Page 24 of Hopeless Magic
“Fucking be careful next time.”
“Next time I what?” I take a step closer to him, leaning down until I’m eye level. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll never be that close to your dick ever again.” My skirt drifts across his dirty boots as I saunter past him without looking back.
It’s then that I see how terrible the four of us are together. One of us might kill the other before we ever reach our destination.
Chapter Nine
The Middle
Soft moans drift through the house like a mortifying, orgasmic ghost haunting my thoughts.
“Stay the night,” my aunt pleads. “I worry about you, especially at night. Leave in the morning.” She holds out two keys in her palm for us.
She’s trying to get me to stay; not just for the night, but forever. I could never stay here. I left for a reason. Deep down inside I’m terrified of staying here. I know if I stay I’d be too proud to find a man to depend on. I’d try to make my own way in life. I’d turn out just like Ivory. She’s a role model to me. The only one I have really. But she has no idea what love is. In her mind, sex and love are one and the same.
Though I’ll never admit it, I want love. I want the fairytale.
I want more from life.
I shake my head at her just as Ryder takes the keys from her hand.
“Thanks. I think we all need some sleep.” He doesn’t look at me. He hasn’t once since our little episode on the porch.
A beaming smile is all she gives me as I pass.
“It’s the last two doors on the right.Goodnight, Kara.” Her words have a hint of amusement in them that have me doubting every step I take.
The sounds of pleasure vibrate though the walls, sending a nervous energy clawing through me. Ryder holds out his hand and Darrio scoops up one of the small silver keys. He makes his way to the top of the stairs first and goes to the last door on the right. The key slides in with ease and he swings it open quickly.
The three of us are just behind Darrio when he walks inside and shuts the door behind him with a deliberate clicking sound.
A locking sound.
“Guess it’s just the three of us.” Daxdyn winks at me, and I repay the playful look with a glare that makes the smirk on his face quickly disappear.
My clothes sit on a small table between the two bedrooms. They’re neatly folded and appear to be freshly washed.
Ryder opens our door as I gather up my clothes. We walk inside to find the real meaning behind my aunts taunting words.
One. Fucking. Bed.
There’s only one bed set delicately against the far wall.
“I call ‘not it’ for middle,” Ryder says so quickly I barely grasp the meaning.
“What?” Then it hits me.
“Not it,” Daxdyn and I both chime at once.
We stare at one another in a childish stand-off.
“Why would I sleep in the middle?” He smirks down at me. His smile makes my stomach knot peculiarly. But, in this moment, I also want to rip that smile right off his sneering face.
“And why the hell would I take the middle?”
“Well,” he says as if he’s prepared to make an epic presentation of an argument.
He tilts his head back and forth his hands gesturing from Ryder to himself to me. He doesn’t say a word as if I’ll just fill in the blanks with his ridiculous game of charades.
