Jennie

I glance at Mino and slip out of bed quietly. I've been tossing and turning all night, unable to fall asleep. My heart is in disarray.

I walk down the stairs, the marble cold underneath my feet. I hesitate as the glass sliding doors leading to the veranda come into view. I'd be lying to myself if I said that I didn't expect her to be here. Lisa is standing outside, wearing long sleeping bottoms, a whisky glass in her hand. Something looks off about her, and my heart wrenches painfully. I'm instantly worried, though I can't quite pinpoint what it is that alarms me.

I slip through the sliding doors quietly, and Lisa turns to face me. Her eyes roam over my body heatedly, and rage flashes through them. She puts her glass down and approaches me, and I take a step away, my back hitting the wall.

"What is this, Minx?" she whispers, her fingers tracing the edges of my nightgown. "Where is my t-shirt? I know you stole a few more of my newer ones, yet you're not wearing any of them."

I gulp, my heart racing. She's standing so close that I can barely breathe. I turn and slip away from her, but I've only taken one step when she's got her arm wrapped around my waist. Lisa pulls me back and against the wall.

I gasp, my eyes widening. "You're drunk," I whisper. I raise my hands to her chest, intending to keep some distance between us, but she grabs my wrists and pushes them against the wall, above my head. Lisa pushes her body against mine, caging me in. My eyes shutter closed at the feel of her. How many years has it been since I've felt her against me like this? I don't even have it in me to protest. Instead, I melt against her. She's bigger now. Stronger. She's all grown now, far from the twenty-one-year-old I used to call mine.

"Look at me, Jennie," she whispers, and I do. I look into her eyes, and all I find is helplessness and anger. "Did you fuck him underneath my roof?" she asks. "Did you let him touch you?"

She drops her forehead to mine, as though she can't let go of me, but can't face me either. She inhales deeply, her breath ragged. Lisa loosens her grip on my wrists and pulls away from me.

I grab her hand and pull her back. She looks so tortured that my heart breaks. "No," I whisper. "No, Lisa. I didn't. I wouldn't."

She buries her hand in my hair and grips tightly. "Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't kiss him. That he didn't touch your body. That he didn't fall asleep with you in his arms."

I bite down on my lip and look away, unable to do as she asks. Lisa's eyes fall closed and she inhales deeply. "You say you wouldn't, but you already have. It's a kiss today, what is it tomorrow?"

She laughs humorlessly. "Fucking hell… I know you're his. I know it. But I can't fucking stand it."

She lets go of me and turns her back to me, and all I want to do is press my body back against her. I want to wrap my arms around her and reassure her in any way possible — but I can't. I can't, and I shouldn't.

"I can leave. I wasn't even planning on staying here with Mino," I murmur, my voice barely above a whisper.

Lisa turns back to face me, her eyes flashing with anger. She laughs humorlessly and walks back to me. "What, you wanted to take him to your old house? Share your childhood bed with him? Spend some alone time with him? What exactly did you need all that privacy for?"

She grabs my waist, and before I know it, she's got me lifted up against the wall. I instinctively wrap my legs around her, and she pushes against me.

"You're not going anywhere," she tells me. "You're crazy if you think I'll let you to be alone in your old house. It isn't happening, Jennie."

I'm breathing hard and my hands find their way into her hair without me even realizing it. "That isn't it. I just thought it'd be easier," I whisper.

I want to be unaffected, but my heart is racing from just having her so close to me. I subconsciously tighten my legs around her waist. If she'd held me just a little lower, she'd be pressing right up against me. I pray she won't notice just how hard my nipples are against her chest.

"Easier?" she repeats. "Fuck that. I'm not making this easy on you. I don't give a fuck that you're his. He's not touching you. He's not laying a fucking finger on you, you hear me?"

I look into her eyes and nod, and Lisa relaxes just slightly. Her hands drop to my ass, and she squeezes tightly, almost painfully so. Lisa repositions me so I'm wrapped around her hips, and I bite down on my lip. She's hard, and my body still responds to her the way it always has. I try my best to push down a wave of intense desire and swallow hard.

"Say it, Jennie," she orders.

"He's not touching me, Lisa," I whisper, my thighs quivering.

Her gaze is unfocused, and I can't help but wonder just how much she's had to drink. She's been so in control since I got here. Tonight is the first night that she's truly showing me just how intensely she still cares. It's not like the few slipped words here and there. No, this is different. It's raw, it's real… it's Lisa.

"I want to clip your fucking wings," she whispers, her lips tracing over my ear. "So you won't ever leave me again." She kisses my neck, and I tremble against her. "I want to fuck Mino up, and I want to sabotage your relationship. I want to wreck the happiness you've so painstakingly found, because I can't stand the idea of you with someone that isn't me."

Lisa rolls her hips against mine, and I bite down on my lip in an effort to keep quiet, to hide how she's making me feel. "I can't stand the thought of him fucking your delicious pussy, of you screaming his name. I don't want him to ever have the honor of falling asleep with you. I don't even want you smiling at him. I don't want him saying your fucking name."

She bites down on my shoulder before pressing a kiss to it. "I want to take you away from him. I want to rip you two apart," she whispers, before pulling away. She lowers me to the floor and looks into my eyes. "But I won't, Jennie. I won't, because I fucking love you."

Lisa takes a step away from me and looks away. "Run, Jennie," she whispers. "Run, because if you stay, there won't be any going back."

I look at her, my legs barely able to keep me standing. I inhale deeply and turn, running away from her, just like she told me to. With every step I take away from her, the words she uttered reverberate louder through me, over and over again.