Freedom -Negan-

Chapter 33

I stood back from the chair and blinked at Negan a few times. "I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you correctly because it sounded like you asked me to be your wife."

"Your debt would be erased. You wouldn't have to worry about shit anymore. Whatever you wanted or needed would be yours. Just be loyal to me and only me." He spoke like he was a well-seasoned salesman who didn't need to add the extra frills to get you to sign the deal. I gripped the back of the chair and stared down at my hands, aware that my mouth was hanging open, but unable to close it.

"You don't have to decide right now. Think it over. Make a pro-con list or whatever the shit women do -"

"No. The answer is no and will always be no." I said my words plainly, trying not to make them sound cruel.

He smirked. "You need to work on that interrupting thing you do." He tipped his glass back and finished the whiskey, placing it on the table in front of him. "Like I said, think about it. In the meantime, you'll be going back out tomorrow. Go get rested, Pistol." I felt the annoyance of him not taking my answer seriously.

He stood and closed the space between us. He reached out to touch my arm, but I dropped my hands to my side and turned away from him. "I can let myself out." I hurried towards the door before he could say anything else. I heard him laughing softly before I slipped out the door.

I stood out in the hall for a few minutes, trying to get my thoughts straight. I heard a door click down the hall and woman with tan skin and dark hair came walking down the hall towards me. I tried not to stare, but you couldn't help but gawk at what she was wearing: a short skin-tight black dress and heels to match. She gave me a smile and I looked away and began heading down the hall. My mind connected the woman to the description of Negan's wives. Angel had told me about them, but I had never seen one for myself, yet. If he thought I would ever consider being one of them, he was out of his mind.

I tried to hurry back to my room. Normally, I would try to squeeze dinner in before bed since we found out that helped me sleep, but Negan's meeting had taken up that time and my stomach was in knots, making my appetite disappear. I turned the corner to my hallway and felt relieved to see my door in sight. I grabbed my key from my pocket and unlocked the door. The door swung open and I jumped at the sight of Peter sitting on my bed.

"Holy shit! What the hell, Peter!" I felt my heart racing and I closed the door behind me, leaning against the door to catch my breath.

Peter laughed at me. The splint was gone from his nose at this point. Just some slight bruising under his eyes was the only reminder of the punch. "Don't you know what time it is?"

I lifted my wrist to look at the watch that Angel had gotten me. Shit. Negan's meeting took longer than I thought.

"Sorry, I lost track of time. Negan summoned me to his room." I sighed and sat down next to Peter and began removing my boots.

"Negan? You didn't get yourself into trouble, did you, Jess?" His voice got serious, like a father scolding his child.

"Thanks for the faith, but no. I have been a grade A student, as you know." I shook my head at him.

"What did he want?" I glanced over at Peter and saw him staring at me intensely.

"He acknowledged that I've been following the rules, let me back out on the running team and-" Asked me to be his wife almost came out of my mouth but I felt embarrassed to say it. I couldn't explain it, but I felt it was better to keep that detail to myself.

"And?" Peter asked.

"And... basically said if I don't keep my shit together, then I'll be in hell for the rest of my stay here. However long that will be." I finished untying my right boot and tossed it to the floor with the other one. I laid back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm going out with Matt, Ryan and Shepherd tomorrow."