Page 61 of Spin The Bottle
He visibly relaxes, his shoulders dropping as he blows out a breath. “Then what did she mean when she said you weren’t eating?”
I shrug. “I forget sometimes.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “You forget sometimes,” he repeats. “How the fuck does that happen, Leila?” he asks, running a hand through his hair. “How do you just forget to eat?”
I close my eyes, pressing my fingers to my forehead. “Stop,” I whisper. “Please don’t be mad at me. I just… I feel so lightheaded.”
“Fuck, Leila.” He drops to his knees in front of me, grabbing my face in his hands. “I’m not mad at you. I just got so scared. Don’t do that again.” His voice breaks. “You passed out. That’s some serious shit.”
“It’s not that serious. It’s happened before,” I say trying to appease him.
His hands freeze on my face. “You’re saying you’ve forgotten to eat before?”
“Sometimes.” What I don’t tell him, what Iwon’ttell him is that a small part of me feels proud when I forget to eat. My stomach cramps at the admission. I don’t think I even realized it, but I feel like I’ve succeeded when I forget to feed myself.
“That’s not going to happen ever again,” he tells me, lifting himself off the floor and grabs onto my hand, pulling me off the exam table.
“Where are we going?”
He stops and turns back to look at me, his jaw clenching. “We’re going to get you a massive fucking plate of food and I don’t want to hear a single word about it. Got it?”
My eyes widen at his authoritative tone. It’s kind of hot. My lips twitch when I nod and say, “Yes, sir.”
A light smirk appears on his face when he looks down at me and he blows out a breath, pulling me into him and wrapping his arms around me. “Remind me when you’re feeling better and we’ll circle back to that sir comment.”
“I’m feeling better right now,” I say, looking up at him.
He smirks, shakes his head and leans down, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Come on, let’s get you some food.
21
Face masks and polaroids
My neck hurts. It’s so tense I honestly think I’m going to pop a vein.
Stuffing my empty wallet back into my pocket, I blow out a breath when I grab the piece of paper that lets me know all the money, I worked so hard for, is gone. I leave the bank, pulling out my phone from my pocket and type out a quick text.
It’s sent. Try to make it work until next month.
I exhale when I press send, knowing they’ll probably blow the money I sent on more poison for their bodies and then demand more.
I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I barely have any left over from working at the bar and I don’t have time for a second job, practice takes up so much of my time as it is.
I might have gotten rid of one evil in my life for now, but my brothers and my mom are a whole other story. As much as I resent them for beating the crap out of me when we grew up, it doesn’t stop me from wanting to help them out any way I can. We didn’t even have food growing up, if the money I make can get them a loaf of bread that isn’t expired, I’ll do it. I’ll keep sending them money if they need it.
I spot an older lady carrying a cart full of plants, my shoulders drop, my face breaking into a smile at the sight, reminding me of Leila. Her apartment is filled with plants, big ass ones, small ones. I can’t lie, it’s so fucking cute watching her water them and talk to them as if they’re her babies. She glares at me whenever I catch her do it, but I can’t help it. It’s adorable.
It’s a sign from the universe, right? I tell myself exactly that when I push the button on the elevator, taking me to her apartment. I knock on her door, waiting for her to answer.
“Who is it?” she says from the other side.
I smile at her sultry voice, a melody to my ears. She could yell at me and I’d still follow her like a puppy. That girl has me wrapped around her little finger and she doesn’t even know it.
“Aiden,” I reply to the wooden door. A smirk tugs at my lips when I hear her mumble a curse, but when she doesn’t open the door, my eyes narrow. “This would be where you open the door.”
I hear a sigh and then the door opens and a green face pops through the door. I press my lips together to stop my laugh, but I fail, shaking my head. “I’m sorry, I thought this was Leila’s place. I guess not.”
“Ha.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Very funny.”
