14. Grady
GRADY
Blake is looking so pale. So fucking fragile, it’s impossible not to worry about her.
Shit. She was a wreck when I brought her home last night.
As annoying as it was, hearing her start mumbling, then full-on singing “The Wellerman” was a huge relief. At least I knew she was on the mend. Her eyes were closed, her body floppy, but she was slur-singing that sea shanty like it was somehow keeping her alive.
Little weirdo.
My lips twitch before the memory starts to fade and that deep concern rides through me again.
“Morning.” I keep my voice soft, assuming she has a monster headache.
“Hey,” she croaks, her gaze darting away from mine, then suddenly pinging back up. Her blue eyes round as she chokes out, “What happened to your face?”
Lightly fingering my cut lip, I try to play it casual, not wanting to scare her. I’ve got a feeling she doesn’t remember much about last night.
Just tell her. Maybe a good scare is exactly what she needs.
It’s tempting. Anything to warn her away from getting herself into that situation again has to be a good thing, right? And I told that police officer I would.
But my gut is telling me to play this gently, so I start with a shrug and murmur, “It collided with…”
“A fist,” she whispers.
“You remember?” My eyes jump back to hers, searching her gaze… wincing when the truth starts to sink in.
“What did I do last night?” Her voice wobbles, then catches. “How did you know where I was?”
Resting my shoulder on the doorframe, I study her carefully as I softly explain. “You called Wily’s phone… and he was in the bathroom, so I answered it. You didn’t know where you were, and…” I shake my head, hating the scene I walked in on.
No wonder I couldn’t fucking sleep last night.
The idea of what could have happened to her haunted me until the early hours. Even when I knew she was safe, that “what-if” game and all the scenarios that followed was a cruel companion as I tossed and turned in my bed.
“Blake, what you did last night was so fucking dangerous.” My voice is coming out like a low growl, but I can’t help it. “You just wandered into a stranger’s party. Alone. What the shit?”
“I…” She shakes her head, then winces like the move hurts.
“When I got there, some guy was trying to drag you down the hallway. Blake, you couldn’t fight him off.
You were trying, but you were too drugged up to defend yourself.
He could have so easily…” I leave the sentence hanging, because I can’t bring myself to say the word rape . It’s too brutal. Too abhorrent.
And besides, she knows what I’m saying. I can tell by the way her skin blanches and she takes a step back from me, hugging her wad of clothes like a teddy bear. Or maybe a stress ball. Her fingers dig into the fabric, her knuckles white as she shakes her head.
“Did I get roofied?” she rasps.
“Yes.” There’s no point trying to sugarcoat this shit. She did. And maybe she wouldn’t have if she’d had someone to keep an eye on her. If I’d been there, I would have watched her like a fucking hawk, but she knew no one in that house. She was easy prey.
Fuck!
“What made you do it?” I have to ask. I have to know why she’d be so reckless.
She shakes her head again, looking ready to puke.
Shit.
Letting out a soft sigh, I cup the back of my head and gaze at the floor. “Listen, I know you’re going through a tough time right now. I don’t know why you got kicked out of college, but it’s obviously messing with you and?—”
“What?” she snaps.
I glance up, taken aback by the venomous look on her face.
“Who told you that?”
“You did. Last night. When I was driving you to the hospital. After you’d puked your guts dry. You told me you?— ”
“No, I didn’t,” she snaps. “I wouldn’t say something like that, because it’s not true.” Her cheeks flush, her words coming out in a quick staccato beat. “Like I would get kicked out of college. Are you insane? Don’t you know what a study nerd I am?”
“No.” I shake my head, trying to figure out how to play this.
She’s so obviously lying. Her arguments are thin and soaked in panic.
But I can’t just drop this, right? She’s going through something right now, and she needs help.
She obviously doesn’t want to take this to her big brother, so maybe I can be the one to get her through it.
“You’re so full of shit, Grady.” Her voice is snappy.
My stomach tenses, but I stay calm. “Actually, I think it’s you who is struggling right now. I don’t know why you got kicked out?—”
“I didn’t get kicked out!”
I pause, taking in her flashing blue eyes and fierce expression.
Licking my lips, I lower my voice to a softer murmur. “You told me last night that?—”
“When I was drunk or high or whatever the hell I was? Like you can trust anything that comes out of someone’s mouth when they’re in that state!”
“Would you chill?” I raise my hands as two white flags. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Well, you’re not helping me, are you? Not when you’re standing there accusing me of being a little shit! Or getting kicked out of a school I worked really hard to get into!”
“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just telling you what you told me and saying I’m here if you need me.”
