54. Mack #3
Oliver rolls his eyes, but sits on the edge of the bed, anyway, like a good fucking boy.
“You mean, you attempting to choke me to death isn’t a part of the initiation process?
” He grunts when I put the bag over his head and cut off his vision, hearing, smell, and fucking taste.
Say goodbye to your damn senses, OliPop. Every muscle in his body tenses. Good.
I grin at the sight of him, sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands tied and a bag over his head.
So helpless and all fucking mine to torture.
“There was no attempt,” I chuckle, taking a step back.
“I could have ended you right here and now if I wanted.” Maybe it was a mistake putting the bag on so early.
I can’t see his eyes or detect the twitches of his lips from under the bag, but I have to get going.
If JJ gets wind that I’m taking longer than necessary, he’ll probably rush up here to save the day.
You’re not allowed to be the hero today, JJ.
No one is.
All Oliver will get is the newest villain in his story.
“And if you’re so convinced I did it, then why are you letting me into your club?” His muffled question hits my ears.
“Because,” I scoff, stepping up to him and leaning in.
“It’s not my decision. If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be allowed into this.
But the big boss approved.” Not to mention, he told us to watch the fucker for whatever reason.
I think he suspects Oliver as much as I do.
Maybe I’ll make Oliver my own little bitch through the initiation process.
Oh, yes. I like that. Each of us gets a little shadow to follow us around and do our bitch work.
And this year? I chose Oliver.
Last year, it was Garret. The poor fucker.
It’s a shame he dropped out of GU, moved away, and took hush money to never discuss the incident again.
And the incident? Well, it wasn’t that big of a fucking deal.
I was protecting Liv’s honor. My honor, too.
You can’t come into my fucking house and disrespect the woman I love and will love forever. So, I took care of the problem.
Franco would have to swoop in and calm everyone’s nerves by throwing money around and forcing Garrett’s family to fuck off to wherever they came from.
They happily did. He cleaned up my mess and then made my life more of a hellscape.
After Theo and Garrett, I’ve been on my best behavior.
I only use my fists in the Coliseum. Nowhere else.
I’d rather not feel the noose tightening around my neck as Franco holds the rope.
He’ll squeeze and squeeze until he has broken me enough to morph me into a zombie.
Fuck that.
I blow out a breath.
“All right, Oliver. Let’s have a little chat,” I grunt, throwing the little guy over my shoulder.
Fuck. He’s light as a damn feather and lanky as fuck.
Finally, he cries out, gasping for breath.
“Oh, right. Brutus hit you hard in the ribs, didn’t he?
Did you know ribs take a long time to heal?
Even if they aren’t broken. They hurt like a bitch,” I chuckle at the information.
“Need my glasses,” he grunts out, wiggling against my shoulder.
“Not that you’ll see much where you’re heading to. But sure,” I say, grabbing his glasses from the desk and walking out of his dorm room, making sure to shut the door tightly behind me. As we walk toward the stairs, I tuck Oliver’s glasses into his pocket.
“I’m aware,” he wheezes again in a girly squeal, trying to catch his breath.
“Oh no, the stairs, Oliver,” I chuckle, bouncing down the two flights of stairs, listening with glee as he wheezes and squirms.
Huh. Guess I should have done this to begin with.
“So, care to confess?” I ask when we step out of the dorm building and onto the darkened path. The voices of my other initiates filter through the air as we all make our way back to the graveyard.
“There’s nothing to confess,” he says again in a breathless voice. “I swear. I didn’t touch anything.”
“No? You didn’t touch the treehouse? How about the gravestone?
” I poke again, hoping to get an answer out of him since I can’t get anything out of JJ about the damn gravestone.
It’s like he forgot or failed to find anything.
First, he said there were leads, and then poof!
Nothing showed up. It’s so damn annoying to have things breaking around me and no answers to my questions.
“What gravestone?” he hisses, bouncing on my shoulder again as I skip down the pathway with a grin.
“God, you’re so light,” I tease, sucking in a breath of fresh air and taking it into my lungs.
“Again with the judgment,” he snarks back. “I didn’t destroy anything you’re trying to imply, anyway,” he says in an even tone that shows no hint of deception.
“Are you sure about that? You were caught on camera doing it all. You should confess now, and I’ll go easy on you,” I lie my ass off, trying to catch the little fucker up in a lie.
I swear to God, I saw Oliver coming out of the woods.
But he’s adamantly denying the fact that he did anything to the grave or the treehouse.
Oliver sighs heavily. “I didn’t,” he says through a wheeze again. “I swear, I didn’t do anything to your treehouse or the gravestone. Or anything else you want to accuse me of.”
I roll my eyes and don’t say anything else.
“Well, when you crawl out of the darkness with your worst fears realized, you can come to me on your knees and tell me everything you did,” I huff, walking into the graveyard with careful steps.
“See ya tomorrow, Livy,” I murmur to her headstone as I pass by.
Oliver stiffens on my shoulder at my words.
“Who is Livy?” he presses in a deeper voice, cracking with a slight emotion.
“No one you need to concern yourself with,” I grit out, hauling him from my shoulder and throwing him into the dirt near the mausoleum.
“Dude,” JJ growls, looking between Oliver and me with a tight expression.
“He’s fine. He’s tough. Aren’t you, OliPop?” I say, reaching and pulling Oliver to his feet. I grin when he grumbles at me under his breath.
“All right, fuckers!” I say, coming to stand by JJ and Hux, who watch me with narrowed eyes. “Let the fun begin.”