Page 11 of Burn for Me (The Last Snow of the Season 2)
Chapter Nine
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Rumer
I wake up alone. It shouldn't hurt me. I need to get used to sleeping by myself again anyway. This weekend can't last forever. I look outside at the snow. Everyone is pretty sure we'll be stuck here a few days longer than we thought but even then, it has to come to an end. At least I have this. This precious moment to be...normal.
My body reminds me of all the extra exercise I've been giving it as I stand and make my way to the shower. The clothes from last night have been picked up and there isn't really any remnant of our shower time together. Just like soon there won't be a remnant of me in Mark's life. I'll be just a memory to him.
I slip out of our room to head down to the kitchen to grab something light to eat before going off to find Milly. Maybe both of us can curl up in the library for the day and not have to people with anybody else. No such luck though. Just as I turn to close our door, Tinsley comes down the hallway.
"Well, well, well. It looks like everyone's getting lucky this weekend." She's like a snake waiting to strike. I don't rise to take her bait but try to make my way around her. "Even the outcast."
Even though I am shocked and hurt by her words I don't show her. I just keep my head down, but she reaches out and snags my arm in her cruel grasp. "Don't worry, Rumer, I'm sure Mark won't tell anyone he's slumming it with you." The last word is snarled out like I'm something loathsome.
I want to yell at her, to tell her to go fuck herself, but her words hit too close to home for me to actually say anything. Is that what this is? Mark slumming it with someone for the weekend? At least when I thought about it before I thought I might be good enough to be a beautiful memory to him but now...I'm not so sure he would want to remember me.
"Oh you poor thing." Tinsley sees the weakness and pounces, "You thought...what? That he would want to stay with someone like you?" She laughs evilly before continuing. "The pussy isn't that good. I mean, you clearly come with enough baggage even your own family wants nothing to do with you."
The bitch has definitely hit her mark. I yank my arm free of her grasp and think about punching her before I resign myself to just leaving her alone. If I hit her, she would probably run to find sympathy from the others and make it out like I was the bad guy. I search the house looking for Milly. I don't want to go into the kitchen after all. I don't really want to go anywhere except back to bed so I can lick my wounds.
I end up in the library which is where I thought Milly might have gone but, even she's either trying to avoid me or having cuddle time with Jag somewhere private. I curl up in the window seat and watch as the snow falls outside. What am I going to do with the rest of my life? Should I start working and not worry about going to college? Should I try to juggle both while also trying to do this adulting thing I hear everyone talk about? What the fuck is going to happen as soon as I walk across the stage? How long will my aunt let me stay in her house?
If I had to guess - not very long after the diploma is in my hand. It's not that my aunt doesn't love me, she just has her own family to take care of and times are hard so it's a huge financial burden on her as well. I guess when I look at it, I do have a lot of baggage, definitely emotional shit because of the losses I have had to endure. So I guess I can see where Tinsley is coming from by saying those things but damn it, I wasn't aware other people knew how bad things are.
I'm pissed at myself because I did allow myself to forget what I needed to be focused on. I can't let myself get all dick blind from the sex. I almost fall asleep sitting in the window but eventually I rouse myself enough to go looking for Milly again. I check the upstairs room with the telescope in it where all the ladies were hanging out yesterday but it's empty today.
On my way back down, I run into Mark. Not really the person I want to see after what happened with Tinsley. "Hey, you want to come watch a movie with me?"
His offer is pure temptation but also leaves me open to heartache. "I don't think so. I don't think that would be such a great idea." God forbid he find out just how low he's gone while 'slumming'.
"What? Why wouldn't it be a good idea? We should take some time to get to know one another while not fucking, don't you think so?"
"What makes you think I want to get to know you for any other reason than as a weekend fuck?" Damn, that sounds just awful but I need him to understand what this really is.
"Excuse me?" His voice is quiet and deadly and I back up out of instinct more than fear. "A weekend fuck?"
"Don't act like this is anything more than that?" I shove him not that it does any good, he doesn't move an inch. "I'm a weekend fuck, someone to have a good time with before we both go our own ways and never see each other again."
"That's enough." He says it almost so softly I don't hear it at first.
"Look Mark, it was fun, but I need to focus on things that are more important than a weekend sex romp. Things like graduating and finding a fucking place to live afterwards." I said too much. The words stick in my throat when I say them. I don't want to be this mean, but I don't think Mark is going to go away if I'm not. "I just don't have time for you. The sex was good but now it's time to stop."
When I stop talking Mark doesn't do anything. His eyes are dark and stormy green. I turn, figuring he's just pissed he can't get his dick wet anymore while he's on vacation. He grabs my wrist before I can turn completely away from him.
"We're not done."
"Yes, we are. Are you not listening to what I am telling you? This thing between us is over. We're done."
"The fuck we are!" He bends low and scoops me up draped over his shoulder.
"What the fuck? What are you doing?!" I hiss out, too afraid to say it any louder. What if someone comes to find out what I'm shouting about? It's my ass that is up in the air after all. Because of the way I'm hanging I can't see where we are going so, I don't even know who might pop by. "Put me down, Mark! Right this second!"
"No." He follows up the simple word with a smack to the cheek of my ass. His one-word refusal has me sputtering to try to find something else to say. What the fuck is going on? Where is Mark taking me and what’s gotten into him that my refusal to have sex with him sends him in a tizzy like this? I'm sure he can find another girl to slack his lust with. Fuck, why does that thought make me want to throw up so bad? I'm blaming it on the fact that I am hanging upside down over a fucking shoulder.
He finally takes us into a room where he locks the door. Some of the things I can make out from my position tell me we are back in the room we are sharing. He bends and drops me on the bed so hard I bounce. I try to scramble from the bed, but Mark is damned fast. He has my ankles encircled and flips me, so my back is on the bed.
For a few seconds, all we do is look at each other with matching glares on our faces. Then he pounces. He has my shirt over my head before I can even try to stop him. Damn it, he's fast. He pulls my leggings down my legs so fast a ripping sound fills the air and I'm pretty sure those aren't going to be any good anymore.
