Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
O NE YEAR LATER
EMILY
“Shit, shit, shit,” I mutter under my breath. This was a mistake. I should have never let Deirdre talk me in to coming to this party with her, especially since Shayna isn’t coming.
Shayna’s been my best friend since freshman year of high school when we met in detention and bonded over the injustice of a school rule which banned any skirt that wasn’t at least knee length. Violating the rule is how we both ended up in detention on that fateful day.
Despite the seriousness of my current situation, I chuckle, wondering how many times Principal Clark regretted putting Shayna and me in detention together and setting the stage for our friendship to blossom. We were both excellent students, but I’d be lying if I said we didn’t get in our fair share of trouble.
Usually not on purpose—trouble just seems to find us. Like tonight. Except tonight, Shayna’s not with me.
My boyfriend, Teddy, and his best friend, Jack, who’s also Shayna’s brother—before he enlisted and went away—usually catch on to our shenanigans prior to us getting into anything too serious. More than once, though, they’ve had to come to our aid when we found ourselves in a situation that turned out to be more than we expected.
When Deirdre and I arrived here tonight, she quickly disappeared with the guy she met at the gas station just yesterday—the one who invited her to the party—leaving me with his friend, Lucas.
Shayna and I don’t do that. We always make sure we know where each other is when we’re out and never abandon the other. It’s true we both have boyfriends and aren’t looking to hook-up, but even if Shayna wasn’t madly in love with her high school sweetheart, she’d never ditch me to entertain some random guy’s friend while she hooked up.
Anyway, Lucas seemed okay at first and made decent conversation. When I had to use the restroom, he offered to show me where it was, but he took a detour and led me into a dim bedroom with clothing strewn all over it, an overflowing trash can, and that smelled like body odor. Gross.
When I whirled around to question him, Lucas was suddenly all over me, pawing at me with his sweaty hands and smashing his slobbery lips over mine. The smell of alcohol on his breath, mixed with the onion dip he was dipping his chips in earlier, made me gag.
Admittedly, I panicked for about fifteen seconds before the self-defense training Ben—Shayna’s other brother and Jack’s twin—taught us kicked in.
Ben’s currently in the police academy and insisted that Shayna and I let him teach us basic ways to protect ourselves. Thank God.
I bit down hard on Lucas’s lip, and he yelped, backing away from me for a couple of seconds, giving me just enough space for my next move.
“What the fuck, you bi?—”
Running on pure adrenaline, I didn’t give him a chance to finish before I reared back and swung my knee into his groin with all the force I could muster. I knew my efforts were on target when his eyes bulged, and he gasped as his hands cupped his balls. Unfortunately, he was blocking the door, and was too big for me to get past him without the risk of being grabbed. So, I reached around his body to twist the doorknob and pushed him out the door when it opened. Then, I slammed it behind him, thanking my lucky stars when I found the door had a lock. I turned it to secure myself inside and slid down the door with my back against it as an added protection from Lucas getting back in.
Now, I’m sitting here catching my breath and I pull my phone out of my pocket with shaking hands. Damn it. I can’t call Teddy. He’s out of town for some comic book convention he’s obsessed with, and Trina’s on shift at the fire department today. Shayna’s visiting Tom at school this weekend and Jack’s deployed. No way I’m calling my parents. I just can’t do that.
I scroll through my contacts and see Charlie’s name. He made me swear I would call him if I ever needed anything and couldn’t reach Trina since they’re on different shifts at the fire station. I hesitate for a moment, but then a jolting thud slams into my back, and I assume it’s Lucas kicking at the door.
“Open this door, you fucking tease!”
The fury in his voice is palpable, and it’s enough to make me press the call button next to Charlie’s name on my phone. He answers on the second ring.
“Hello? Emily? Are you okay?” Charlie’s voice is rough. I look down at my watch and realize it’s almost midnight and I’ve likely woken him. I hear shuffling in the background. Oh my God. What if he’s not alone?
The repetitive pounding against my back and Lucas’s threats from the other side of the door mixed with the now deafening noise from the party, jar me back to my senses.
“Charlie, I need help. I’m in trouble and I don’t know who else to call…” No longer able to stop myself, I sob into the phone.
“Fuck. It’s gonna be okay. Tell me where you’re at,” he orders.
The slamming of a car door followed by the roar of a truck engine makes me realize he’s already on his way and a tiny sliver of the panic threatening to overwhelm me recedes.
I rattle off the address in a shaky voice.
“I’ll be there in eight minutes. Stay on the phone with me. Okay?” Charlie’s voice is soothing.
“O-okay,” I stutter, through my crying.
Charlie, who’s usually the strong, mostly silent type, spends the next several minutes making small talk, asking me about my classes and my apartment off campus. It’s obvious he’s trying to distract me.
Every time Lucas yells something in the background or slams into the door, causing a loud noise, my breath hitches and I’m sure it doesn’t escape Charlie’s attention.
“I’m only two minutes away now. I need to know if someone hurt you. Is it the guy yelling in the background?”
I hesitate to answer. “H-he didn’t h-hurt me.” I sniffle, trying to keep my nose from running.
“Em…” Charlie’s voice, while tender, holds a warning to it. He’s going to find out one way or another, that much is clear.
“He tr-tried but I stopped him and l-locked myself in the bedroom then called you. I b-bit him and kneed him in the balls. I’m on the second floor in a bedroom, but he won’t stop pounding on the door trying to get in.”
“Good job, Emily. Now tell me his name.”
“Lucas. His name is Lucas.”
