Chapter 6 #3
I’m pretty sure I know what would have happened, and it wouldn’t have been pretty.
Not that I’d blame the guy. If I had a sister and walked in on that, I’m sure I would have had the same reaction at that age.
Hell, how many times have I wanted to commit violence when it came to Jordan’s ex now? More times than I can count.
“The party ended then and after we got everyone out, Nate sat me down on the couch, and he cried at my knees.” She sits upright again, reaching up to swipe at her face, and it’s then that I realize there are a couple of tears running down her cheeks.
I fucking hate tears. Hate them with everything inside of me. There isn’t a tear I’ve ever liked because I have no idea what to do with them, or how to make them stop. Now is no different and I have to battle within myself not to squirm in my spot. Instead I squeeze her side, blowing out a breath.
“I’ve never seen him like that. Haven’t seen him like that since, either.
He was a mess, and he just kept apologizing to me over and over again.
Like he’d done something wrong!” she exclaims, shaking her head like she still can’t believe it.
“I was the one that had done something wrong. I was the one that let it happen, and here he was apologizing to me.”
“You didn’t let anything happen—” I start, but she’s quick to cut me off.
“I know that now. Older, wiser me knows that it wasn’t my fault.
It wasn’t either of our faults, though I don’t know if Nate realizes that to this day.
” A frown tugs at her lips. “When he calmed down enough to actually talk, he couldn’t believe he’d let me get that close to a predator—couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it—who had been someone he considered his best friend.
He asked me to promise him that I would never go out, date, screw, or anything else with one of his friends.
And I swore I wouldn’t. I made him a promise that day and I’ve kept it ever since. ”
“Until last night,” I state, feeling the swirl of sickness in my gut.
“Yep.”
“Fuck.”
“Yep.”
Dropping her head to my shoulder again, she sighs. “When I woke up this morning all I could think about was how I’d betrayed Nate. In the darkness and passion of the night, that didn’t matter, but it sure as hell did this morning.”
Well, this explains why she was nowhere to be found when I woke up.
It also explains the avoidance and hiding out until I hunted her down.
I feel like a fucking schmuck, which is probably how I should have been feeling this entire time.
Jordan is right. It didn’t matter last night, but it should have this morning because she’s not the only one that betrayed Nate, though I always thought I was the only one that got the warning from him.
I’ve always had a reputation. I had no idea anything had happened to make him tell me to stay away.
Then again, I never asked.
So not only have I betrayed my best friend, I made his baby sister do the same.
And in three days I’m supposed to stand up for him at his wedding.
Fuck.
“Liam, stop,” she whispers, reaching out to grab my hand as her body turns towards me, lifting one leg up onto the edge of the pool.
My arm falls away from her and she takes that hand too.
“I can already see you spinning out. Maybe I should regret last night, but I don’t.
I hate that I broke my promise, but I don’t hate that I spent the night with you. ”
Peering at me, her hands squeeze mine in reassurance, offering me a soft, tender smile. “No one has ever made me feel so safe in the bedroom.”
Unable to stop it, a laugh bubbles out of my lips as I look at her thighs where bruises abound. “Safe? Look at you.”
“Those are there because I allowed them to be,” she says, continuing when I shake my head, not understanding.
“Do you know that I’ve never been with a man where I’ve said wait, and have had him actually listen?
Who has actually taken the time to stop what he’s doing, let alone back off, and then ask me what I want? ”
The frown already on my face deepens, my lip turning up in a snarl.
“What?” I ask, the mere thought of someone not listening to Jordan say “stop” making my blood burn deep in my veins, screaming in a way that makes me want to pummel anyone who has ever done that to her.
“That’s fucked up. A woman says no, stop, wait, or gives any indication she isn’t okay then you stop. ”
“That’s the life a lot of women have to live with.”
Wrapping my arms around her without another thought, I pull her as close to me as I can, given our awkward angle, and squeeze the shit out of her.
If anyone ever asked, I’d swear it was for her benefit, but I think I actually do it for mine.
I hate that she’s gone through these things.
That she has to deal with them. That other women have to deal with it as well. We live in a fucked up world.
“I’d burn every one of those motherfuckers to the ground for you,” I say in her ear.
I can feel her smile against the skin of my pec. “I know. I know you’ll always keep me safe.”
“Damn right.”
I just hope that Nate is enough to keep her safe from me.