Page 22 of Mine

And in front of his brother!

“I am a moron,” I groan.

“At least you’re gorgeous.”

Dale’s voice startles me, and I spin quickly, too quickly. I’m dizzy, so my hand shoots out to catch myself on the counter before I can fall.

“Easy.” He grins, his hands settling on my waist.

“I’m fine,” I huff.

I am fine. He and Jason have been extra annoying since I got back. But maybe it’s more to do with the annoyance I feel at myself, I silently admit.

Trying to be less of a bitch, I move out of his grasp to get a cloth. Holding the yellow material between us in explanation, I force a smile until Dale backs up enough from the counter that I can step in and clean up without him so close.

Turning toward the counter, I pick up the cup and start to soak up the whiskey and Coke.

Wrong move.

I feel his hands on me within seconds.

They’re higher this time, too high.

So much for being nicer.

“You hurt my feelings earlier when you wouldn’t kiss me for your dare,” Dale tells me, and I feel panic rise as his body presses against the back of mine.

My mind compares the feel of him to the way Daniel felt against me. My body trembles, and not in the same way the large man made me shiver earlier today.

Dale feels it and takes it as a green light.

“I guess you just needed us to be alone.” His words are spoken into the skin of my neck, where it’s still sore from Daniel’s earlier bite. I try to cringe away, but the final straw is the feel of his tongue wetting my neck from shoulder to ear.

I shove myself from the counter and pull away from him, but it just leaves me backed into the corner of the L-shaped counter. What little moonlight coming in from the window behind me is enough with the few candles littering the room to see the intentions in Dale’s eyes change.

This is bad . . . this is really bad.

“Dale—”

“You know . . .,” he interrupts, taking a step closer to me. “I’ve been patient. Jason said you were a tease but that you’d let me fuck you after a few drinks.”

I eye the now empty cup, and the image of him following Amy into the kitchen to fetch drinks earlier flashes through my mind.

Who passed me the cup? Dale. Dale gave me both my drinks tonight.

“What did you do?” I barely get the words past my throat.

“Nothing.” He laughs.

I don’t believe him, and my face tells him so because he gives another laugh, his hand brushing the air as if to wave away the topic.

“What did you put in my drink, asshole?” I snap, now out of patience.

Shit, does a town this small even have a hospital?

My chest feels tight, and my breaths are getting faster, shorter. I’m having a panic attack.

“It’s nothing. It was just something Jason gave me when we went out for a smoke to chill you out . . . a bit of E is stashed in the car.”