Page 54 of Stalk

“Thank you, Leo, I appreciate it.” Suddenly, Anthony’s hand finds my thigh under the water. I stop breathing. But then he abruptly pulls away. “You know what? I forgot to get us some towels for later. I’ll be right back. Don’t move, okay?”

“I won’t move an inch,” I purr, kind of impressed with how flirty I’m capable of being. Maybe I have some game after all.

Anthony hops out of the tub, drenched from his pecs down to his feet. He wrings out as much water from his trunks as he can, then heads inside.

Now, I have to move quickly. I turn around in my seat and reach for my backpack, keeping my eyes locked on the door. In seconds, the syringe is in my hand. I squirt the poison into his drink, stir it around with the tip, then shove the syringe back into my bag.

About ten seconds later, Anthony is back, and I let out a small huff of relief.

He sets a towel near his side of the tub, then hands one out to me but almost drops it. We both fumble to catch the towel—and that’s when Anthony’s glass gets knocked over. The rum and Coke and all the glorious poison mixed within spills to the floor, leaving shards of crystal from the glass everywhere.

My body breaks out in goosebumps. I stare at the liquid on the ground with my mouth gaping open and my heartbeat in my throat.

“Oh, shit!” Anthony yells. He sighs and runs a hand through his shoulder length hair. “No worries, man. Let me go and get a broom and then we can relax.”

“O-okay.”

He’s gone again. I don’t know what to do.What the fuck do I do? What the fuck do Ido?

I can only think of one thing, and the thought alone makes my stomach flip. I hoist myself up against the tub so that I can better reach the floor, reach an arm out, and pick up the largest shard of glass I see. It’s about as long as a credit card. It almost cuts me as I sit back down and loosely wrap my fingers around it, which is a good sign.

Holding the piece of glass lightly under the water with my left hand, I focus on the bubbles surrounding me.

Breathe in.

Out.

Breathe in.

Out.

I almost don’t notice when Anthony is back. He starts to sweep the glass up. When he’s done, he lays down another towel he must have brought back outside along with the broom.

“I’ll clean up the rest later,” Anthony says. He slides back into the tub. “Sorry I’m so clumsy. Where were we?”

“I’m sorry about the glass?—”

“Psh. Not your fault, dude. Let’s relax now, yeah?”

Ineedto relax, but unfortunately, that’s the one thing I can’t fake. “Yeah. You’re right,” I agree. My teeth clamp together, tightening my jaw. The total opposite of relaxed.

Anthony inches closer to me. His hand finds that spot on my thigh again. “Hmm. You sure are handsome, Leo. Handsome and beautiful. You’d be prettier if you let loose a little.” He runs his fingers along my jaw, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “Let me help you relax.”

I’m almost certain I’m about to pass out from the temperature of the tub and the promise of Anthony’s words. I have a feeling he isn’t the type of person who gets turned down. I also have a feeling that he’ll do anything to get his way.

And as a virgin? Yeah. Now I’m terrified he’s going to fuck me against my will andthenmurder me.

Play along, Ren. Keep it together.

The thoughts in my head sound like Mattia. I wish he was here. He would know what to do. He always does. I can’t believe I’ve been avoiding him. I can’t believe I may never see him again.

Anthony’s lips make contact with the flesh right above my collarbone, then they move up, kissing my neck and across my jaw until his mouth is an inch away from my own.

Just pretend. Pretend heisMattia.

So I do. In a moment of bravery, I kiss Anthony first, imagining that his lips are Mattia’s. But it’s not as easy as I’d hoped, because I don’t think Mattia would be so eager right off the bat. I think Mattia is more of the type to savor his lover. That’s the thing, though. Anthony isn’t Mattia, and he isn’t a lover. He’s a dickhead drug lord who wants to get off and then discard me.

So I have trouble reciprocating when his tongue thrusts into my mouth. I lick him back a little, but it makes me want to squirm. His hand trails down my abs, and I feel sick. Then, I remember the shard of glass in my hand.

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