I open the box at noon like it might bite me.
Black velvet collar. Soft. Thin. The little silver ring sits in the hollow of my throat when I fasten it with shaking fingers. I look at myself in the mirror and I do not look like a girl waiting for her mother to come home.
I look like a girl who already said yes.
I wear it all day.
No panties. Grant’s shirt. Door open. I cannot eat. I cannot sit still. Every car on the street makes my stomach drop. I touch the ring at my throat so many times the skin under it turns warm.
They come home after dark.
Keys. The front door. Grant’s voice first, low. Then Rhett. Then Cole saying my name like he already knows.
Footsteps on the stairs.
They stop in my doorway.
Grant sees the collar before he sees anything else.
“Good girl.”
Two words and I
