I step into the water and sink down, expecting Langston to join me, to wash me, something.
He doesn’t.
He can barely even look at me.
“What happens next?” Langston asks with a heavy voice.
“The final round.”
“And that round is worse than this one?”
I shrug. “It can be.”
“When it starts, I want you to say your safe word immediately. Say it and end this. I’ll give you all the money I stole back. I’ll give you more than that if you want. I’ll make our fight fair again, just end this.”
I close my eyes. I wish it were that simple.
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” Langston grabs my hands, and I open my eyes to look at him. “You entered this for the money. I’ll deposit the money back in your account, plus a couple of extra million. Just say your safe word.”
I touch Langston’s face. For a moment, he looks like the boy I used to know. Bright, warm, and a little bit mischievous, with a haunting brokenness behind his eyes.
There is a knock at the door, saving me from more conversation. A man enters holding our clothes.
“Be ready in fifteen minutes for the final round,” he says, placing our clothes on the back of a chair.
We both nod at him.
“We need to get dressed,” I say, getting out of the tub and drying off. I don’t care if Langston is watching me or not. We both get dressed, and I find the note with my safe word attached to the inside of my dress.
I pull it out and read it.
Unicorn.
Langston studies me. “You didn’t even read your safe word until this moment, did you?”
I shake my head.
“I should have called you my wild thing instead of huntress,” he says, impressed.
I smile. I like hearing him call me his anything.
“Promise me you’ll use your safe word if things go too far,” Langston says.
“I promise,” but it’s just another lie. There is only one thing that will stop me, and he’s standing in front of me in a tux.
20
Langston
I want to kill Liesel for what she did. But I’d also die to protect her.
It’s confusing, but it’s how I feel.
Liesel is once again in her swanky black dress. I’m in my tux. We only have minutes left until the final round begins. I don’t know how many competitors we face, or if we are the only two left. We’ll find out soon enough.
“How do you feel?” she asks, while she traces her hands up my forearms to my biceps, sending chills up my body.