Page 78 of Savage Rancher
Like I was never there at all.
Like he wasn't watching me for the past hour.
Have I been overreacting? Building a narrative that doesn't exist?
Maybe.
But as I drive home through the darkness, I can't stop checking my rearview mirror. And I can't stop thinking about the way Cole looked at me—calm, patient, like he had all the time in the world.
Like he knew something I didn't.
77
JAKE
Iwatch the driveway, my body coiled tight, waiting for Emma to get home. She has exactly—I look at the time—two minutes.
What'll happen in two minutes? No one wants to find out.
Then I see it—her truck, turning in, headlights cutting through the darkness. She pulls up to the house and parks.
I stand in my bedroom, in the dark, waiting for her.
What'll I do when she gets here? Grab her, hard, like I've got a right to be this angry—and this relieved.
78
EMMA
As I get out of the car, I see him in the upstairs window.
Uh-oh.
He's leaning there like he owns the dark, eyes pinned to me—slow and deliberate, taking me in like he's already decided what he's going to do.
It’s the same action, butsodifferent from Cole Turner. Jake watching me like this makes me feel grounded and seen, like I’m entering a sanctuary. My unease from earlier dissolves under the desire, and all I can think about is how he’s going to make sure I know I’m in trouble.
And the way his mouth curves, just barely?
Yeah, I'm eager for it.
79
JAKE
There it is—the tip of her chin. Defiant. Willful. Like she can handle me.
I grip the windowsill, already deciding exactly how I'm going to prove that she can't.
80
EMMA
"On your knees," Jake says as he closes his bedroom door.
The lock clicks shut, making me shiver.
I fall to my knees—not because he told me to but because I want to. Because here, on my knees in front of him, I have all the power.
