of his chair again. Lakyn chuckles as he clicks his tongue against the back of his teeth before he steals a glance at me.
“Were you saying something? I kinda spaced out there.”
I throw myself against the backseat angrily and blow out my breath. In my entire life, I never thought I’d hate someone more than Mom.
Seems I was wrong.
“Forget it,” I grumble as I cross my arms over my chest and glance out the window. Eventually you’ll have no choice but to fucking listen to every word I say.
Four
Seventeen Going on Eighteen
Daphne
I'm back in this stupid SUV for the third time, which means I've broken my rule twice in as many days, but I think this time it might actually be worth it. Willa and Aftyn had turned out to be… disappointing. They'd showed so much promise in the forest, and I'd really thought that laying all our cards on the table would make them more interesting—but no.
Aftyn's dad though? Definitely interesting.
From the first moment I saw him walking across the road I'd felt some kind of pull toward him. An incomprehensible tug that had actually managed to drag my attention away from Willa's bitchy little threats. I'll admit I was lucky that she was just as caught off-guard by the man's loud voice and wide grin and didn't take the opportunity to kill me when she had it, although it's not like she was smart enough to carry a weapon anyway.
But with Lakyn staring at us, none of that had even crossed my mind.
I'd recognized the similarities to Aftyn immediately, but Lakyn has a more refined version of Aftyn's good looks. He's taller, more confident, and even in the casual clothes he seemed to take up more space than his physical body. I won't deny being physically attracted to Aftyn but looking between the two of them the difference between boys and men has never been so clear to me. Lakyn is what Aftyn could be if he didn't spend so much time trying to one-up Willa… not that she's a problem anymore. But I still don't think he's going to get any better.
There's just too much emotion in him, and Lakyn can see it too.
Just like Lakyn saw me.
He asked me if I wanted to be a part of the family.
Those are the words I never thought I'd hear. Sixteen years of foster homes where I was too weird, too creepy, too quiet and distant and strange… but Lakyn saw right through all of that. When he looked at me, I knew I didn't need to pretend. I didn't have to act like the vulnerable lost girl, because he saw the truth in those first few moments out on the street and he liked it. He invited me in, and then gave me permission to kill Willa with a kind of excitement in his incredible blue eyes that I've never seen in another person.
'Show me how bad you want it.' he'd said.
She didn't stand a chance.
Not with joining Lakyn's family on the line. It was the first time I've ever wanted to be accepted by anyone, to show them the real me without any plan to kill them after. Willa was too easy to bait, too easy to kill. Yet the way he got out of his chair to get a closer look at what I'd done, wearing a smile and not an ounce of judgment or horror on his face, that felt like a dream come true. He wasn't disgusted. If anything, he looked fascinated as he stared at Willa—but I wanted him to look at me.
I dug the knife in deeper, twisting it to end her faster and regain his attention, and as his lips spread into a grin, I felt the closest to happy I've ever been.
When Willa finally collapsed, I held her upright so I could kill her while facing him. All I'd wanted was for his gaze to meet mine again, but he'd crouched down in front of her and tried to get her attention, tried to make her say she loved him… and I'd realized that was the feeling buzzing in my chest. I wanted to be around him. I wanted to join his family, to go with him to meet Aftyn's aunt, or wherever the fuck he wanted to take me.
Willa didn't have the capacity to say it, and I think even if I hadn't dragged the knife through her diaphragm she probably would have ruined the moment with some bitchy