I let myself be carried away in his current, my pussy squeezing around his throbbing dick. I don’t want to be good and make the right decisions. I want to self-destruct and externalize this inner pain, this darkness that has its claws in me.

CHAPTER 13

WILLOW

“That’s just weird, sis!” my brother says, stopping in the doorway to the kitchen. “What the fuck are you doing?”

I don’t lift my forehead off the kitchen island. “I’m cursing myself for making bad life decisions. Ever done that? Made shit decisions that’ll come back to bite you later in life?”

Liam steps over the threshold as I finally straighten up. “I make shit decisions all the time, but I don’t bang my head on the island for five minutes straight.”

“Shut up,” I grumble, rubbing my sore forehead. “It wasn’t five minutes.”

Liam rips down the note attached to the fridge with a magnet. “Mom’s out again.”

“Where is she this time?” I scoot my chair back and walk over to him, snatching the note from his fingers. “Gone for a meal with Sarah and Jane,” I read out loud. “Well, there’s a surprise.”

“She’s never home, huh?”

When I don’t reply, he turns me around with his hands on my shoulders. “How about we go to the movies? I’ll let you pick what to watch.”

I toss the note on the counter and shrug. “Sure.” It’s not like I’m doing anything else tonight.

We take a taxi there, and Liam fills the ride with small talk. He’s always been outgoing and quick to laugh. It’s easy to see how he ended up living in a large city while I’m stuck here in Skelton, with the tractors and toothpick-chewing farmers.

Liam pays for the taxi and the movie tickets. I try to pay for the popcorn and drinks, but he waves me off. “It’s my treat.”

I’m not sure how to feel about his attention. It’s obvious he feels sympathy for me—his little sister who is always alone in our mom’s big house. I wish he would stay, even if he annoys me more often than not. His absence echoes louder than his stomping feet on the stairs or his incessant talking.

We settle in our seats toward the back, and I take a moment to pretend that this is my life—that I’m a girl with a family who loves her. My heart clenches behind its prison bars. The sad truth is that this is my first time at the movies with anyone else besides Chloe.

While the film plays, Liam stuffs his mouth with popcorn as though he’s performing a magic trick to impress onlookers with how much he can fit in there. It’s impossible not to gawk. My eyes soon snag on something else—or rather, someone else.

Two rows ahead, at the end of the aisle, is a broad set of shoulders I’m all too familiar with.

Grayson.

And he’s not alone. The girl with amber hair is back, leaning with her head on his shoulder.