I checked the time. Less than ten minutes. I
slammed my foot on the gas and sped over to Mark’s place.
I got there just as he was starting a live stream,
<
playing some video game. Probably to create
alibi.
an
How pathetic. He’d dragged me to hell, and
here he was, playing games. Still, I felt relieved.
At least he was distracted. If he’d been
watching the monitor, he would have noticed
the switch.
Mark jumped when he saw me. He glanced at the clock on his computer, face turning pale.
“What… what are you doing here? Shouldn’t
you be at home waiting for your delivery?”
I forced a smile. “I missed you, so I thought I’d
come over. It’s fine, they can just leave the
takeout at the door. We have a security camera,
right? No one’s gonna steal it.”
“No!” Mark practically screamed, grabbing my
arm and trying to drag me back to the door.
“You need to go home right now! It’s still early,
someone might be waiting for you!”
I pretended to be confused. “Waiting for me?
What are you talking about? The delivery guy’s
already gone. Who would be waiting for me?”
Mark was practically sweating. “Look, I have an
important game to play tonight. I can’t hang
out. Just go home and watch a movie or
something.”
Of course I wasn’t going anywhere, especially
seeing him so freaked out. I plopped down on
the couch. “I’ll just watch you play.”
Seeing I wasn’t budging, Mark didn’t dare grab
his phone. His face was beet red. “No! We’re
not married. What would people think if we
were alone together all night?”
“You know I’m old–fashioned. If we’re going to
make this work, you have to be prepared. I won’t touch you until we’re married.”
I scoffed inwardly.
If he were so old–fashioned, he wouldn’t have been two–timing me with Brittany. But I knew staying here would only make him more
suspicious, so I stalled for time, then dragged Mark back to my apartment.
He resisted the whole way, but he checked the time, probably thinking the drunk was long
gone. He stopped fighting me, letting me drag him out the door, even forgetting his phone.
Mark was a nervous wreck the entire ride home.
He finally seemed to relax when the elevator
doors opened to reveal my apartment door wide open. He must have thought the intruder hadn’t found anyone and left.
I walked faster, faking concern. “Brittany, why is the door open?”
The breath caught in Mark’s throat. He gripped my arm, his fingers digging into my skin.
“What? What do you mean Brittany’s at your place?”
I gave him a confused look. “I told you, I was
going to come see you. And you said there was
takeout, so I asked Brittany to wait for the
delivery. Didn’t I tell you?”
I pushed the door open.
