Page 49 of Bound By Shame
Though, if I’m being honest, it’s not only boredom. I still haven’t heard from Seba, who has sent me through the entire gamut of emotions: dejected, self-conscious, anxious, frustrated, spiteful, hurt, you name it.
Currently? I’mfurious.
So naturally, I text the one person I know will piss Seba off the most. The click of my thumbs flying over the phone keyboard syncs to the quick tempo of the song playing from the speaker on my dresser.
SOS!!!!!!!! It’s Friday night and I’m STILL jailed in my room You know why? Because I checked my phone at dinner. Know why I did THAT? Because your stepbrother is an indecisive IDIOT. Now I’m locked up and I swear to FUCKING god if I have to spend even another ten minutes alone in here with my thoughts, I’m gonna explode!!!!!!!!!!!!
The check marks turn blue. I gnaw at my bottom lip until it stings.
Cade:
Does your window open?
I hate the male species.
Of course it opens you Q-tip head but fresh air isn’t going to miraculously fix this situation
The carpet might as well be on fire from the figure eights I’ve paced. Not only has Seba been MIA, but now Cade has left me on read. At this point, I’m ready to reserve their burial plots so the bastards can lie side by side six feet deep in their own bullshit.
A knock abruptly interrupts my internal spiral.
The phone falls from my hand as I stare in utter disbelief at my window.
Mysecond-storywindow.
On the other side of the glass, standing on the three-foot-wide strip of roof below the sill is Cade.
He waves.
It’s so unexpected and ridiculous that I laugh. Rushing across the room, I unlatch and shove it open.
“Did you climb the tree?”
He shrugs. “You sent out an SOS.”
Goddammit,my stupid heart is skipping beats.
“You’re a maniac.”
“It's in poor taste to insult your savior.”
“Forgive me, Lord Warren.”
He hums, a wicked smirk unfurling. “That would sound even better on your knees.”
I roll my eyes. He holds out a hand. I take it, letting him help me onto the roof. A gust of cold air fills my nose and stings my cheeks. He reels me down beside him. I hug my knees to my chest and huddle closer— for warmth. Definitely not because he smells so fucking good I could get high off whatever that cologne is.
Solitary confinement screwed me up.
He pulls a cigarette from his pocket, pinching it in his lips and flicking a Zippo over the butt. The cherry blooms against the darkness, casting a red glow over his pale skin. After taking a drag, he offers it to me.
I don’t smoke, but I accept it anyway.
One puff and I’m hacking up a lung.
Cade chuckles and takes it back.
“Why the fuck do you like those things?” I wheeze.
