Page 18 of Hitch
At those words, Braden glowers at me, but that anger sinks into sadness, almost like he knows every detail of the trap I’m walking into. He shakes his head, his mouth opening, but the words don’t come out.
My stomach sinks with dread. What is he holding back?
“Is he telling the truth?” Braden asks.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Why do you ask?”
“If you’ve got half a mind, you’ll ask me to take you home right now.”
I lick my lips, turning away from Braden, not wanting to face the truth we both know. Duane chuckles at my body language, and Braden scoffs.
“Is Todd here?” I ask.
“You think Todd is your friend? Wow,” Braden says, then he walks past us, up into the house. Right as he leaves, Todd emerges, dressed in jeans and a shirt. Two other men follow behind him, talking amongst themselves.
Duane gestures at the red barn behind the house. “I gotta fix up this tractor before we get started. You okay hanging out with Todd for a while?”
Grime coats Duane’s fingertips in streaks of oil and dirt, the kind of touch that will leave a mark on you.
“Sure,” I say.
Duane squints at me for a brief second, then disappears through the house as well. Todd and his friends talk about something in hushed voices.
“Just give us a second,” Todd says to me.
“Sure,” I say again. Then I pull out my phone and take a selfie with the cornfields in the background. The lighting is nice, and when I add a filter, it makes the whole picture dreamy.
“Hey Secret,” Todd says.
I spin around. “You don’t have to call me that here,” I say. “Duane knows my real name.”
“Habit, I guess,” he says, shrugging. “Listen, I gotta run back to the city to drop off something. Can you wait here on the porch?”
I bend forward. “So, you’re leaving me here. Alone.”
Todd laughs and the other two men exchange looks.
“You were going to be alone with Duane anyway, right? It’s not like he’s payingmefor a dance.” He puts his arm around my shoulder, his weight heavy against me, and I raise a brow. “Duane is fine. Trust me. And if he tries anything you don’t like, just leave.”
“Just leave?” I say. “And run where, exactly?”
“You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure it out.”
I roll my eyes. “Thanks. You’re so helpful.”
“If you thought you were in real danger, you wouldn’t have come,” he says. “Relax. Don’t work so hard.”
He winks, then the three men pile into Todd’s SUV. The car disappears behind the fields, but I stare in their direction, trying to steady myself. I’m alone on a murderer’s property. A man who forced himself on me.
Granted, he’s notexactlya murderer. He’s just really into Halloween…
In the back of my mind, Duane’s warning repeats endlessly:If I wanted to kill you, I could’ve done it by now. Couldn’t I?It shouldn’t be comforting, but it is.Andit unnerves me.
What am I doing here?
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, and when I open them, I resolve that I’m not a safe person anyway. I’m here with bad intentions—both to illegally fuck for money, and to satisfy my craving to do something dangerous. It’s an adrenaline rush, and I need more.
Which is why I don’t stay on the porch.
