Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

“Scared?” she whispers.
I almost shove her off, but fine. I forge ahead. “Start the timer,” I tell
Krisjen.
She brings up the app on her phone, hits the blue button, and I start,
Clay’s hand underneath mine, thinking her presence will make my little heart
patter so badly I’ll screw up. I’ll take that bet.
One-two, one-three, one-four, one-five, one-six, one-six, one-five, onefour…
I move the knife back and forth, between my fingers, faster and faster, my
brothers clapping behind me to help me keep time.
“Faster,” Callum orders.
I move faster.
One-two, one-three, one-four, one-five, one-six, one-six, one-five, onefour…
Moving through Clay’s and my fingers and back again, the heat from
her hand moving through mine and up my arm to my chest.
I dig faster and faster, and harder, but after a moment, all I feel is her eyes
on my neck, and I swear she moves in closer, inhaling through her nose.
Smelling me.
And that’s when I recognize the other scent on her. Vodka.
“Don’t stop,” she pants.
My eyelids flutter as her heart pounds against my arm.
The boys clap. Callum, Milo, Becks, and Krisjen watch the knife.
And even though Clay and I aren’t alone, it feels like it. They don’t hear
her words.
“I dread the anticipation of pain more than the pain, don’t you?” she says
in a low voice. “Most people don’t know when it’s coming. It’s worse when
you know it’s coming.”
She speaks so softly. It’s not like her. What is she doing?
“Especially when you know it’s there every day,” she tells me.
I blink long and hard, heat flooding my body as the adrenaline rushes,
because if I take my eyes off what I’m doing, I’m going to get hurt, but shit
looks blurry now. Goddammit.
The girl is tail. That’s it. She’s a gutter human being and good for nothing
else.
Her eyes linger on me, and I watch the timer, dropping to ten seconds left.
One-two, one-three, one-four, one-five, one-six, one-six, one-five, one-four…
Her warm breath hits my neck. “Your skin looks like it’s on fire,” she