“No one has seen her in three days,” I explain. “I thought she might have taken a trip home or something.”
“Oh, my god, no.” She sounds frantic at this point, and her worry is starting to spread over to me. “She hasn’t been here, hasn’t called either. Hold on, let me check something real quick.”
I listen to the phone being set down, followed by some typing on a computer. A few moments later, she comes back on the line, her voice a little calmer now, or at least more composed.
“I just checked her credit card statement. She used her card to check into a hotel in town.”
Relief washes over me, making me face the reality of how worried I was about her. “What hotel?”
“The Dunham Inn.”
“I know where that is. I’ll go check on her, and if there’s a problem, I’ll give you a call.”
“Really? You would do that?”
“Yeah, I’ll tell her to call you later too.” I hang up the phone, grab my car keys, and head out the door.
On my way to the hotel, some of the relief I felt has already morphed back into anger. What the fuck was she thinking just taking off like that? Hiding out in some hotel? Was this her way of fighting back?
Or maybe she truly was jealous over seeing me with Crystal the other day? If I cared about her feelings, I would tell her Crystal was no one to me, that the second we rounded the corner, I pushed her away. That I even told her to leave me alone, but I’m not about to reveal that fact just to make her feel better.
Flirting with Crystal was only to hurt her feelings. I didn’t really think she would be jealous and only hoped to show her that she meant nothing to me. That I could have anyone I wanted, that she wasn’t anything special. Mainly, I did it to piss her off, not to run her out of school. Twenty minutes later, I pull up to the hotel and hand my keys to the valet. Walking into the lobby, I’m happy to see a young woman behind the reception counter. That’s going to make all of this go so much faster.
“Hello, do you have reservations with us?” she greets.
“Hi there.” I give her my most dazzling smile. “I’m actually already a guest. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced my key card. You wouldn’t be able to make me another one, would you?” I follow up with some puppy dog eyes.
“Oh, sure, I think I could help.” She giggles and bats her eyelashes at me.
“The reservations were made under Meyers.”
“All I need is your ID and room number.”
“Well, the problem is my wallet is in the room… and I am terrible with numbers. I checked-in three days ago. You must have not been here that day, ’cause I sure as hell would remember someone as pretty as you.”
Her cheeks turn crimson red as she starts to type something on her laptop. I continue smiling, even though on the inside, I’m wishing for this to be over as soon as possible so I can get to Kennedy.
She pulls out a card and hands it to me. Giving me her best fuck me eyes, she says, “Here you go, Mr. Meyers. Room four-hundred-and-ten.”
“Thanks,” I snap, watching her face fall before taking the card from her finger. I spin around and head to the fourth floor. You can run my little bug, but you’ll never be able to hide from me.
18
Kennedy
You know that strange feeling you get when you’re sleeping, and you feel like someone’s watching you? But there isn’t any possible way that could really be happening. Not when you are locked inside a hotel room. No, that couldn’t happen. Unless you have someone like Jackson in your life.
Blinking my eyes open, I’ve barely woken up when I let out a screech at the shadow hovering over my bed. A hand comes out of nowhere and presses against my mouth, a moment before Jackson’s face comes into view. His gaze is hard, and I know instantly that I’m in trouble.
“I’m going to pull my hand away, and you’re going to tell me what the fuck you’re trying to prove by coming here?” The deep tone of his voice jolts my body awake, and my nipples harden against the thin material of my T-shirt, which, other than panties, is all I have on. Even with the blanket covering me, I feel so exposed and unprotected.
Pulling his hand away, he crosses his arms over his chest and stares down at me like a disappointed father.
I suck in a breath. “How the hell did you get in here?”
“Don’t worry about that. Worry about answering me,” he growls. He looks menacing, but I’m not scared of him.
I knew this moment would come. I knew he would find me eventually, but I didn’t count on it being in the middle of the night, so I didn’t prepare anything to say. What am I going to tell him? That I was jealous? He would love that. No way I’m giving him the satisfaction of knowing that. So, I say the first thing I can think of instead.
“I don’t want to catch any diseases from you. If you make it a habit of sleeping around without a condom, then I’m not going to be one of your girls.”
Jackson stares at me for a split second before tipping his head back and laughing. He’s actually freaking laughing. A sound I haven’t heard in a very long time, and if it wasn’t for the situation, I might actually enjoy hearing it.
“Whatever you have to tell yourself, bug. Now be a good girl and take that shirt off. I didn’t come here to talk.”
Of course, he didn’t. Like I would actually believe that he came here to make sure I was okay. That he was worried about me.
“I’m not having sex with you.” I stand my ground, clutching onto the blanket in front of me. “Get out.” I point to the door. I’m done being his whipping post. Done. I’m not doing this anymore.
“No. I didn’t come all the way here just so I could turn around and go back home. I’m not leaving. At least not until I get a piece of you.”
Wrinkling my nose at him, I reply, “Then get comfortable on the floor because I’m not sleeping with you.”
He tilts his head to the side and raises his eyebrows like he is examining me, ready to test my limits. He’s going to push me, see how far he can bend me before I snap.
“I’ll tell you what. Either sex or you let me see your thighs. Which one is it going to be?”
Shaking my head furiously, strands of my blonde hair whip across my face. How did this escalate so quickly?
“No… no to both.”
I know the answer between those two choices. I would rather have sex with him than let him see, but I refuse to give in. I won’t let him bully me into this. He needs to leave.
“Choose, Kennedy!” he yells, his eyes piercing my soul.
“No!” Clutching the blanket to my chest, I start to scoot away from him, but I don’t get far before he’s on me. Grabbing the edge of the blanket, he tugs, ripping the only protection I have from him away. Like an animal that’s wounded, my eyes dart around the room, looking for a place to hide. He can’t see my scars, he can’t. He’ll use them against me, hurt me more.
I won’t give him any more ammunition than he already has. I’m tired of giving him a loaded gun and expecting him not to shoot me in the heart.
With the blanket gone, I push up onto my knees and dart across the bed, but of course, Jackson anticipates the move and latches onto my ankle with his hand.