Page 2 of Auctioned to the Lumberjacks (Auctioned)

“It’s three hours from here. A cabin on a beautiful mountain surrounded by the most stunning forest you’ve ever seen.” The man who’s still holding the water smiles at the memory, but the remoteness of his description doesn’t hold the same appeal to me.

I thought I’d be staying in the city. I thought I’d be close to Hallie, even if I have no way of seeing her.

The second man taps his foot, restless and coiled tight with resentment.

“But there’s three of you,” I snap. “Who bid for me?”

“We all did.” The man with cropped hair reaches out to take my arm and help me up. “I’m West. That’s Finn.” He nods at the friendly man who rises to his feet at the same time as me. “And that’s Jack.”

Jack scowls at the mention of his name as though he’d rather I didn’t know anything about him.

“I didn’t agree…” I trail off, realizing that it’s pointless to dispute the terms and conditions of my agreement to participate in this exchange of money for me. The auctioneer has accepted their payment, and I’m not in any position to object. I keep my chin high, wanting them to know I’m not weak and broken, even though that’s precisely what I am. If they think they can destroy me, they will.

“We paid extra,” Finn says. “Three of us. Three times the work.”

He says work with emphasis that makes me imagine something grueling and harsh. The contract states I will cook, clean, and provide physical services to meet their needs. Doing that for one man was an overwhelming prospect, but three?

“Extra?”

“Three times the final bid.”

I sway on my feet as the prospect of triple the money I was hoping to achieve registers. I’ll have enough to do what is necessary. This—whatever I’m going to have to do for the money—will be worth it.

Jack looks at me briefly, but his eyes don’t settle and his gaze flits between his companions and the door.

The auctioneer interrupts the intensity of the moment with a knock on the door. He holds in his red, meaty hands two envelopes of paper. One is given to Jack and one to me. “As agreed, the money is held in an account in your name, but you won’t be able to access it for a full year. All the details are in here.”

Jack looks at the envelope with eyes so angry, I’m surprised it doesn’t turn to dust in his hands.

“Thanks. We’re ready to go.” West turns his attention to me. “Where are your things?”

“I only have a purse.”

Jack mumbles an expletive under his breath and walks out the door, not waiting for anyone else. Finn touches my arm. “Go get your purse.”

As I leave the room, he follows me. I guess he’s worried I’m going to run. He doesn’t realize that I have nowhere to run to.

In the room where the women gather before the auction, I find my purse. In the corner, a girl who doesn’t look any older than me quietly sobs. I want to reach out to her and let her know that as long as she’s living and breathing, everything has a chance to get better. It’s what I tell myself in all the moments I’ve felt like I’ve hit rock bottom and broken through to even greater misery. It’s the only thing that’s kept me going. But I don’t say a word because my problems are waiting for me outside, and I don’t have anything left in me to give to a stranger.

Finn walks beside me as we make our way from the building and into the night. I shiver, and he rests his coat around my shoulders like a man on a date, not someone taking his glorified sex-slave back to his remote cabin in the woods. Fear and trepidation consume me, and my knees feel like they could go out from beneath me. My breathing is labored, and Finn’s hand, which suddenly grips my elbow, is the only thing that keeps me from falling.

West unlocks a truck that reminds me too much of Carter’s, causing slick dread to slide down my spine, but I don’t have time to think before Finn opens the rear door and firmly helps me inside.

The interior is illuminated by a small light that casts the back of Jack and West in an eerie yellow glow. Their oversized frames fill the front seat, their plaid-covered shoulders almost touching across the space between their seats. Finn rounds the vehicle and slides in next to me, his eyes trailing my face and body as I fasten my seatbelt and pull the coat closer around me. The truck rumbles to life, and through the window, I watch as the places I’m familiar with pass in a blur.

“We’re going to go to a store to buy you what you need.” West’s voice breaks through the silence, making me jump.

My instinct is to tell him that they don’t have to spend their money on me, but I can’t live in this one outfit for a year. I could apologize for leaving all my worldly possessions behind, but then I’d have to explain what I’m running from, and that isn’t something I’m prepared to confide.

I rest my head against the car and close my eyes, too overwhelmed to face the future that’s rushing towards me like a swinging ax. I focus on my breathing and the whooshing of blood in my ears until everything around me fades to black.

The next time I come to my senses, I’m lying down against the rough fabric of the seat. Voices skitter on the edge of my consciousness. “She’s literally got nothing, man,” Finn says.

“She doesn’t need much,” Jack says. “It’s not like she’s going anywhere.”

I swallow against the tight constriction of my throat.

“I have some shirts she can have,” Finn says.

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