30. Cole #2
I work the shirt through Aurora’s hair, squeezing the water from it while she stands there, quiet and pliant in a way I’ve never seen from her before.
I fucking hate it.
Aurora is mouthy. Ruthless. This silence feels wrong on her.
I brush her hair back over her shoulder and bend my head, pressing my mouth to her skin.
“Are you hungry?” I ask. “I can make you something.”
She shakes her head beneath the towel and curls in on herself a little more.
I take her back to my room and help her into one of my shirts.
When she climbs into bed, she doesn’t say anything. Just settles on top of my comforter, turning on her side.
The hem of the shirt shifts and my eyes catch on the tattoo I put on her all those months ago.
There was a time I hated her enough that just hearing her name could wreck my whole day. I looked at her and saw my worst memory. I resented her. Loathed her. Wanted her as far away from me as possible.
But never, not once, not even at my worst, did I ever want to hurt her.
And that asshole she loved for three years put his hands on her.
I pull the covers up over her and sit on the edge of the bed, watching as her eyes drift shut and her breathing starts to settle.
My hands curl into fists against my thighs.
I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do yet. I just know I’m not letting him get away with hurting her.
I reach for my phone on the nightstand and open the group chat with Ryan, Austin, Logan, and Nathan, and type out a text.
Me:
I need your help.
“You could get arrested,” Ryan says, falling into step beside me as we cut across the back lot behind the arena.
“Don’t care.”
“You could get expelled,” Austin adds, jogging a little to keep up.
“Don’t give a fuck.”
“Cole.” Austin grabs my arm, forcing me to stop. “Just…” He blows out a breath and shakes his head. “Think about this for a second.”
I rip my arm out of his grip. I can’t get rid of the itch under my skin, this violent, restless need to hit something until my hands stop shaking. Because every time I blink, I see the mark on her cheek, her red, wet eyes, her blotchy mouth, the sound she made when she fell apart in my arms.
“I have,” I bite out. “I’ve had hours to think about what he did to her. All I’ve thought about was how he thought he could put his hands on her and get away with it.” I look between them, my jaw tight. “I can do this on my own if I need to. Are you helping me or not?”
Austin lets out a long breath and drags a hand through his hair, his shoulders dropping. “Fuck it,” he says. “I’m in. I’m not letting that piece of shit get away with hitting a woman.”
Nathan scrubs a hand over his face. “My dad’s going to fucking kill me,” he mutters, then looks up. “But yeah. I’m in too.”
Logan nods, his usual grin nowhere to be seen. “He hurt her. That’s all I needed to hear.”
Ryan watches me for a while before letting out a sigh. “This is a terrible fucking idea.”
He’s the captain of the team and is supposed to keep us in line, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he sent us all back inside before we do something that gets us suspended, expelled, arrested, or all of the above.
Instead, he lets out a breath and nods. “No one touches one of ours and gets away with it.”
I nod once, grateful as hell for them, and shove my hands into my jacket pockets, leading the way across campus.
The whole place is already buzzing for the game, the lot jammed with people in jerseys. We cut through the lot, and the second I see him, my blood starts to boil.
He’s standing beside a black truck with three of his asshole teammates, all of them in Falcons jackets, laughing. Like he didn’t hit Aurora only a few hours ago.
He sees me coming, and the smile that was on his face a second ago slips. “Ellis.” His eyes flick to the guys behind me. “What the fuck is this?”
“You know exactly what this is.”
His mouth tightens, but he forces out a laugh. “What, did Prescott send her guard dog?”
“Nah,” I say, closing the distance between us. “I’m here to put down a bitch.”
He barely has time to blink before my fist cracks against his jaw.
He stumbles sideways, swearing, and I feel the skin split across my knuckles when I punch him again.
One of his teammates lunges toward me, grabbing my shoulder as another comes at me from the side, but Ryan shoves one of them back, and Austin is on the other before I can even blink.
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch the other guy putting his hands on Nathan, and Logan loses it, driving his fist straight into the guy’s jaw.
Pain explodes across my cheek when Chase catches me off guard and manages to land a punch. Blood fills my mouth, and I spit it out, letting out a laugh at his weak-ass punch. “That all you got?” I taunt. “Not so tough when it’s not a girl you’re hitting, huh?”
He comes at me again, but this time I’m ready. I dodge to the side, grab a fistful of his jacket, and drive him back into the truck hard enough to rattle it.
He grunts, trying to shove me off him. There’s yelling behind me. Could be one of his teammates, could be one of mine—I can’t even tell anymore. Can’t hear anything but my ears ringing. Can’t see anything but Aurora standing in my doorway in tears, looking broken, with his handprint on her face
My hand tightens in his collar as I slam him harder against the truck. “You’re never fucking touching her again.”
He shoves at my chest, but I pin him to the wall. “If you ever put your hands on her again, I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Fuck you!” he spits, blood trickling down his chin. “You’re a fucking psycho—”
The wail of sirens cuts him off, blue and red lights flashing across the lot.
A cop comes out of nowhere, wrenching me off him. They twist my arms behind my back and handcuff me. Blood drips from my lips and I drag my shoulder across my mouth, wiping it off.
“They fucking attacked me out of nowhere!” Chase yells. “I want them charged. Look at me—look what they did.”
My hands curl into fists at the nerve it takes for him to stand there and play victim after what he did to Aurora.
A cop jerks me toward the cruiser, rattling off questions or rights or whatever the fuck he’s saying, but I barely hear any of it, my gaze drifting to my teammates in cuffs of their own.
“You got anything to say for yourself, tough guy?” the cop says.
I spit blood onto the pavement and look at Chase again, the corner of my mouth pulling up.
“Nope.”
I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but it was worth it.
If anything, the only thing bothering me is that I didn’t hit him harder.
The cop shoves me toward the back of the car, and I go with a smile on my face.