“ I plan on leaving
with you. And I always get what I want. ”
She smiles again.
Her eyes are on fire.
Her hand creeping to the inside of
my leg and up.
I should slap her hand away, but
why? Because of Jade? Jade ’ s
my fucking stepsister. It can ’ t
happen. And right now, she ’ s
probably eating some fancy meal with Hunter. Talking about business and life.
“ Be
careful what you wish for, ” I tell Gabby. “ Everything
you think you know about me is true. I ’ ll
destroy you, sweetie. And I ’ ll
never call you. I ’ ll never
acknowledge you again unless I want to fuck you again. If you ’ re good enough. ”
“ Then
I guess I have a lot of work to do tonight. ”
I nod.
Good luck. Good fucking luck.
__
12.
(Jade)
I don ’ t
exactly know what the hell I ’ m
eating. I was afraid to touch the plate because it looked so pretty. A small
piece of meat with some greens on it. A beautiful design made with some kind of
dark red sauce that ’ s a
little sweet. The wine is like five hundred dollars a bottle (and that ’ s cheap) and it doesn ’ t taste very good.
I force down one glass with dinner
and leave it at that.
Hunter sits across from me, smiling
the entire time. He ’ s taken
his tie off, some kind of signal that it ’ s
a casual night.
But nothing is casual.
I ’ m
in a dress that ’ s hugging
me too tight. My hair feels all pinned up like I ’ m
going to prom. This is what it ’ s
like to date Hunter. Everything had a look and feel to it. I didn ’ t ask for any of this, but my father
set it up.
Hunter wanted to take me out since
we hadn ’ t seen much of each
other since coming back from New York. My father made some calls and this is
where I am now. Men walking around in full tux ’ s,
wearing white gloves, there to clean up every crumb that falls off a piece of
bread. Women in all black, catering to every need of every guest in the
restaurant. The lighting is low, the music all classical, the place feeling so
weird.
I just want a burger. Some fries. A
cold beer.
Is that so wrong?
Not that this food isn ’ t very delicious, it ’ s just not for me.
I bide my time until Hunter reaches
across the table and grabs my hands.
“ Hey, ” he says. “ Are you okay? ”
“ Yeah.
I ’ m sorry. I ’ m just … tired. ”
Hunter frowns. “ I ’ m
so sorry you have a bad night of sleep. If I knew …”
“ It ’ s okay. ”
“ It ’ s not though, ” Hunter says. “ That scum piece of shit called
you for a ride. From jail. ”
“ Hunter,
it ’ s fine. He needed help.
Jake ’ s helped me before. I
was just returning the favor. ”
“ Returning
the favor, ” Hunter nods. “ That has a bad tone to it, Jade.
I wouldn ’ t even refer to
him if I were you. Last thing we need is rumors of anything. That ’ s the big concern. ”
“ Rumors
of what? ” I ask.
“ Come
on, Jade. The middle of the night. You and Jake in a car together. Driving. All
you need is someone to get a picture of it and it ’ s
the wrong message. Really bad stuff. ”
“ Oh, ” I whisper. “ That ’ s just … silly …”
So silly that it ’ s true. I drove Jake home … and then he drove me
home … fucking
me … so hard.
So fast. So deep.
“ Enough
about that, ” Hunter says. “ Best to leave the trash at the
curb. I hope soon enough he ’ s
gone. Let ’ s talk about you
and me. ”
“ Okay. ”
“ I
can ’ t stop thinking about
our car ride. In New York. ”
Hunter grins. His eyes go wide. He ’ s a really handsome guy, he
really is. It ’ s hard to
look at Hunter and not want him. But I just don ’ t.
Any other woman would be happy to have him.
Of course Hunter is talking about
when I fell asleep, dreamed of Jake, and woke up to find myself kissing Hunter ’ s neck.
“ I
know things are so crazy for you, ” Hunter says. “ I ’ ve been respectful and calm.
Your father is so persistent about us together. I know he can be overbearing
and hard
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
John O'Riley
Brenda Sinclair
Christopher George
Stephen Lloyd Jones
Karl Iagnemma
Celya Bowers
Jill Gregory
Aria Cunningham