His right hand slid under my shirt to palm one of my breasts. His free hand started to disappear under the waistband of my shorts. I shifted away. “Not now.” He pulled me back against him, but just held me, breathing heavy. He kept his hands to himself, though. His erection lay thick against my stomach. My insides tingled, but not like they did when I was with King.
We sighed in unison.
He dropped his forehead to mine, “What happened?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
Right there, leaning into him for support. I told him.
“That’s not fair,” he said. “But I think I have the solution.” He righted himself. “Get in.” He opened the door for me to slide in then he made his way to the other side of the car, he opened the door and settled into the driver’s seat.
We sat in silence for a while.
“I’ll pay for it,” he said out of the blue.
My mind had drifted so I was confused as to what he was talking about. So I asked him. “Pay for what?”
“Your dorm and books, or better yet I’ll get us an apartment.”
“An apartment?”
“Yes, an apartment. You won’t have to stay in a dorm.”
“But what about Duke? What about your football scholarship?”
He grasped me by my wrist, ran his thumb along the sensitive skin underneath as he looked me in the eyes. He had the prettiest ocean blue eyes and longest lashes.
“I already told you I wanted to go to Georgia with you. That I want to be with you… I applied at Emory. I got accepted. I don’t need the scholarship. I received my inheritance a few months ago when I turned eighteen.” He said.
I gave it a moment’s thought. I didn’t want to say no, even though there was this niggling in the back of my mind saying I should.
First, we were way too young to be making such rash decisions. My doubts also had a lot to do with King and how he would feel. I loved him and he said he loved me, but I knew us being together wasn’t realistic. I was just eighteen, my life was just starting. He was twenty-four, already living his. I knew he wasn’t moving to Georgia. I doubted he even wanted a real relationship. There was also the fact that I’d be totally dependent on Ellis. That never worked out for my momma. What if he decided he didn’t want me anymore? Did I really want to put my future on the line by depending on a man when I could simply go to school in-state?
“Let me think about it.” I said.
Ellis nodded but interjected “We only have two months to make the decision. I’ll need time to get everything together.”
One moment we were talking about our future, in the next moment my chest was pounding the way it does when you’re awakened suddenly. My hair was snatched from behind. I screamed as I was dragged from Ellis’s car by it. It all happened so fast I didn’t get a chance to fight or react. My ass hit the ground hard. I thought I was being kidnapped to be sold into some type of sex ring or some shit. Then I heard King’s voice, I became even more frightened. I froze.
Before he lifted me from the ground where I’d fallen, I could see him waving a gun at Ellis. He threw me over his shoulder. “If I ever catch you near her again…” I didn’t get to hear the rest of the threat because he shoved me into driver’s side of his truck. He slid in right behind me. He slammed the door so hard the car rocked.
I scrambled into the passenger seat and dived for the door.
“Don’t fucking do it.” His tone was deathly calm. I looked back just in time to see him slam the gun he had threatened Ellis with onto the dashboard.
He gave me a dead stare. Every hint of human emotion had drained from his eyes. The darkness in them chilled my bones.
My stomach tightened. My blood raced in my ears.
“Don’t fucking test me, Eden,” he murmured with an intensity that rattled me.
That’s when the scary thought came. I realized I knew very little I knew about the man I had spent months chasing. I sat back, fisting my hands in my lap. Trepidation had my heart beating a mile a minute. He peeled out of the parking lot. As he sped towards Ellis, it looked like he was going to try to intervene. I shook my head, “No.” I mouthed, “please don’t.” He angrily threw his hands up. I was okay with him being angry. I didn’t need him to help me, just to get hurt because of me.
King’s foot was heavy on the gas as we soared down the street in the opposite direction of the house. I was so scared I felt like I would pee on myself.
My heart hiccupped. “Slow down, you’re going to kill us,” I yelled.
He kept his head forward, ignoring me. His knuckles were white from the grip he had on the steering wheel.
He hit a corner and I swear the car tipped over onto two wheels. My eyes were probably the size of saucers.
“Slow down,” I yelled again.
He roared. “Shut the fuck up.” He pressed his foot further down on the gas. The car sped up.
Not thinking straight, I reached over. I grabbed the wheel as we were driving onto the highway.
The car swerved. King shoved me so hard I flew across the seat and my arm and side slammed against the door, hard.
He pulled over on the shoulder of the road and exploded. “Are you fucking crazy?” he yelled at me, directly in my face.
By that time, I was hysterical, shaking and crying.
“You’re trying to fucking kill us.” My tone was frantic.
He glared at me like he didn’t give a fuck if we lived or died. His eyes were pitch black.
“Do that again and I’ll fucking hurt you. “He continued to glare at me until I could physically feel his anger. I sank back into my seat.
He put his attention back on the road. He pulled off the shoulder and started driving again, but this time safely. Still my entire body trembled. I wanted so bad to ask him where we were going, but I was too scared. I cowered next to the door. Staring out the window helped dispel some of the panic that was fraying my nerves. What was he about to do to me? I wanted to ask him, but I was scared to set him off.
He got on the Howard Franklin leading us out of St. Pete to Tampa. He drove in complete silence, anger radiating off of him in waves.
Finally, he pulled up to a hotel across from the University of Tampa. I was relieved because I knew where I was and how to get home in case, I had to run away from him. He got out the car, taking the gun with him. Just watching him tuck it in the holster on his side paralyzed me with fear. He came around to the passenger side and snatched me from the car. He opened his mouth to say something but must have read the fear on my face. He took the gun from his holster, he shoved it in the glove compartment then slammed it, then the door.
My relief was audible. I exhaled loudly.
“Fucking behave, Eden. Don’t make me show you a side of myself you won’t like,” he warned before he intertwined our fingers and pulled me to one of the rooms. He opened the door with a key and shoved me in. “Sit your ass down.” He pointed the chairs in the corner of the room.
Afraid, I did exactly what he had told me. I made my way over to one of the high back leather chairs and sat quietly while he removed his tennis shoes. The suit he had been wearing earlier had been replaced with black skinny jeans and a band t-shirt.
My gaze travelled down the length of him. I dropped my head shamefully. Something was wrong with me. He had just dragged me out of a car kicking and screaming, pulled a gun on my friend and basically kidnapped me and my first thought when I got a good look at him was I liked the way his muscles looked pressed against his shirt, and the way he filled out his jeans.