Free Seven Days by Josie Leigh Page B

mad at me for not holding up my end of the bargain. Before Ryan, fighting sleep was something that came so easily to me, which left me to wonder if I was able to let my guard down around him because I felt safe or if the foreign surroundings made my usual routine moot.
     
    .

Chapter 8
     
    “ Look, baby, it’s not that hard,” Ben said, leaning into me. The stench of his breath had me wishing I could as I disappear into the dirty siding of our trailer. The sun baked aluminum burned me through my clothes as I pressed myself against it. I’d been unlucky to be caught by him as I walked from the bus stop to my house after school. I knew that my dad owed him money, so he rarely answered the door when our landlord came knocking. He’d just finished slurring his way through an offer for an alternative way for us to pay our delinquent rent, but I wasn’t able to comprehend what he was telling me.
    “ I don’t understand,” I shook my head, trying scoot under his beefy arms.
    “ I’m not messing around, baby. The way I see it, you guys have about two weeks before I slap an eviction notice on your door. I’ve been really considerate about your situation, but it’s been way too long since I’ve gotten a rent check from your dad, and I’m through being sympathetic,” he explained.
    “ I’ve got some money saved,” I said, urgently, “I’ll give you everything I’ve got and I’ll see what I can do to get you the rest before the end of the month. Please,” I pleaded. I knew my dad’s parents were dead, and my mom’s had cut us off a few years before she died. They told her that they’d be happy to welcome her back, once she was clean. That never happened, but I was holding out hope that maybe they’d want to help their granddaughters.
    “ You don’t have enough,” he said, matter of fact, caging me in tighter and giving me a whiff of his fragrant underarms. The late summer heat and his lack of deodorant were making an unpleasant combination that made it even more difficult to concentrate on what he was saying.
    “ How do you know how much I’ve got?” I asked, indignantly. I’d been working any job I could find to earn money since my mom died eight months ago. I was only fifteen, so it was odd jobs like babysitting and housework, but I’d amassed a pretty decent savings. Dad had lost his job not long after the funeral and we only have a little bit of time before his unemployment would run out, too. I was doing everything I could to make sure we wouldn’t lose our house when that happened.
    “ Don’t matter,” Ben declared, pushing his face closer to mine. His gray eyes were assessing me in a way I’d seen from him frequently in recent months. It made me more uncomfortable than I could verbalize. “Don’t want money.”
    “ No money? What else is there that would pay the rent?” I asked, stupidly, unable to grasp that I’d just walked right into his trap. How smart he was to be able to outsmart a teenage girl.
    “ I’m so glad you asked, baby girl,” he said, with a grin that showed off his yellowed teeth. “You see, Noah’s been bragging about this sweet, tight pussy he had the pleasure of sinking into, and I’d like to have myself a taste. Let’s just say, I’m willing to wipe the ledger clean for an hour of your time and give you a break on next month’s rent.”
    Why would an hour spent with Ben be worth that kind of money? I wondered to myself as my naïve mind finally started to catch up. When clarity finally rung through, I couldn’t hold back my cringe at his proposition and the mention of my ex-boyfriend’s name.
    “ I can’t do that,” I denied, trying again to move out of his space, but instead, found myself pinned to the side of my trailer by my throat as the evidence of his arousal stabbed at my stomach. I wanted to throw up at the idea of my disgust turning him on. His desire was being fueled by my humiliation.
    “ Let me put this another way, then,” he hissed