I run to my dorm, fumbling with my key, and burst inside. Scarlett looks up from her desk, startled, but I ignore her. I grab my phone and text Thea.
Lexi:Emergency. Come over now.
She responds immediately.
Thea:OMW
Five minutes later, she’s at my door, out of breath. “What happened?”
I pull her inside, lock the door. Scarlett’s gone—probably scared off by my manic energy.
“Axel,” I say, pacing the small space. “He fucking knows––”
“About Koa?”
“Yeah. And he—” My voice breaks. I press my hands to my face, take a breath. “He said I’m not Mom.”
Thea’s face softens. “Lex...”
“He doesn’t want my help. He said he loves drugs. Loves them, Thea!”
She sits on my bed, pats the space beside her. I sit. She wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“He’s addicted,” she says quietly. “Like, really addicted.”
“Yeah. It’s bad.”
“And just because you got Koa off his back doesn’t mean Axel won’t find it elsewhere. You know that, right?”
I nod. My throat is tight.
“You can’t keep saving him when he doesn’t give a shit. Maybe you should stop whatever’s going on with Koa,” Thea says carefully. “Like, just... walk away and let Axel deal with it.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You have to. This guy’s bad news.”
I don’t answer. Don’t know how to explain that I made a deal, that Koa owns me now in ways I don’t fully understand. If he says jump, apparently, I have to jump.
I pull off my hoodie, too hot, too suffocated.
Thea gasps. “What the hell is that on your tit?”
I look down. There’s a bruise on my cleavage, right above my bra. Dark purple, almost black. The shape of teeth.
“Did he bite you?” Her voice rises.
I yank the hoodie back on, hide the mark. “It’s nothing.”
“Lexi!”
“Axel’s being an asshole. He might be coming down, but I can’t throw him to the wolves.”
“Fuck that, Lex! In trade for your body? Your soul?”
I shake my head. “I have a plan.”
“Plan to what?”
