Page 53 of Wicked Savage Cruel
“Oh, and here. I brought us these to make the game more interesting.” Kasey opens her purse to show me the stash of mini booze bottles tucked away inside.
“You snuck alcohol into a school game?”
She grins. “How else was I supposed to get through this game?” Pulling two out, she hands one to me. A mini Malibu rum. I roll my eyes but accept it. “To Dominique throwing an interception.”
“I can’t toast to that.”
She shrugs. “I can. You can toast to Roman scoring the winning touchdown.”
I laugh but concede. “Okay. I'll toast to that.” Cracking the cap, I take a drink, downing half of the rum in one swallow before tucking the bottle into my pocket. “That’s kind of awful,” I tell her.
“I know, but it was all I could find on short notice. Aaron keeps a stash of these in the bottom drawer of his dresser.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I look down and recognize Julio’s number flashing across the screen and smile.
“Hello?”
“Hey—” His words are hard to hear through the thundering noise of the crowd.
“Give me a second to get somewhere quiet,” I shout into the phone. “I’ll be back. I need to take this,” I tell Kasey. She waves me off, her attention focused on her own phone as her fingers fly over the keyboard. Standing, I make my way through the stands, slipping through the bleachers and heading for the parking lot gate.
The half-time show is starting up and everyone is on their feet dancing to whatever song the cheer squad has going on.
“Excuse me. Sorry.” I brush past a group of parents and finally make it outside the gate. It’s still loud out here but the noise level is no longer deafening.
“Sorry about that. How are you?” I ask as I stride further across the darkened lot toward the corner of the school. The lights barely illuminate the space but it’s still hard to hear Julio over the crowd so I resign myself to a phone call in the dark.
“I’m good. Now, tell me about this guy you mentioned you’re seeing.”
I laugh, hearing the protective tone in his voice. “Chill with the big brother vibes. Nothing serious is going on.”
He snorts. “Allie, you don’t date. Ryker was the exception and we saw how that went.”
I groan. “Please don’t remind me.” If I could forget ever being with Ryker, that’d be the day.
“I’m serious, though. Is he good to you?”
A smile spreads over my face as I think about Roman. He’s still an asshole to everyone else in this school but in the small pockets of time we happen to get alone, he’s different. Still cocky and possessive but also kind, thoughtful, and surprisingly funny. Just thinking about this past week we’ve had together is enough to make butterflies dance in my stomach.
“Yeah, Julio. He is. I don’t know what it is about him but…” I trail off and narrow my eyes in the dark as I spot two men ten yards away from me. They’re not doing anything, just standing there watching me, but still … goosebumps spread across my skin.
“You still there?” Julio asks.
“Ye…Yeah. I’m here. Sorry, umm, what was I saying?” I turn away from the men and head back across the parking lot, finally realizing I'd pulled myself away from the safety of the crowd. Everything looks different now. Darker, more sinister. My heart races in my chest and I can barely make out Julio’s words as panic bubbles inside me.
I scan the lot and see Silvia across the parking lot, but there’s no way I’m going to her for safety. I’m not that stupid. I don’t see anyone else close by, though. I chance a look behind my shoulder and just as I turn, my phone is snatched from my fingertips. The call is ended and my phone is tossed carelessly to the ground. “Hey!”
The man who took it grabs me by the throat and slams me against the brick wall of the school. My head slams against the hard surface and my vision blurs, a strangled cry pouring from my lips.
“This her?” Another voice asks.
A grunt. “Yeah. It’s her.”
The man holding my throat whirls me around, one arm bands beneath my chest, pinning my arms to my sides while the other one grips my throat. He shoves me forward. “Come on, we’ll take her over here.”
I try to scream but all I can muster is a wheezing sound. I spot Silvia across the lot again. Her face is trained away from me and I’m silently begging her to look my way. To see what’s happening right now. But she never turns, her gaze caught on something or someone else.
I try to cry out again, shouting her name but nothing comes out. My head is pounding and I squirm against his hold but he has me in a vice-like grip. My vision clears and I can see that he’s leading me further from the parking lot into a more remote area where the lights don’t reach. My stomach drops.
