Tamed (Torn #5) by K.A. Robinson
I hated the word whore. It sounded so…filthy. I’d been called a hundred different names before—slut, skank, ho, bitch, just to name a few—but when someone called me a whore, it would set my blood on fire.
As I stared down at my fate, I realized that they’d all been right. I was a whore.
There was no coming back from this.
I closed my eyes and willed myself not to cry. I’d done this to myself. This was what I deserved.
I hadn’t always been this way. Once, a really long time ago, I’d been innocent. I’d worn my heart on my sleeve. I’d looked at every day like it was a gift instead of the plague that it really was.
Life was so damn hard. I hated it. I’d hated it for years. More than once, I’d wished that I hadn’t had to deal with it, that I hadn’t had to deal with him. But fate had laughed at me, repeatedly throwing him in my face just when I thought I’d healed.
How could I tell him this when he seemed to hate me more and more every time we saw each other? How could I tell him this after what she’d done? I was no better than her.
What was once innocent love and attraction had morphed into something…volatile and ugly. By now, it was almost unrecognizable.
Who am I kidding?
It had never been innocent. We’d seemed to be incapable of innocence, especially him.
I would never survive this. The moment I’d seen him, even though I hadn’t wanted to admit it, I’d known that I would never survive him.
Tears fell down my cheeks, but I brushed them away as I stood and walked out of the room. When I reached my bedroom, I picked up my cell phone and dialed the only person I knew I could trust, the only person who knew every secret of mine—my best friend.
“Hey, Amber. What’s up?”
“Chloe, I need you,” I whispered.
Four Years Earlier—May
Charleston, West Virginia
I ran a brush through my dark brown hair and looked in the rearview mirror, making sure that my makeup was still flawless. Bright green eyes stared back at me, outlined perfectly with black eyeliner. My tanned skin was practically glowing from happiness. I smiled to myself as I adjusted my low-cut tank top so that it revealed even more of my cleavage. I climbed from my car and tugged on my shorts, inching them up my legs bit by bit.
I’d fought with myself for almost an hour as I debated on what to wear to surprise Chad, my boyfriend for the past year. Today felt special for some reason. I wasn’t sure why, but it did, and I wanted to look perfect.
Along with my two best friends, Logan and Chloe, Chad and I had graduated from high school just last week. We only had two months to spend together before we would head off for West Virginia University in the fall. He’d be there with me, but I knew things wouldn’t be the same, so I wanted to make sure that this would be a summer he’d remember.
I’d grown up alongside Chad in Charleston, West Virginia. We’d been in classes together since kindergarten, but it wasn’t until last year when I’d really noticed him. I wasn’t the only one who had taken notice either. He’d come back to school a good two inches taller and heavier with several pounds of all muscle. Girls who had barely looked at him before had started hanging around him, flirting their hearts out, but he hadn’t paid them any attention. Instead, his eyes had watched me.
Two weeks after school had started, we had officially become an item. Since then, we’d been inseparable. He’d even earned bonus points by winning over Chloe and Logan.
I was a lucky girl, and I knew it.
I grabbed a grocery bag out of the backseat and locked my car before walking up the sidewalk to his parents’ two-story brick home. I grinned as I slipped my key into the lock and quietly opened the door. After closing it behind me, I put my bag down by in the entryway and crept up the stairs to Chad’s room.
His parents were on vacation this week, and instead of going with them, he’d decided to stay home and spend some quality time with me. Unfortunately, he had called early this morning to let me know that he had to cancel our plans because he’d ended up with food poisoning.
Instead of letting him wallow in misery alone, I’d decided to surprise him and nurse him back to health with some soup, and I would do it all while looking fabulous, of course.
When I reached his room, I grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened the door. I didn’t want to wake him if he was sleeping.
The smile left my face when I saw his bed. He definitely wasn’t asleep. My world crashed around me as I watched him f*cking Carrie Jenkins, head cheerleader and complete whore. I stood there, frozen in shock, while he let out a groan as he came. He kissed her forehead before pulling out and standing, his back still facing me.
He slipped on a pair of basketball shorts. “As usual, that was great, babe.”
Carrie mumbled something before burrowing underneath his covers. When he turned around, facing my direction, he had a satisfied smirk on his face, but it died instantly when he saw me standing in the doorway.
“Amber!”
I shook my head as he took a step closer.
“Don’t come any closer, or I’ll rip your dick off.”
“It’s not what it looks like,” Chad said, his voice pleading.
I laughed. “It’s not?”
“It’s exactly what it looks like,” Carrie said from the bed.