“Sweet or slutty?” Jenna held up a black strappy thing.
“Both? But I would hogtie myself in whatever that is.” I held up a flowy white teddy. “How about this?”
“Looks like a virgin bride on the cover of a cheesy romance novel.”
I barked out a laugh.
“Ooh, got it,” Jenna crooned. She showed me a lacy red tie-up corset, panties, and a garter belt. “Sexy and sweet.”
“Yes! But in black.”
“Absolutely.”
I tried it on, and my breath caught when I looked in the mirror. I barely recognized the woman staring back at me, but I loved her. She was beautiful. Sexy.
A few minutes later, we continued to the food court to finish off a successful day of shopping with frozen yogurt. I snappeda picture of the unmistakable pink striped bag and sent it to Dylan.
Me:I’m going to stay at your place tonight. I’ll be wearing this, waiting for you to come home tomorrow.
I pulledinto Dylan’s spot in the garage under his building and gathered my purse, giddy with excitement. Using my key to his apartment, sleeping in his bed, waiting in his bed—in my new lingerie—for him to come home…it felt amazingly intimate to be so comfortable in his space, so fully entrenched in one another’s lives.
I grabbed my bags from the car, swung the door closed, locked it, and headed through the garage towards the lobby door. I only made it a step from the car before I was pulled to a sudden stop. I screamed and spun around.
Jeez, I was a mess. I’d closed the car door on the handle of one of the bags. I muttered to myself as I juggled the bags to open the door again, twisted around so the bags were away from the door, and closed it again more carefully.
Just as I took a step away from the car, I heard a cold, evil laugh from behind me.
It could have been anyone laughing at my clumsiness. I’d never heard Kayla’s laugh before. But somehow, even before I turned around, I knew. I could feel the hatred rolling off her.
Her maniacal laugh echoed through the cavernous garage, reminding me unnecessarily that we were alone in what might as well be an underground dungeon. I was on my own. I didn’t even have my keys in my hand like Dylan always told me to do. Bags of lingerie, clothes, and shoes weren’t going to help me.
I just wanted to run away. But I couldn’t without first seeing what I was running from.
I slowly turned to face Kayla.
Oh shit. I should’ve run. The woman standing before me was not the same woman from the store. This woman wanted to hurt me, if the sharp knife in her hand and the hatred in her eyes were any indication.
“You and Dylan ruined everything. He made Leo leave. I have nothing and it’s all your fault, you stupid bitch.” Kayla took slow steps forward as she spit the venomous words at me, waving the knife threateningly in front of her.
I took one step back for each step she took forward, but it wasn’t putting any distance between us. I was too afraid to turn away from her, though.
Fuck. I hit the cold, hard metal of a truck. I tore my eyes away from the knife, desperately looking for a way out, and finding none. I was stuck between my SUV and a pickup truck, and they were as tall as Kayla and me. No one could see us. Even worse, I’d stupidly dropped my bags, and now they filled the aisle. I had trucks on both sides, the bags behind me, and Kayla in front of me. I was trapped.
“I was waiting for Dylan, but you’re a pleasant surprise. Fitting, isn’t it? Dylan took Leo from me. Now I’ll show him how it feels.”
My heart pounded. With my eyes on Kayla and the truck at my back, I sidestepped, freezing when my foot landed on the uneven softness of my bags. If I tripped, I’d be helpless. She’d gut me like a fish flopping on land, which is exactly how effective I’d be trying to get up and away. Fucking dyspraxia.
No. I refused to accept that I’d trapped myself with my own damn bags. I just had to be smart. Wait until she was distracted.
No, not wait for her to be distracted. I had to be the one to distract her. I needed to delay her from doing anything crazy. Eventually, someone would come into the garage and hear us, but who knew how long that could take?
“Kayla,” I started, but it came out in a whisper, my voice trembling.
If I could keep her talking, maybe it would keep her from using the knife. But I could barely talk under normal, everyday pressure. How the fuck was I going to talk my way out of this? I inhaled a slow breath. I had no choice.
“Wh-what happened with Leo?”
“He left me. He skipped town because Dylan ratted him out for fucking up his money. Now I’m alone again. I have nothing. You and that bastard ruined my life. So it’s only fair that I ruin yours.” Kayla swung the knife wildly towards me.