A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)(78)
Kat shot up from her bed, gasping and hoarse from the scream that died slowly in her throat. Her face was wet, as were her clothes, from the sweat pouring from her.
She leaned against the headboard, taking in a huge lungful of air when she remembered she was in her bed. It had been a while since she’d had such a dream, yet the effects of it were just the same. With a groggy head, she lifted herself from her bed and made her way to the bathroom, knowing a bath would relax the muscles in her neck and back that were still tense.
After her long soak, and a good hour of tears, she pulled on a pair of sweats and a hoodie and put on the DVD of School of Rock for some light Jack Black entertainment. A knock at the door had her glancing at the clock, wondering who would turn up at her door past eight on a Saturday night.
Her heart thumped hard when she peered through the peephole. She unlocked the dead bolt and pulled the door open, leaning on it with her hip. She stayed silent for a moment, not knowing what to say.
“Can I come in?” Beth asked in a quiet but firm voice.
“Sure,” Kat answered, standing back to allow her to enter.
Beth stepped in and stood awkwardly while Kat shut the door behind her.
“Can I get you a drink?” Kat tucked her air-dried hair behind her ears. Beth nodded.
Kat shuffled to the kitchen. Once Kat had poured Beth’s drink and handed it to her, she walked, without a word, back toward the sofa and sat. Beth followed and sat at the far end of the couch, sipping her drink.
Kat placed the TV on pause as Jack Black started singing about straight As, then she turned to her friend. “How are you?”
Beth gave a small smile. “I’m okay.” She placed her glass on a coaster on the coffee table. “How are you?”
Kat crossed her arms, feeling weirdly defensive. “I’m fine. Tired.”
Beth clasped her hands in her lap. “Austin said you weren’t well. That’s why I came: to see if I could do anything for you.”
Kat sighed, thinking about the text that she’d sent Austin, the lie she’d written to get out of going for drinks with him, unable to see him after the kiss with Carter. “I don’t need anything.” She saw an uncomfortable shift in her friend. “So where’ve you been? You haven’t replied to any of my texts.”
“I know,” Beth conceded. “I’m sorry. There’s been some family stuff Adam’s been dealing with.” Her eyes darted to a pile of Carter’s work lying on Kat’s coffee table.
“Is everything okay? You should have called.” Kat blinked at the answering silence. “Have I upset you? You seem, I don’t know … off. And that whole performance at my birthday dinner—I just … get the feeling something’s wrong.”
Beth moved closer to Kat on the sofa. She sighed and pressed her lips together. “No.” She cleared her throat. “No, nothing’s wrong, I— I just worry about you. You know, working at Kill and with Carter one-to-one outside of the prison. I wanted—I want—to make sure you’re all right.”
Kat stared at Beth for a beat, wondering what it was that she wasn’t being told. Too tired to figure it out, she searched for the right words. “It’s been a shitty day.”
“You wanna talk about it?”
Kat barked out a laugh and shook her head while making a mumbled noise of words that made no sense. “Not really,” she answered, her throat closing up again. “I’m just a stupid, stupid idiot.”
Beth sat back. “Kat, what happened?” She paused before asking, “Did he hurt you?”
Sophie Jackson's Books
- Where Shadows Meet
- Destiny Mine (Tormentor Mine #3)
- A Covert Affair (Deadly Ops #5)
- Save the Date
- Part-Time Lover (Part-Time Lover #1)
- My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2)
- Getting Schooled (Getting Some #1)
- Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)
- Speakeasy (True North #5)
- The Good Luck Sister (Wildstone #1.5)