By the time they reached his car, Kayla's breath came in ragged gasps. She cursed under her breath, refusing to show weakness, even as Oliver raised a brow in silent question. Was she that frail?
"You know that if you kidnap me, you'll go to jail," she told him and he looked at her ghastly face through the rear-view as he drove out of the parking lot and out of the school.
"If I wanted to kidnap you, Hastings, you'd already be miles away." His voice was calm, but the way his gaze lingered on her face sent a chill down her spine. He wasn't joking. She could feel the weight of his unspoken promises
They parked in front of what looked like a gym.
"What is this?"
"A gymnasium also known as a gym."
"I know what it is, but what are we doing here?"
"Get out of the car, Hastings."
"No. Not until you tell me what we are here for." She stated firmly.
Oliver turned his face to her. "Now, Hastings there are two ways this is going to go down. It's either you get down from this car and walk into the building with your dignity intact or I'll carry you over my shoulders with you kicking and screaming my name." The smile didn't reach his eyes.
Kayla gulped. She was trapped here with him, again. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to get into the car with him.
"What is it going to be, Hastings?" He tapped his fingers lightly on his thigh.
Would he do it? Would he carry her if she didn't comply? Well, there was only one way to find out.
"Don't do it! Don't do it!" Her mind screamed but when has her mouth been slower than her mind?
"Like I said, professor, you have to tell me what we're doing here before I go anywhere with you." The temperature dropped as she said those words and her instincts kicked in when she saw the predatory glint in his eyes.
She opened the car and made a run for it, but she couldn't run, could she? Oliver was faster than her and would easily overpower her. Her heart pounded in her chest.
She took in breaths, looking over her shoulder as Oliver prowled with his hands in his pocket. Her pace quickened but she had to hide.
So she hid, on the floor behind a truck hoping he wouldn't see her. She would be fine. She would be fine.
Tap. Tap. Tap. She didn't hear any footsteps but saw leather loafers at her eye level.
"Don't look up. Keep your eyes down."
But she couldn't. Slowly, her eyes moved from the shoes to his face. Whiskey eyes and a toothy grin befell her.
Before she could dart away, Oliver's hands gripped her waist, lifting her with surprising ease. She yelped as he swung her over his shoulder. Her fists pounded against his back, but he walked on as if nothing had happened, utterly in control
"Ah! Put me down! Oliver put me down!" She scratched, kicked, and bit him but if it affected him, she couldn't tell.
"Oliver! Someone help me! He's taking me against my will! Oliver this isn't funny! Oliver! Oli-" Smack.
"You…." He smacked her butt making her gasp.
"Behave like the good girl you are." It felt good to smack her and he wanted to do it again. Why was he getting a kick out of this?
It hurt but she… some twisted part of her enjoyed it. A treacherous heat pooled low in her belly, shame mixing with something darker. She hated how her body reacted, betraying the panic thrumming through her veins. This was bad—dangerously bad.
They arrived inside the gym and only then did Oliver put her down. She raked her hair to straighten it because it was a mess.
"If you ever do that again, I'll chop off all your fingers." she threatened.
"I wouldn't have to if you had listened but I know you loved to be punished, isn't that right, Hastings?" She glared at him.
He told her to wait as he went to do something and she walked round the place. Treadmills, weights, other things she didn't know but looked deadly and people willingly came here every day.
She wished she could. She wanted to but she didn't know if she could and as much as she loved taking risks, she couldn't risk it.
"Hastings?" Oliver was back and she figured out that she was dumb. She could have just run away.
"Will you come with me or do you want me to carry you again?" He narrowed his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips.
This time she listened to her mind. "I'll walk."
She skidded past him.
The next stop on their field trip was a grocery store. "Why are we here now?" Kayla grumbled.
"I told you to wait in the car, didn't I?"
"So I could be driven mad talking to myself? What if you run off and leave me trapped there?"
"I wouldn't do that." He said as Kayla grabbed a stroller.
"Knowing you, this could be another sadistic thing you love."
"Oh, don't act like you don't thrive off this, Hastings," he murmured. "Every push, every challenge, you eat it up." His hand brushed her arm, the contact sending a jolt through her.
She shot him a look. "Maybe, but that doesn't mean you get to control everything"
The traitorous cunt she had was turning into goo at this point. His gaze was piercing, as he stroked her arm. He liked to touch her.
Kayla cleared her throat and removed her hand from his grasp. Oliver scrolled through his phone, reading the section signs, and dropped healthy and bitter foods into the stroller.
But when Kayla wanted some sour patch, he refused. "Come one, just one you brute. You packed every green thing you could find and I can't have a sour patch?"