“I don’t need you!” Her eyes flash again, but it’s impossible not to notice the sheen quickly forming over them.
Shaking my head, I keep my voice low and easy. “You did last night. And you have no idea how grateful I am that I got there in time.”
Her eyes glass a little more, and I know she’s gonna start crying soon, but maybe that’s exactly what she needs.
“You know you called Wily. I just happened to answer the phone.”
“He doesn’t know?” she squeaks.
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Not about the hospital or anything?”
“No. I haven’t breathed a word.”
She sniffs, lifting her chin but not meeting my gaze, and now I’m wondering if now’s the best time to tell her about giving a statement to the police officer. Will that tip her over the edge?
Shit. One thing at a time.
Clearing my throat, I softly murmur, “I think you should tell him, though.”
A crazy-sounding laugh bubbles out of her, and she glares at me like I’ve lost my fucking mind.
“Oh really? What should I tell him? That I went to a party and got wasted and… and that I can’t remember what else happened, but my hair smells like puke, you’ve got a fat lip, and I…
what? Could have ended up doing who knows what with some guy I don’t know if you hadn’t arrived in time?
” She slashes a rogue tear off her cheek with an angry growl.
“You had to take me to the hospital, which means I must have been pretty out of it.” A shudder runs through her, and she scoffs again.
“I’m sure that would go over just great with my big bro.
He’d just love to hear that his sweet, perfect little sister fucked up big-time last night! ”
“Blake, that’s not…” I shake my head and release a breath. “You don’t have to tell him about last night, okay? I’m just saying that maybe you should tell him about the college thing and that you’re going through a hard time.”
“There is no college thing!” she snaps again. “And I’m fine!”
The way she’s roaring at me is kind of contradicting the statement, but I’m wise enough not to point it out.
“You know what, Grady? I don’t need your help, okay? And I don’t appreciate you butting into my life and trying to play savior. I don’t need saving, because my life is fine. It’s perfect!”
“Obviously.” I give her a deadpan stare.
With a little growl, she fists her bundle of clothes and barks, “Leave me alone!”
“I’m just here to help.”
“Leave me alone !”
Raising my hands again, I back out of the doorway, and she storms past me, muttering something about me having a hero complex.
The little shit!
I glare at her back, shaking my head and trotting down the stairs as a door slams behind me. I really don’t need this kind of drama in my life.
If she wants to be left alone, then fucking fine! She can solve her own damn problems.
“What was that about?” I’m not even at the bottom of the stairs when Wily appears, frowning up at me. “Was Blake just yelling at you? ”
“I don’t…” I shake my head, really not wanting to answer that.
“What happened to your lip?” Wily’s deep voice is booming, and I wince, tensing as I wait for the rest of my roommates to appear.
Shit.
Zander knows everything, but I can’t go spilling it all to Wily. Blake might be acting like a lying little turd blossom right now, but I’m not about to dump her in it.
With a sigh, I mumble out as much of the truth as I can. “I was at a party last night and this guy was harassing a girl there, and I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. It got messy.” I shrug.
“Shit, man.” Wily’s face buckles in concern. “Why’d you go to a party by yourself?”
I shrug, seriously not having an answer for that one.
Or at least an answer I can give him.
Leaning on his crutches, he gazes down at me, his intense stare fucking unnerving. “Is that why you were yelling at my sister, because you’re in a foul mood over what happened to you last night?”
Forcing myself to look up and meet his gaze, I shake my head. “I wasn’t yelling, man.”
“She sounded pretty pissed off.”
“She was,” I admit.
“Why?” He grits out the question, and I have to remind myself that it’s just brotherly concern talking. He’s always been protective of her; it’s obvious every time he opens his mouth to tell another story about “lil’ Blakey.”
Shit, he will not be able to cope with what happened to her last night. Even though nothing did happen to her, it could have… and if I’m struggling with it, he sure as shit will too.
“What’s going on with you guys?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head. “I just happened to cross her path this morning, and she was in a foul mood.”
Wily’s eyes narrow, and I want to tell him to fuck off and stop looking at me that way. I haven’t done anything wrong!
But I hold my tongue, because I’m not about to stir up more drama.
Blake needs to tell her brother the truth.
She needs to tell herself the truth.
And I need to step the fuck back and not be a part of it.
“I gotta go.” I move around Wily, grabbing my keys and mumbling, “Want to fit a workout in.”
He doesn’t question it, and I manage to slip out the door a free man.
Except I don’t feel free.
I’m weighed down by a truth I can’t share… and a disquiet I can’t shake.
Blake’s in trouble. My instinct is telling me to help her. But I have no idea how… and she doesn’t want me to.
So what the fuck am I supposed to do?