Beauty In Her Madness (Winterland Tale #3) - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,33

at me. Mr. Basketball Star tilted his head, a slow cocky smile forming on his face. “Knew you’d change your mind. Decided to come to the party with me after all?”

Party? I stepped back in confusion, my hands dropping from him, my eyes peering around for another form moving away from me.

“Whatever happens there, your boyfriend doesn’t have to know. I’m good at keeping secrets.” Everything about his attitude told me he was not talking about what just happened. That he hadn’t been the person who had just touched me.

And I knew in my gut it hadn’t been him.

“Dinah?” He frowned, looking around, trying to find what I was searching for.

“No.” I shook my head. “Sorry. Mistake. Wrong person. Sorry,” I babbled, moving away from him. I walked quickly toward the parking lot.

“Dinah?” he called out, but I didn’t turn around, my steps only hastening.

A sob built in my gut, but I stifled it. I had no idea what was happening to me, but something was. I remembered after the scary episode with Alice when she freaked out in my room watching Gremlins. She told me later something I pretended not to understand, but I think deep down I had, and even more now.

“But it’s real to you. You really think it’s happening?” I had questioned her. “So, did the gremlins jump out of the screen and come after you?”

“No. It’s not like that. I wasn’t in your room anymore. I was somewhere else. It’s as real as this. It was as if I had been there before. Reliving the experience again. This sick feeling that someone I loved was dying or hurt…”

It was exactly how I felt. It was as real as everything else, which scared me more. Was this a true sign of being crazy— you didn’t see the difference between reality and your visions?

Cold wind blew against my face, and I tucked into my coat. A gust curled around my legs, the sensation pushing through the fabric of my jeans and licking between my legs. I sucked in sharply, my nerves reacting, still craving and aching. They sat up, begging for more.

It was crazy, but the wind felt familiar. Intimate. Alive.

“Dinah…”

Fear made me tear across the parking lot, scrambling into my car. I tossed myself onto the seat, hearing my heartbeat in my ears.

“Get it together, Dinah.” I gripped the steering wheel. “You are stronger than this.”

I looked down to put the key in the ignition, my eye catching on something. The button of my jeans and zipper were undone.

I didn’t know what I was more scared of—that it had really happened or I thought it had. If someone saw me, would they see someone with me, or would they see a university professor’s daughter alone, pleasuring herself against the wall at night?

Shame and humiliation choked my throat. Grabbing my phone, I dialed a number as I put my car in drive. I was a problem solver. I didn’t like being up against something I couldn’t figure out. It went against my nature, but I didn’t know what else to do.

“Dr. Bell’s office, can I help you?” a nasal voice answered.

“Yes.” I swallowed. “I need to see Dr. Bell. Now.”

Chapter 11

“Can you tell me what happened?” Dr. Bell crossed her legs, her blue eyes watching me intently from the chair opposite me. A notepad rested on her lap, her pen tapping the paper.

“Oh…well…uhhh.” I rubbed my hairline. My ass was perched on the sofa, ready to bolt at any moment. It sounded like a good idea when I called, but now I wasn’t feeling as confident. I mean, what did I even tell her? I think I fingered myself outside my classroom, where my father works, but don’t worry, I imagined a man doing it to me, one I made up in my head, and not my boyfriend.

I could still feel his touch haunting my skin, my body still aching for release…for him.

“Dinah?” She curved her eyebrows. “I can only help if I know what’s going on.”

“I-I feel…” I swallowed, my knee bobbing. Grabbing the glass of water in front of me, I took a sip, wetting my parched throat. “I might, I mean, is it possible to have a gene run in your family that makes you crazy?”

“A single gene, no. But it has been acknowledged mental illness can run in families.” She adjusted her glasses. Today she wore a frumpy brown suit, which looked odd against her perfectly styled white hair, fashionable glasses, and bright