Page 180 of Broken Pieces
Fast walk turns into a half-run.
We pass a chain-link fence, a smashed phone booth, a dumpster that reeks of rot. But the street’s too still. The houses on this stretch are ghosted. Windows boarded up, yards overgrown, fences leaning as if they had given up a long time ago.
Despite that, they’re not stopping.
If anything, they are getting closer.
Cassie squeezes my fingers.
“Fucking hell,” she hisses. “They’re still coming.”
I don’t look back because I can sense them. The weight of their stares presses against my spine. The sound of their boots behind us is haunting.
“Should we run?” Cassie’s voice is low.
“No,” I mutter. “Don’t let them think we’re scared.”
But I am. I’m fucking scared shitless and my heartbeat is pounding like a fucking war drum.
“Skylar,” Liam calls again, dragging my name out with that smug cockiness that always makes my skin crawl. “Don’t be rude, Baby,” he adds. “We’re just being friendly.”
Cassie hisses beside me, “Fuck. I swear to God, I’m buying pepper spray and a taser the size of my dildo.”
“Walk faster,” I murmur, eyes locked ahead.
The echo of their boots picks up behind us.
Liam’s voice slides down my spine. “Where are you two headed in such a hurry, huh? Got somewhere better to be than with us?”
I don’t answer.
Neither does Cassie.
“Oh, come on, Slut,” Liam drawls. “No need to act all shy now. You’re always strutting around school in those tight little jeans. Thought you were begging for the attention.”
Cassie stiffens, her fingers locking around mine, knuckles white. I can feel the fury vibrating through her skin, the kind that comes from years of swallowing it down. She’s five seconds from snapping, from turning around and telling them to fuck off, even if it gets her hurt.
Bryce laughs, that low, cruel sound.
“She’s got those good-girl eyes, but you just know she fucks dirty.”
Something ugly twists in my chest.
Cassie goes to whip around, fury written all over her, but I catch her arm fast.
“Don’t.” My voice is cold, a warning.
Then fast footsteps hit the pavement.
Bryce cuts us off, sliding in front of me with that smug, dead-eyed grin he always wears when he’s about to be a piece of shit.
Connor drifts in on the other side, close enough that I catch the sour stench of his body spray.
“She’s got that face. The kind you wanna wreck. Bet she cries real pretty.”
Liam’s behind us now. I catch the shift of his weight, his breath too close.
“Nah. She’s got a mouth I wanna have choking on my cock.”