“I’m here now. Stay on the phone until I find you. Okay?”
I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Okay. And… thank you for coming for me,” I whisper.
He clears this throat.
“You never have to thank me, Emily. I’ll always come if you need help. Got it?”
“Yes. I’ve got it.”
“I’m in the house. Stay in the room until I get you. I’m right here. You’re safe.”
* * *
CHARLIE
“Are you Lucas?” I ask the red-faced asshole who’s pounding his fist against the closed door.
When he turns to me, the dumbass sneers. “Yeah, I’m Lucas. Who the fuck are you?”
“That’s not for you to worry about. But I’m gonna need to get in that room. Now.”
I reach for the door handle and he makes his next mistake, putting his hand on my chest.
“That’s my girlfriend in there. We’re just having a misunderstanding.”
I narrow my eyes at him, then look down at his meaty hand, which is still on my chest. I grab his forearm with one hand and his collar with my other, then slam him against the wall. If he was drunk, I’d be a tiny bit less furious right now. But he’s not—he’s clearly only slightly buzzed—which tells me he knows exactly what he’s doing.
“The kind of misunderstanding where you try to force yourself on a woman?” I growl.
His eyes widen and his face turns even more red, which I didn’t think was possible.
“She’s a fucking tease!”
“Wrong answer, asshole.” I tighten my grip on his forearm and watch him grimace.
“She came up here with me. She knew where this was go?—”
The door next to us swings open and Emily darts out into the hall. Her lips pursed and her eyes squinting in anger.
“I came up here to use the bathroom, you lying sack of shit!”
“Em, go wait at the top of the steps. Please.” I don’t take my eyes off of Lucas and I want to get her as far away from this douchebag as possible.
Fortunately, she listens to my request. When she’s far enough away from us, I pull the guy away from the wall and push him in the opposite direction from Emily. I stare at him for several long seconds before I turn to walk away.
“Fucking slut,” he mutters.
And just like that, all the rage I’ve been holding in explodes as I whip around. My fist connects with his jaw, making a satisfying thud. In the background, Emily gasps as Lucas falls backward into the wall, holding his hand over the side of his face.
I’m about to deliver another blow when Emily’s sweet voice breaks through my anger.
“Charlie, don’t. Please, let’s go. He’s not worth it.”
Without taking my eyes off him, I try to rein in my fury. When her soft hand grips my elbow, I allow her to tug me away.
We head down the stairs and make our way toward the door when my sensibilities come back to me, and I stop.
“Emily, where’s Shayna?” I ask. I’m not about to leave her here. These two are inseparable, so I’m confused about how this happened.
Emily grabs my hand and resumes our trek toward the exit.
“She’s not here. It’s homecoming week at Tom’s school. I was here with another friend, and she ditched me for some guy. I’ll text her I’m leaving.”
I can’t stop the growl that emanates from my chest at that piece of information.
Three minutes later, we’re in the truck and heading toward Trina’s place.
I know Emily comes home almost every weekend since Teddy is here, but she almost always stays at Trina’s house to avoid her parents. If there’s anything I’ve learned from the Flynn sisters, it’s that just because parents have an abundance of money to meet basic needs, it doesn’t mean the kids will come through childhood unscathed. I’ve yet to meet two people as stingy with their love and affection as Trina and Emily’s parents. They almost make my dad seem better by comparison, but not quite.
Those weekends at Trina’s are how I’ve gotten to know Emily better over the last year. True, she flits in and out, very much the social butterfly—or sprite—she is, but she’s around enough that she was comfortable calling me.
And damn, I’m grateful she did. I grip the steering wheel tighter, thinking about what could have happened to her tonight.
“You staying at Trina’s again this weekend?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she whispers. I hate the frightened shakiness resonating through her voice.
“You gonna be okay there, or do you need a little time?” Trina’s working at the station today, so I know Emily will be alone at the condo.
“Um. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
I take my eyes off the road briefly to look at her and I find her head drooped and her hands clasped tightly in her lap. This is not the Emily I’ve come to know over the past year.
“Hmm. Okay. But I’m pretty hungry. Any chance you’re interested in getting something to eat at Pat’s Diner?” I hope she can’t hear that I’m lying through my teeth, trying to give her a way to save face and not admit she doesn’t want to be alone.
“D-don’t you have to work in the morning?” Her voice is meek.
When I glance at her, hope fills her huge blue eyes.
“I do. But I’ll never fall asleep with this gnawing hunger in my stomach.”
She’s quiet for several long seconds, then finally says, “I think I could eat.”
“Perfect,” I say. Then I steer the truck in the direction of the restaurant .
Two hours later, I’m dropping a now smiling Emily off at Trina’s condo. She rolls her eyes when I insist on walking her to the front door. Clearly, she’s gained some of her spark back over the last few hours. I’m pleased that the tension gradually eased off of her over our late-night meal and she’s back to her usual self.
Standing on Trina’s doorstep, Emily’s face suddenly turns serious again.
“Thanks for coming to get me tonight. And… and for making me feel safe, again,” she whispers.
I swallow the lump in my throat before I can speak.
“Anytime, sunshine. I mean it. You call me if you ever need anything, and I’ll come. Okay?”
She gives me the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen and scrunches her nose. “Sunshine? I’m not sure that’s an accurate description of me, but I’ll take it.”
She stands on her tiptoes, grasping my forearms in her delicate hands, and kisses me on the cheek.
“Goodnight, Charlie.”
And she turns and disappears into the condo without another word.
“Goodnight,” I mutter to myself.