Page 16 of Darling Psycho

Angela wanted to be at home with Oscar.

Turning twenty-one soon, she felt ancient some days, like she’d lived several lives already.

She tried for her friend’s sake, but when she finally walked Robinne to her dorm room, she was so relieved.

“Pizza and chill?” Robinne asked. “You find something to watch.” The girl collected old VHS tapes like she’d been born in the 80s, bringing eight boxes of them with her to college. Maybe it was why she let Robinne attach to her because her friend was a little weird, too. Angela had her head in the closet, picking through the boxes to find some old-time movie to watch, when she heard a knock on the door. After she emerged and saw Robinne standing in the doorway making out with one of her regular hook-ups, she tossed The Lost Boys tape onto the bed. Then, slipped on her jacket and slid by the two women, oblivious to her presence because they were too busy grabbing boobs and sucking tongues.

“I’m heading home, Rob.”

“Mmhm,” her friend replied, not detaching herself from the hot blonde.

Grinning, relieved she could go home, Angela headed out of the housing complex to her parked car across the quad. Not a day went by without her giving the gorgeous matte silver Mustang a little pat. It was sentimental and something else she didn’t dwell on because it was the past. But she freaking loved that car. It flew like a dream when she opened her up and made it up the Colorado mountains in no time, parking outside the log cabin the size of a lodge resort.

It was ridiculously too big for one person, but she loved the solitude.

When Snake offered her the use of the cabin, she’d almost fallen back in her haste to get away from the set of keys like she thought they might spring legs and chase her. She wanted nothing to do with it. No, thank you. But one weekend last year, she needed quiet to study for a test, and she’d finally told herself to stop being stupid and to use it. One weekend turned into two weekends, and now she was living there permanently.

It was a serial killer’s paradise.Ha. Considering who owned the place, it was spot on. Light-colored wood built into two beautiful levels, standing on brick pillars and a wraparound veranda.

Everything was paid, even down to the groceries; all she had to was order them online for curbside pickup. She had a lot to be thankful for from Daddy Warbucks if she wasn’t still pissed off at him.

The moment she let herself into the cabin, switched on lights, and turned off the alarm system, her roommate flew out of his hiding spot and started meowing for attention. “Oh, I know, I hated leaving you too, baby boy. I’m here now. You want a treat, huh? Yeah, me too. Let’s see what we have.” Weaving through her legs, making sure she didn’t fall on her ass, Angela and her ginger cat headed to the kitchen. She pulled out a cell phone and hit a familiar name in her contacts. “You probably know already, but I’m home safe,” she told Judge. The day she discovered he was guarding her like some visiting princess from a foreign country, she was fit to strangle the life out of him. Feeling hurt because she thought they were friends, and all that time, he’d been paid to babysit.

For what reason, she still didn’t know, and Judge was tight-lipped.

After he got done chewing her ass for the attitude she threw at him, they came to an understanding; he’d never lie to her if he could help it, as long as she let him do his job.

Now, Angela pretended Judge wasn’t around wherever she was in public. Though she hadn’t seen him at the party, she’d known he was there.

“Are you heading home or to Chrissy’s?”

“I gotta let the babysitter go home.” He took care of his two younger siblings, and now his life was more complicated because he’d fallen for Arson’s mom in a spectacular move no one saw coming. Not even Judge. She’d been there at the beginning, watching him fall for an older woman. Technically, it wasn’t forbidden to get with a biker’s mom. There was no written law, but it was understood you didn’t mess with any of their female relatives.

Poor Judge juggled his life as a hitman did.

It was cute, and she’d kept his secret.

Now it was all out in the open, and he could be with his woman. Angela had tried many times to tell him he didn’t need to watch her so much, but men with hearing problems didn’t take a lick of notice.

Eh, whatever if he followed her around the law libraries or shopping with Zara and the kids.

She told him goodnight, chose an ice cream bar, and then fed Oscar three of his salmon nibbles, which he gobbled in seconds like the gutsy fat cat he was, and the pair of them headed to bed to watch a show to relax.

It was a pounding heart that woke Angela from a dead sleep.

Her body reacted like it had gone through trauma and was in fight or flee mode. Gasping for air, she pressed a hand to her chest, felt her heart beating hard.

It wasn’t only the rapidness in her chest.

It was the tightness in her nipples and the ache between her legs.

“Fuck, why can’t you leave me alone?” She said to the dark, empty room.

The dreams only plagued her once or twice a week now. Three years ago, they were almost nightly, and she went through a bout of insomnia, hoping to keep them away.

Behind her, she stacked the pillows two deep and rested her head back, breathing solely to regain her composure.

She was hot andachy.

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