Page 75 of Wicked Dares

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It hurts looking at him now and seeing the change.

“Thanks for tonight,” I say, because I should. “See you next week.”

“Yeah.”

With that, I walk away.

I leave him standing there before he can see how badly I want to stay.

But the look in his eyes follows me long after I’m gone.

So does the regret.

Chapter Seventeen

PIPER

Ican’t breathe.

Darkness presses in around me, thick and suffocating. No matter how hard I pull air into my lungs, it never feels like enough.

The panic hits first, sharp and crushing.

“Piper,” a harsh male voice calls my name in the dark.

My pulse stumbles.

It’s him.

Reece.

A door slams somewhere in the distance, the sound echoing like a gunshot. My chest tightens.

He’s coming.

The sound of his footsteps follows my thoughts.

They always sound the same.

Slow. Steady. Heavy. Like he’s dragging his feet across dirt.

“No,” I whisper, but my voice barely works. It comes out weak and broken.

Just like me.

My body is shattered, broken bones aching.

Still, I force myself to move against the ropes binding my wrists and feet.

I lift my head and the acrid scent of bleach and blood burns my nostrils. Nausea claws up my throat.

I shuffle backward, trying to make myself smaller.

But there’s nowhere to go.

No escape.

More footsteps.

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