"Yes, now stop creating a fuss."
"I'm creating a fuss!? I'm creating a fuss!?" Unbelievable. He would see what a fuss was.
Her lips curved downwards and she started to make crying sounds. "Wooo…. Woo woo…"
"What are you doing?" Oliver wanted to snap her into two. People were staring at them and he smiled nervously.
"Hastings, this isn't funny!" But Kayla kept on crying until one of the staff was walking towards them. Oliver had never felt the urge to murder someone in years. This girl was mentally ill.
A vein popped in his forehead as she dropped like 10 packs of sourpatch into the stroller.
"You happy now, you raccoon?" Kayla stopped crying and smiled sweetly. "Yes. I'm happy."
Oliver went to pay and Kayla scrolled through her phone.
"You and your wife are very sweet, you know that?" The sales attendant said. "You were so in sync when you were shopping."
In sync? More like they wanted to stab each other.
Oliver put all the stuff in the boot.
On their way back to school, Kayla spotted an arcade and told Oliver to stop.
"What is it!?"
"Look, an arcade! Let's go in!" It had been years since she last went with her sister and even that got her into trouble.
Seeing her hopeful face, something stirred in his heart. "Why would I go to a place made for kids?"
"Why not? It's fun!" Kayla removed her seatbelt and Oliver cursed under his breath. She would be the death of him.
They made their way through the crowd arcade and Kayla saw a claw machine. She dragged Oliver there.
"Oh my god! I could win another bear for Mr.Blue!" She looked down at the stuffed animals.
"Mr. Blue?"
"Yeah, Wyatt gave it to me as a gift. It's a bear."
"A bear? Why would he get you a bear? A dragon seems more like it." he folded his arms.
"How did you know I like dragons?"
"It's not that hard to tell, the resemblance is striking."
"What!?" her nose flared. "I look like a dragon!? Are you blind!? Do you know what you look like!? You look like a…" she spotted an octopus. "Like an octopus!"
Oliver clicked his tongue, "Eight. You have such a wild imagination but can you handle eight tentacles in you?" Kayla choked.
"You are sick!" She began to play the claw game and she managed to get a duck which made Oliver mock her.
"Why don't you go at it, since you can do everything?"
Oliver said nothing and played and he got the hardest stuffed animal that was in a tough spot. A blue elephant.
"Have you ever played before?"
"No. First time." Kayla's eyes bucked. What the fuck? Oliver gave her the elephant and she scowled wanting to hit him.
Both of them passed by a round punching bag game and Kayla wanted to play.
"Watch this." she licked her lips and instead of punching it, Kayla kicked it and the bag fell.
Oliver couldn't stop laughing. "Nice one, Hastings." Her scalp tingled and an employee came to them.
"You have to pay for the damages, Miss."
"What damages? How could one kick send that thing flying to the ground if it wasn't already faulty?" She retorted.
"It wasn't faulty, Miss. People have come in all day and it didn't fall, so it was you." the worker said coldly.
"Me? Unfuckingbelievable! Hogwash! Your machine was clearly faulty!" Seeing that Kayla was a lost cause, the man turned to Oliver. "Is she your girlfriend?"
"No. She's my wife." Kayla's jaw dropped. When did they get married? But she didn't refute it.
Oliver discussed this with the manager and after a few minutes, all parties were smiling except for Kayla.
"What did they say!? Am I getting charged!?"
"Prison would do wonders for you but now, Mrs. Wilde, you aren't getting charged."
Kayla Wilde. It sounded so fitting.
"So why did you go to the gym and grocery store? I thought you of all people would be fit."
"I am fit." He replied. "It's you who needs to get fit, Hastings."
"You bought all of that and got me a gym membership for me? Why would you do that?" Oliver shrugged but Kayla answered her question, "Is it because I am your everything? "I loved Juliet: forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum." she recited dramatically and Oliver shook his head.
"It's Ophelia. The line is from Hamlet."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is, you raccoon."
"How can it be Ophelia? Romeo is very passionate so it has to be him!"
"God you're so daft."
"Your entire family is daft!"
However, by the time she got home, her heart had a thousand flips. He did all of that for her?
Why had he done all that? What was his angle? Even with the shivers he sent down her spine, there had been moments when she forgot to keep her guard up. That was dangerous. No matter what this was, she couldn't let him get under her skin.
She put all the stuff he got her into the fridge. They smelled like him too.
Kayla wheezed, her throat tightening as she coughed profusely into her elbow.
Kayla's chest tightened as another cough wracked her body, harsher this time. When she pulled her sleeve away from her lips, her heart stopped. A streak of red stained the fabric. Blood. Cold terror seized her. This couldn't be happening