Page 121 of The Monster I Am
“No, no,” I ramble, finding my determination to live. “We have to corrupt you first. Okay—breathe in and out. We can do this. For the dick, Sophia! Fight for the dicking.”
A shadow rolls over my face. This is it—I’m at the pearly gates. A devilish angel is standing over me, grinning in pure amusement.
“You okay?”
Rylan’s face is swimming in and out of focus and all I can do is offer a weak thumbs up before my arm falls back onto the grassy ground.
“No,” I mumble, contradicting myself. “I can’t move.”
There’s a whimper from my right, Ry glancing over at Soph before chuckling. “Do you need me to carry you?”
“Don’t you dare leave me behind, Astor,” Soph threatens. “I’ll haunt Taiandyou.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,Sophie.”
“Fuck… ow.” Her curses trail off, hand blindly reaching for me. I manage to clasp her palm, the pair of us sprawled out like grass angels while the rest of the class disappears into the changing rooms or start to head back to the main building.
“Hey, at least you passed,” Ry offers, failing to muffle a laugh. “Come on, let’s sit you up.”
His warm hands slide behind my back, gently pulling me upright. Ry hands me his water bottle before maneuvering Soph to the sitting position as well.
“I don’t think the pass was worth it,” I mumble. “Thank fuck we never have to do that again.”
Ry squats down in front of me, steady on the balls of his feet. “I’m proud of you,” he tells me. “You can rest now.”
“Shit,” Soph groans, slowly climbing to her feet. “I hate you, Bexley Spencer.”
“Love you too,” I wave drunkenly. “Enjoy your American Lit exam.”
She lets out a few more pained noises before limping to go get changed. Ry takes her spot next to me, reaching for the water bottle.
“I have the house to myself this afternoon,” he says casually. “Do you want to come over?”
I nod, eyes closed as my breathing finally settles. “Sure. Bring Tai and Hunter too if they are free.”
“As if I could keep them away,” he jokes. “How was work?”
Opening my eyes, I peer over at him. “I’m sorry,” I say sincerely. “I should have listened to you.”
All his carefree energy vanishes, expression hardening. “What do you mean?”
Sighing, I fill him in on what happened with Elliott, not missing the way his fist clenches as I speak.
Ry’s eerily silent when I finish, and for a second, I’m actually worried he’s about to drive to the coffee shop to hunt down the man.
Finally, he relaxes—only slightly, though. “I’m glad you handled it,” he says in a low, dark tone. “We can talk more about it this afternoon and help figure out a plan.”
It’s hard to ignore the uncomfortable sensation that heavily twists my stomach into knots when we walk into the Astor residence.
Even though Mayor Astor isn’t here, it makes me feel sick knowing his lingering presence is around.
Hunter places a hand on my lower back, rubbing soothing circles. “We double checked his whereabouts before leaving Willowbrook. T confirmed he’s three hours away.”
“Yep!” Tai answers, appearing on my right. “Away on business until tomorrow.”
The two of them drove us here since my truck is at Willowbrook and Ry’s is written off. We decided to take twomodes of transport, just in case the four of us being in one vehicle is too tempting fordrunkdrivers. I did offer to drive myself, but Hunter suggested it might be best to avoid having my vehicle seen here.
“Good,” I murmur, looking over at Ry as he pulls his jersey off, discarding it on the floor with his sneakers.
