Filed To Story: Pretty Poisoned Novel by Elle Mitchell
“How in the fuck would I drop you?” he asks as he walks inside.
“I’m terrified of heights!”
He sets me down on the bed and then uses the flashlight on his phone to find a pill bottle in his bag. I hear him shake one out into his hand, and then he grabs a water bottle from the fridge and brings them both to me. I wash down the pill and about three-fourths of the water bottle; he takes it back and finishes it off, then crawls under the covers next to me.
I lie back on the pillow and close my eyes.
“No,” he says.
“No what?”
“This spot right here, kitten,” he says.
I sigh and do as he asks, curling into him with my head tucked into that space under his chin, where I do seem to fit perfectly.
And he’s in that place he so seamlesslyso slowly at first that I didn’t notice it until it was too lateworked his way into.
Under my skin.
I fall asleep listening to the thud of his heart in his chest.
At least when this all falls apart, if anyone ever asks, I can tell them that I know without a doubt that it did, in fact, beat.
We spend one more day in Reno, then two in Boise, and another two in Salt Lake City before another long drive to Denver. And if I don’t think about it like they said, I think I could do this forever, and I’d never get tired of itthe music, the parties. Never being alonenot unless I want to.
Never being lonely.
I burrow further into Luca’s side as we walk toward the hotel.
I realize I’ve become somewhat codependent on him. When he isn’t around, I ache for precisely this. He makes me feel safe, although not in the traditional, physical senseI don’t need thatbut more like I could show him any dark part of me or any fucked up thing that I’ve done, and he’d just shrug it off or laugh and pull me in tighter.
I’ve never had that. I’ve never belonged anywhere.
I’ve never had a family.
“Have you ever been to Denver before, Teagan?” Luca asks.
I shake my head. “No.”
“You’ll love it. It’s supposed to be nice out. We can rent a car tomorrowsomething with a top that comes off. I’ll take you to the Garden of the Gods, and we can get really high, find a quiet place, and fuck in the dirt. Stay there all day, show up late to the venue, and piss Declan off. You want to?”
“Yeah, I want to,” I tell him. “I’d go anywhere with you.”
I smile. I know there’s a term for this: it’s love-bombing. But I don’t care. It works on me just like his normal human costume, enough that I can ignore that he gets into my phone when I’m sleeping and all the other invisible lines he’s crossed. Maybe they were never mine.
And his chaos laced with sweet words that couldn’t possibly be true, longing stares from on stage or across the room, and half smiles seem to be exactly what I’ve needed.
But when I do want peace or quiet without being lonely, I go to Declan. Because quiet doesn’t bother him, either. And he likes to sleep in and cuddlewho would have thought?
I like the way I fit in that space under his chin, too.
“What’d you just say about me?” Declan asks.
“Nothing,” Luca says. “We’re not talking about you at all.”
“Teagan? Don’t lie to me, kitten.”
Since I can’t lie to him, I only shrug.
“Whatever. We’re all going to the top floor,” Declan says. “There are two interconnected suites with two bedrooms and bathrooms. We’re having a party tonight.”
“A party?” I ask. “What kind of party?”
“Not that kind of party,” Rhett answers.
“Our record label has a satellite office here,” Declan says. “We’ll have to entertain them, so behave accordingly.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“Pass for normal,” Hazel answers. “Normal friends, normal family.”
“Yeah, cover up your stab wounds, Teagan,” Brady says, squeezing into the elevator with us.
The ‘L’ on my chest is scabbed over and healing now, already leaving behind scar tissue in some places. It’s on full display now in my low-cut cropped tank.
“I like my stab wounds,” I tell him.
“Me too,” Luca says.
“You should cover it this time, Teagan,” Declan says as we exit the elevator.
He unlocks the door, and I follow Luca into a bedroom. After putting my suitcase in the closet, I lie on the bed and pull out my cell phone.
“Do you want to go somewhere today? Orlet me guessyou’re going to find the gym.”
“I’m going to find the gym, and I want to go somewhere with you today,” he says. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Why are you making that face?”
“Um, it’s my sister,” I tell him.
They haven’t stopped with the disapproving text messages and voicemails, but I’ve ignored them. Over the last couple of days, they switched tactics. Now, instead of just mocking me, they’re threatening to get rid of all my things.
BLAKELY Just so you know, we’re about done moving everything out. Mom and Dad said that if you aren’t back to get your stuff by this weekend, they’re going to donate it all to the Salvation Army.
BLAKELY She already scheduled the pick up.
BLAKELY Come home. I need you. I need your help with the wedding. I’ll help you find a job and a place to stay. Just come home.
The text bubble shows that she’s still typing, so I watch and wait.
BLAKELY You owe me rent and electric, too. And I know you’re not even pretending to work nowyou haven’t posted in weeks. Mom said your bank account is empty.
I sigh, close the message, and open the one from my mom.
It’s only a screenshot confirming the pick-up time for the Salvation Army.
“They’re still mad at you?” Luca asks.
“They’re throwing all my stuff away,” I tell him. “If I don’t come home by next weekend, they’re getting rid of all of it. It’s everything I own. I’ll just I’ll have to book a flight home or something. Maybe I can convince my mom to take it.”
“Teagan”
“I’m going to go take a shower. I smell grosslike smoke and bus and sex.”
Tossing my phone aside, I head into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I stand under the hot water and berate myself because they’re probably fucking right, aren’t they? I can’t do this forever. They can’t even do this forever.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.