“It means he can get carried away.”
“But not you, right?” I glare at him. “Not Ark, the man in control, right?”
“Not me. You described me perfectly. The man in control.”
I let out a long breath and turn away from him. “I want more than a release. If I tell you true things about my past, then I want you to be invested.”
“Invested?” He laughs. “You’re in my house. You’re on the run. You want me and my best friend to give you what you need.” I start to protest, but his hand cups my mouth. “Shh,” he commands. “You want more than sex, I get it. You want protection. You want a place to hide. You want a place to decompress and understand whatever happened to you. Maybe you want allies?” He stops to watch my face after that declaration. “And we’re willing. JD might give it away, but I don’t. JD doesn’t know what’s good for him. I do. So I’m going to take control of this situation and put things in order right the fuck now. You have no idea who he is. You have no idea what he’s doing when he leaves here.”
I slap Ark’s hand from my mouth. “And neither do you, from the sound of it. You didn’t know where JD was yesterday.”
“You’re right,” Ark snaps back. “I didn’t know where JD was. But I certainly know what he was doing.”
The silence hangs there for a few moments.
“And you don’t have any idea what you’ve walked into here with us, Blue. No idea at all.”
“So tell me.”
“Oh,” he laughs. “Now you want answers and sex. Well, that’s gonna cost you a little bit more than you have right now. So let’s just stick to the sex.”
I sit up, ready to bolt back to JD’s room and get away from this asshole, but he grabs my tit and squeezes. I fall back against the pillow and moan.
And then, just to prove he’s got what I need, he flips me over, drags the covers off my bare bottom, and smacks me hard, right across the bruises left over from a few days earlier.
I cry out at that one, but even though I’m ashamed to admit it, my clit is begging for more.
“Start talking. Your first kiss happened when you were how old?”
She’s in, I can tell. She might hate me right now, but she’s in. She needs a release and for some reason, she wants it from me.
“Blue,” I prod.
She turns those eyes up at me and blinks. “Seventeen.”
My laugh surprises both of us. “What’s that about? You were religious? Your teen years consisted of promise rings and youth group?”
“No,” she snarls. “I was just picky.”
“But now you’re not?”
“Who says I’m not?’
“You’re living with two strangers trying to negotiate with you, using sex as payment.”
“JD doesn’t want sex as payment. You do. And you have me all wrong anyway. I’m not only after sex.”
“Then what else?”
She turns her body towards me slightly. Her hands are tucked under the pillow and it makes her look so innocent. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was just lost and confused. But I know my way around a lost girl. I know my way around an abused girl, too. We work with all kinds of girls, and let me tell you, none of them are in a good place. You don’t suck cock for money if you’re in a good place.
No. Blue is not like those girls. I can’t put my finger on it, but something is very familiar about her.
“I’m not addicted to sex. And I don’t enjoy pain. I just like it… a little bit rough.”
“Is that how you got your ass beat?” It’s a low blow, and her soft expression is immediately hard again. “Is that why your body is so battered right now, you can’t even put on clothes?”
“I’m not talking about that. You asked about my first kiss.”
“So talk. Where was it?”
“In the back seat of Jimmy Laslos’ car.”
“Were you coming home from youth group?” I don’t smile, but she gets the sarcasm.
“No. I told you, that wasn’t why I waited so long.”
“Then why did you wait?”
“My best friend was… a bad example. The things she did scared me, so I was afraid to follow in her footsteps.”
“Hmm,” I say, looking at her closely to make sure she’s not lying.
“But Jimmy L, he was very cute. And my dad liked him. And he wasn’t a player, like most of the boys in my school. He was loyal. And sweet.”
“So what did you see in him?”
She laughs at that. “You think I like the bad ones?”
“You like JD. He’s as bad as they come.”
“You’re his best friend. So what’s that say about you?”
“I’m so much worse than him, it’s not even fair to compare us.”
She huffs out a breath at that admission. “You’re trying to scare me by talking bad about yourself.”
“Was Jimmy L a good kisser?”
“Yes.” She says this with a smile and I know it’s true. She liked him.
“So why did you break up?”
“We didn’t.”
“What?”
Suddenly her demeanor changes and her smile falters. She turns her back to me. “I’m tired of playing.”
“You didn’t answer all twenty questions, so no playtime.”
“I’m over it.” And then she sits up like she’s gonna get out of the bed.
“Hey,” I say, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her back onto the mattress. “You’re staying here and you’re answering that question.”
She closes her eyes and ignores me.
“I tell you what. I’ll let you off with only seven if you tell me what happened to you and Jimmy.”
“Why do you want to know that?” She turns her head to me, giving me a sideways glance. “So you can make fun of me? So you can use it to control me? Why?”
“So I can begin to figure you out.”