I walked up to Vegas, who was waiting for me in front of the bar. He smiled as soon as he saw me. I returned the gesture, just to be polite.
“Tell me when you’re home,” Tem insisted, then gave Vegas a nod goodbye. Vegas started to lead me over to the parking lot when we were stopped by a familiar voice.
“Where are you going?”
“Porsche is leaving,” Tem answered for me.
Kinn walked up to grab my arm, forcing me to look at him. “And he’s leaving with…?” he asked coldly, sending a shiver down my spine. I shook off his hand and turned away.
“With me, P’Kinn. Porsche’s place is on the way, anyway,” Vegas chirped.
“Who said you could go?” Kinn growled. He glared at me, deathly serious.
“I’m not working today! I can leave whenever I want!” I protested. I had a profound urge to run away.
“I’m not letting you go,” Kinn vowed, emphasizing each word. He stared straight at me. I started to get uncomfortable and tried to shift away from him a few times, but he always pulled me back.
“What right do you have?!” I retorted, frustrated.
“Do you want a list?” Kinn crept closer, his voice dropping so low that only I could hear him.
I shoved at his chest weakly. He had my wrist in an iron grip; I couldn’t shake it off. I was too weak, due to so many things—injury, for one, but my mental state as well.
“I told you not to get too close to Vegas. I told you to stay away from the Minor Clan,” he hissed, pulling me closer.
I didn’t give a damn that Tem and Vegas were watching. Kinn’s voice wasn’t loud enough for them to hear what we were talking about, anyway.
“That’s my business!” I snarled, trying to twist my wrist out of his grip.
“P’Kinn? What’s the matter?” Vegas asked, walking closer to us.
“Nothing. I’ll drive him myself. Go home, Vegas,” Kinn commanded without even looking at his cousin. His gaze was fixed only on me, with no intention of backing down.
“But…it’s no trouble. Let me give him a ride,” Vegas said.
As soon as I managed to get my wrist free from Kinn’s hand, Vegas nodded at me to come with him. I took a quick glance at Kinn. He let out a sigh and put his hands in his pockets, looking like he was trying to hide some emotion.
Vegas smiled at his cousin, but Kinn didn’t seem to return the gesture one bit. “Go back and have fun, P’Kinn,” Vegas said. “Don’t worry. I will…”
“Vegas, I think you’d better stay out of this. Porsche is my man. I can handle him,” Kinn cut Vegas off before he could finish. Vegas’s smile slowly faltered. His eyes went blank for a moment before he forced a smile back.
“Fine,” Vegas said, complying easily with Kinn’s command.
Kinn’s hands gripped my arm again and pushed me toward the parking lot.
“Porsche,” Tem called, watching everything unfold. I could see the questions written on his face. He’d called out quietly when he saw Kinn gripping my arm and dragging me like that.
“If you don’t want to freak your friend out, walk nicely. Be good,” Kinn whispered in my ear. So I took a deep breath and turned to Tem.
“It’s nothing. You can go,” I told him.
“Call me when you’re home,” Tem said. I nodded at him. Then, Kinn’s hand resumed pulling me along with him.
Once we reached his car, he forced me into the passenger seat. I had to admit that I felt paranoid at this point. I was starting to get scared of Kinn. Whenever I was with him, it felt like all my strength got sucked right out of me. There was only Porsche, a scared little boy with no way to fight back.
As soon as Kinn’s swanky car rolled out of the parking lot, he yelled at me. “How many times have I told you to stay away from Vegas?!”
“What’s it to you? I can talk to anybody I want. Don’t stick your nose into my business,” I said angrily, pointedly looking out the car window. I didn’t want to see his face. I didn’t want to be near him, either—his mere presence reminded me of those horrible moments, made them replay in my head over and over.
“Why not? I’ve already stuck more than my nose into you.”
I wanted to kick him in the face. I tried to block out his words, purposefully ignoring the innuendo.
“I’m warning you. If you go near Vegas, you won’t hear the end of it,” Kinn snarled, his face twisted in rage. He stepped on the gas, making me jerk back in my seat. It wasn’t the speed that scared me—it was him. I was scared something was going to happen to me after this. Sitting here alone with him was already unbearable.
My resolve was so weak; I couldn’t believe that this was what I had become. The pain in my heart hung over me like a shadow. I tried to forget everything that happened between Kinn and me, but I couldn’t. I just loathed myself even more. I hated and hated and hated, and it still wasn’t enough. I didn’t know what to do, especially after my body had betrayed me. I didn’t know how to cope with how disgusted I was.
Kinn and I drove the rest of the way to my house in total silence. He strictly followed my directions, which made me feel a little better. I was worried he was planning to take me somewhere else and touch me again. But he didn’t, to my huge relief.
I could feel my fever flaring. My eyelids were heavy, and my brain felt muddled and cloudy. My symptoms were much worse than back at the bar.
Kinn’s car finally slowed down in front of my home.
As soon as the car stopped, Kinn attempted to feel my forehead. “Do you still have a fever?”
I pushed his hand away.
“Let me check your temperature!” Kinn said, sneaking one hand behind me to hold my neck in place and trying to place the other on my forehead.
“Let me go!” I batted his arms away, using all my strength to resist him.
“I’m just checking on you. You don’t like me being gentle, huh?” Kinn spoke up before inching his face closer to mine. He held my neck and invaded me with another kiss, but I’d never give in to him again. I used my arms and legs to shove and kick him away.
“Let me go, Kinn! Stop being such a scumbag! I’m so disgusted with myself, you bastard!” I screamed and pushed him so hard that his back hit the car door. I quickly opened the door on my side and stormed out of the car as fast as I could. I half walked, half jogged, immediately retreating into my house.
I quickly walked to my room and flopped on the bed, feeling like I was going to pass out. My vision was starting to go black. Maybe I’d just spent too much energy on dealing with everyone’s bullshit today.
My body hadn’t fully recovered, and my fever hadn’t gone down completely. My head throbbed in pain, but I couldn’t even bring myself to go pick up my medication. I lay completely still with my eyes closed as horrible feelings continuously flowed through me. Why had I let myself do that with Kinn in the bathroom? It made me sick. A strong wave of nausea crawled up my throat.
I jerked my head to the side, held it over next to my bed and puked out everything I had bottled up onto my bedroom floor. I’d been holding so many things inside of me, and my body was completely overwhelmed. It had to come out.
“Hia!” Chay called out, opening my bedroom door. I didn’t know what kind of face he made or how surprised he was, because I was barely conscious. I could vaguely sense the damp clothes on my body and my sweaty face. I might have swallowed some pills and water; I wasn’t sure. After that, I drifted off to sleep, unaware of anything else.