Chapter 1: The Girl Under My Bed

I was in bed with my boyfriend, Bastian, when a muffled laugh came from under the mattress.

A chill shot down my spine.

I shoved Bastian away and started to get out of bed, but he just pushed me back down.

"You're getting distracted at a time like this? Guess I'm not trying hard enough."

I told myself I'd imagined it and closed my eyes, trying to get back into the moment.

The next second, a hand slapped the bed frame, hard, from underneath.

I snatched the blanket and wrapped it around myself.

Bastian's friend Gina crawled out from under the bed, laughing.

"So this is why you don't go out with us anymore."

Another of his friends piped up from the doorway.

"If I had a girlfriend who was this responsive, I wouldn't bother with anyone else either."

The blood drained from my face.

Gina pretended not to notice, reaching for my blanket.

"Bastian's always saying you have a great bady. Why hide? Let me see, too."

Bastian finally stopped her.

Gina raised her hand and smacked his bare ass.

"I was under that bed for so long my legs went numb." "And you're going to comfort her before you rub them out for me?"

Bastian immediately lifted her calf and started to massage it.

Gina shot me a smug smile.

I picked up my phone and called his mother.

"Mrs. Wilson, you'd belter come over right now."

"There's been on incident with your son. It involves Gina."

"Meredith, are you insane?"

Bastian roared, pushing Gina off him as he lunged for my phone and ended the call.

"You called my mom over something this small?"

"Gina and I are just friends. This was a joke."

"Why would you drag my mother into it? Can you try to be a little more mature?"

Gina lifted her chin, looking down at me.

"If you want to be Bastian's girlfriend, you need to learn not to be so fragile."

Then she loughed again.

"He made a bet with me. Said he could make you totally submissive in bed."

"I didn't believe him, so he let me hide under the bed to listen. That's all. Are you seriously going to make a scene over this?"

Bastian nodded, his expression impatient as he turned to me. "Hurry up and apologize to Gina."

I lifted my hand and held up three fingers.

"Three."

Gina froze.

"What are you doing? Let me tell you, Bastian and I grew up together."

"You're the one who showed up later. Don't even think about tearing us apart."

Bastian chimed in.

"That's right. You're my girlfriend, but Gina is my best friend."

"It was just a joke. Don't blow this out of proportion."

I lowered one finger.

"Two.

Bastian frowned.

"What are you counting down to?"

He reached for me, but Gina caught his arm, pressing his hand against her chest.

"She must be scared out of her mind."

"Soft little girls like her can't handle anything. I'm different."

Bastian looked down at her and, incredibly, didn't pull his hand away.

I took advantage of the moment and lowered my last finger.

"One." "One."

As the word left my mouth, the apartment lock clicked open.

I looked at them both.

"Bastian, your parents are here."

"Right now, you shouldn't be defending Gina, and you shouldn't be losing your temper with me."

"You should be thinking about how you're going to explain this."