Stay For Me - Megan Smith Page 0,69

my head, “No, it’s alright. It’s already so late. I’m not going to be that long.”

We finish getting dressed and I walk Layla to the door so I can lock it behind her.

“Be careful.” I say leaning down to kiss her goodbye. “I’ll be home soon.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I’m so exhausted I can’t wait to go home and go to sleep. I normally get a little nap in before work but last night I didn’t because we went out to dinner with Cooper and Jaylinn.

I walk back into my office and I swear I heard a scream. I wait a second to see if I hear it again. An eerie feeling hits me. I turn going back down the hall to the door. I unlock it, push it up and the air leaves my lungs in a whoosh.

Some guy has a menacing hand raised with something in it meant to inflict damage as it comes down to hit his victim on their head. That head has blonde hair.

“No!” I scream charging for the guy but my scream falls short as the blackness takes over. Any help I was able to give was taken from me as the darkness embraces me with open arms.

Layla

After Eli shuts the door behind me I start digging around in my purse for my keys. A shadow catches my attention and before I can even react I’m hit in the back of the head. I’m momentarily stunned as the blinding pain hits me. My vision goes blurry and I drop my car keys.

I try reaching up but I can’t seem to get my arm to cooperate. Another hit comes in the middle of my back and I fall to the ground. Someone pulls my head up by my hair and punches me in the face.

I block the punches out replacing them with Eli's smiling face, the smile that makes everything right for me. The next few hits feel harder taking that smiling face away from me.

It pisses me off and I attempt to get up after the punches stop. I can hear the whooshing in my ears, I can even hear people talking but it sounds like I’m under water. That's when everything flashes before my eyes.

The first time I met him in his office for the job interview, the late night movies, him admitting his feelings for me, our first Christmas and then finally coming out that we’re a couple. The look on his face the countless times we've had sex and the look of pure pleasure on his handsome face after he’s just came, as well as the look of male satisfaction he has when he’s done the same for me.

I get my hands underneath me and start to push myself up when a pair of tan boots come into view. I channel all the pain into forcing myself from the ground.

“Dude,” one guy says but it’s muffled.

“Fuck,” another voice says that sounds familiar but I'm not sure why.

My face is going numb and I am able to discern the metallic taste in my mouth. I get my legs up underneath me now, kneeling, trying to fight through the pain that is coursing through my body.

The back door swings open and Eli is standing there, shirtless, with a look of horror on his face.

“No!” He screams charging in my direction but drops to ground as someone comes up behind him and hits him in the head. Eli’s not moving.

“This can't be happening.” The first guy says.

I tilt my head up. He’s wearing something over his face explaining why his voice sounds so far away. I turn my head just slightly and pain sears through my head right down to my back. When my vision clears, I open my eyes, and focus on the other guy who is standing near Eli. He’s wearing the same thing over his face and he’s wearing darker clothes too.

I blink.

I breathe in through my nose and out of my mouth.

The last guy, the closest to me, comes into focus. I'm not surprised that it’s him. I’m actually surprised he hasn’t been around sooner. His words that he left me with repeat constantly.

He shifts, our eyes unlock from each other, and I can no longer see him. I need to keep him in my sight.

I try to get my right leg out in front of me so I can stand up. My body is screaming in protest to just stop but I can’t. I’m a fucking sitting duck here.

“What the