Credence

by Penelope Douglas

I should be more grateful. But . . . he did threaten to keep me here against my will yesterday, too. “You’re kind of a prick sometimes,” I tell him.

Nah fuck him, but not literally please 🙏

“I’m a teddy bear, Tiernan.” He stands up, his fingers threaded through the handle of his coffee cup. “You still haven’t met Kaleb yet.”

You proud of yourself for that dig huh creep

and I look down at it and then back up to him, seeing wisps of his blond hair hanging over his forehead under the helmet.

I forgot this bitch was blond lol

“Climb on. I don’t bite,” he tells me. And then he shoots me a mischievous look. “My little cousins, anyway.”

Gross dude

makes my body hum.

?!

He makes me less nervous than Jake, too.

This makes me scared or just worried more about noah

“I’m gentle,” he assures me. “Ask any girl.”

Gross

So why does he stay? Jake can’t make him. He’s a legal adult.

My question exactly

“I’ll teach you to ride if you want,” Noah offers as we climb off and remove our helmets. “If you stay.”

Tbh i'd love to learn but from anyone else

“Because nothing changes up on the peak. Not ever.”

Huh??

I pass a bar with an old soda fountain and a menu of sundaes and other treats, a couple of patrons sitting on stools and enjoying homemade milkshakes.

Girl where are we??

He nods as if he’s never had an overly nosy and playful cousin who would just love to know why I’m on birth control and whyever would I need it, locked on a mountain all winter without access to men.

Fair enough, it is not their business but this author really think they slick

Honestly, I don’t even need to be on the pill, much less on it all winter, but it’s easier to stay on the routine I’ve been on since I was fourteen than to stop and have to start again.

Completely understandable but I still see you author

“Are you one of the racers’ girlfriends?” she inquires, following me as I walk.

Weirdly publicly jealous much??

She might think I’m rude, but in LA, we call it “not getting robbed, raped, or killed.”

I think most people would and probably should follow that rule when it comes to strangers, especially with nosy ones. Ignore the weirdo and move on

“Cici Diggins,” he tells me, taking out the cash his father put on the table. “Gets real insecure when something prettier comes into town.”

Gross behavior

“I’m going to have too much fun watching this play out.” Watching what play out? I frown. I don’t like drama.

See Noah sucks too

like pill package into my back pocket

Girl not your back pocket, put it in your small purse, how big is it?

The guy is dressed in the kind of jeans that men who deep condition their hair wear, and he looks like his name is Blaine and his favorite types of girls are named Kassidee.

Whu?? Lol

“That you’re untouchable to him.” Because why? I’m yours? Gross. “You’re nauseating,” I grumble.

See! This bitch is her cousin and he talking like hes her possessive boyfriend

Both of them are stifling.

Those bitches can fuck right off

It’s not entirely awful. I might’ve liked to see my father act that way from time to time. Really stifling is bad. A little stifling . . . I don’t know. Kind of feels like someone cares, I guess. Maybe I would’ve liked more rules growing up.

Nah, you need boundaries but from someone who won’t abuse their authority over you like Mirai

Their passing isn’t why I am the way I am, but I’m not explaining myself just because everyone else has their idea of what “normal” should be.

Thats right

“You didn’t resent your parents,” he finally says. “You loved them.”

Accurate read but also mind ya business

I’m more fucked up than when I came.

More of a reason then to get the hell out

All of it sounds worlds better than here.

Not the spiders and snakes but yeah it sounds great

A man steps over the threshold of the shop, wearing jeans, blood running down his bare chest from the dead animal carcass hanging around his neck.

Introducing the psycho Kaleb ladies and gentlemen!

Who . . . ? And then it finally hits me. This is Kaleb. The older son.

Yup

Some kind of script.

Lost cause, can't fix him ladies so sorry, he is terrible

He meets my eyes again, and I see that his aren’t really dark, after all. They’re green. But he looks mad.

Basic white guy but with ~green eyes~

The gesture makes him look so innocent. Like a curious puppy.

Girl run like escape now

My breath catches in my throat, and I look down, seeing I’m still wearing my ripped T-shirt, the fabric torn and exposing my belly. I cringe. This whole time . . .

This author think they slick, she’s 17 so gross

But as I trail my hand, my fingers brush the exposed underside of my fucking breast, and I stop breathing altogether.

Goddamnit

Then he dips to the side, running his nose over my ear, up my hairline, and across my forehead, inhaling me.

Fucking caveman wth

It’s weird, but I can’t move.

This is gross and creepy, something out of a horror movie wtf

I should push him away.

Knee him in the groin for the love of god!

But he reaches between us with one hand, his forehead resting on mine with fire in his eyes as he starts ripping open his belt and undoing his jeans. Whoa, what? My mouth falls open. “Wait, stop.” I plant my hands on his chest. “You can’t . . . What are you . . .”

HOLY SHIT NO NO NO

“Kaleb,” I say, trying to push him away. “Kal—

STOP! SOMEONE GET A BAT! KNOCK HIM OUT OR TASE HIM WTF

He fists the back of my hair and presses his body into mine as he comes down on my mouth, hungry and wild, kissing me and shutting me up. His tongue dives in, and I moan with the throbbing down low. Stop! Holy shit.

Ugh gross!

I finally swallow. “Stop!” I shout, my pulse ringing in my ears. “Stop. Just stop!” But he comes down on top of me, forcing me back onto the car, and his hot mouth finds my stomach. I shake my head, tears hanging at the corners, because it feels so good, and I don’t want it to. I don’t want him to go lower. I don’t want to wrap my legs around him. None of this feels good or warm, and none of it makes me feel soft on the inside like I could kiss him back.

ASSAULT ASSAULT ALSO HE BAD LIKE HIS FATHER

as I slap him across the face. “Stop, I said! Stop!”

BEAT HIS ASS UP OR JUST RUN

“When someone tells you to stop, you stop!” I bark. “Can’t you fucking understand? Are you stupid or something?”

DIGUSTING ASS PREDATOR

And he snarls,

EEEEEEEEWW

I don’t have to love the first person I fuck, but I don’t want to be scared, either. He’s like a machine.

Girl he assaulted you! He was gonna rape you! Also i know it is useless to hope for here but let your first time NOT be with a family member!

Not a townie? Like it’s okay to treat anyone like that?

Valid point

“It’s Dad’s . . . brother’s daughter,” Noah explains, and I hear humor in his tone. “Remember? The stepbrother he hates? This is his kid.” Noah gestures to me. “She’s family. She’s staying with us for a while. You can’t fuck her.”

…. 🫠

“This isn’t funny!” I snap. And then I glare at Kaleb, now able to finally find my goddamn voice. “What the hell is the matter with you? Huh?” “Just cut him some slack,” Noah says. “He’s always starving when he comes back from being in the woods this long.” “Then eat!” “That’s what he was doing,” Noah shoots back, glancing at me. Eating. Eating me. Oh, you’re fucking clever, aren’t you? Assholes.

NO FUCK HIM AND FUCK YOU TOO LIKE WHAT KIND OF HELLO WAS THAT

Kaleb casts me one more look before he turns around and heads up the stairs, back into the house,

WELL IT WAS NICE CATCHING UP WITH YOU TOO THE FUCK

“He won’t do it again,” Noah tells me, turning around to face me with an amused smile. “He shouldn’t have done that.”

🖕🏼

If I hadn’t forced myself to push his brother away. Because I almost didn’t want to.

Hurling right now, tiernann you need to tell jake to fuck himself and his creepy ass pedo sons from the airport