Tease Me Once

by W. Winters

“If you don’t heal what hurt you, you will bleed on people who didn’t cut you.” - Unknown

There’s a common phrase people like to say: “Blood is thicker than water.” Its meaning has been twisted over time to convince others that family is most important. More important than anyone else. Because family is blood. The quote it’s derived from entails the exact opposite: “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” The quote is meant to strengthen the bonds of soldiers on the battlefield. Those you spill blood with are closer to you than anyone else.

“From now on, I’d like you to wear black. Don’t ever wear red again.” Declan narrows his eyes. “But you can keep the lipstick. If anyone asks for you tonight, inform them that the boss has requested you. Is that understood?”

“You need to stop before something bad happens to you, Braelynn.”

sounds like a threat 😳

When Mia hands me the drinks, I murmur a quick thank-you. I don’t think she even heard it. Her attention is elsewhere and I don’t take it as a slight. Something’s obviously on her mind, or maybe she’s hungover.

is mia the rat ? 🤔

That’s what you do when you’re in pain. You take hold of the wounds and turn them into sinful pleasure.

I’m not a good man, but I’ll do what I can to be good to you.”

My mom didn’t raise me to take revenge on people. She wanted me to be able to stand up for myself. She wanted me to be able to set boundaries with others and keep myself safe. But revenge was never the way we lived our lives. “It takes too much of your precious energy, nena,” she’d tell me. “Make your life better. Don’t make other people’s lives worse.”

Nothing about this is right. “The tracks?” “From our conversation,” Nate speaks, and when I look up his eyes are on me but only for a fraction of a second. The moment my gaze narrows, he looks downward, focusing on his shoes instead.

i have a bad feeling about nate

By the time I step forward, a scream tearing up my throat, it’s over. “I’m sorry,” Nate whispers. And then he snaps Scarlet’s neck.

😵

“Declan.” His name, a plea from me, is barely audible. I can’t breathe enough to put my voice behind it. “I’m scared.” “My little pet,” he says, and his voice is brutal. I thought I knew fear before but ice spills through my veins. “You should be fucking terrified.”

😖