Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
AYDA
I’d barely made it out of the shower when my phone pinged with a text from Drew. I ran my fingers through my damp hair and threw on jeans and a sweater before I followed his directions to: Meet me outside The Hut now!
I’d just made my way to the bottom of the porch steps when the wrecker skidded to a halt almost hitting the bikes parked out front. I stumbled back, my hands in a universal easy sign when Drew jumped from the cab of the truck.
“Drew, what the hell—?”
He didn’t stop, just carried on to the other side, his face twisted in rage and brows furrowed in confusion.
I stepped closer as he pulled the passenger door open, but stopped the moment I saw him pull Sloane into his arms. I didn’t need to ask what was wrong.
As he swung her around, I saw bruises and dirt in places that told their own story.
I saw that haunted look in Drew’s eyes and swallowed my own terror and confusion.
“Take her into our room. That way no one will interrupt,” I said, circling around him as he passed, and pulled the door out of the way. Thankfully, the bar was empty other than a couple of the resident whores asleep on the couch. “What happened?”
“Not a goddamn clue,” he said, panting for breath as he lowered her as carefully as he could on top of our bed.
He handled her like he cared, dropping her head to the pillow with a tenderness only I usually got to see.
Drew pushed the stuck together strands of hair away from her forehead, his own scowl growing deeper, even though he tried to keep his face straight.
He pulled down her skirt to cover her thighs and let her curl in on herself again.
“I found her down on FM 667. I didn’t realize it was her until I got closer.
” He stood taller, his eyes fixed on Sloane. “All she’s done is cry, Ayda.”
“Okay,” I said gently, my eyes flitting between the two of them. “Drew, can you grab a bottle of water from the fridge? I’m going to grab a washcloth and clean her up a little bit.”
I stood quickly, my hand wrapping around his wrist and squeezing before I rushed to our bathroom and grabbed a small hand towel and ran the material under a lukewarm stream of water, wringing it out and shoving a dry one over my shoulder.
I rushed back, meeting Drew by the bed and giving him a warm smile of thanks as he handed me the bottle.
Setting everything on the nightstand, I leaned into Sloane and brushed her hair back from her face.
The tracks of her tears cut through the mascara and streaks of dirt on her face, and her sad eyes were still brimming with tears.
She blinked, sending another set of tears free, and the sight broke my heart.
“Okay, sweetheart, I need you to sit up for me.”
My body leaned into hers, and she latched on, her arms circling tight around my neck as she shivered around me.
It felt like she was slipping slowly into the depths of shock.
With Drew’s help, we sat her on the bed, but her face stayed buried in the curve where my shoulder and neck met, her heaving sobs now partnered with whispered wails that dug soul deep.
I wanted to help, but I also needed to know how bad this was before I did anything else.
Her dad was the chief of police, for fuck’s sake.
“Sloane, I need to you take a deep breath for me, okay? Then I need you to tell me what happened.”
“I… I don’t want to talk about it.” It was a whisper, but the words and intent were clear. I glanced up at Drew, tipped my head in Sloane’s direction and mouthed any ideas?
He scratched the back of his neck with one hand, the other planted firmly on his hip. “A few,” he muttered under his breath. I wasn’t convinced his ideas would benefit Sloane, though. There was anger in his eyes, even though neither of us knew who he should be directing it at.
I went about untangling myself from Sloane’s grip and kneeling in front of her. Taking her hands in one of mine, I tucked her hair behind her ear with the other. There was no easy way to go about this. There was no gentle way to push her about what happened, so I just had to do it.
“Sloane, we know just from looking that something really bad happened, and I need you to know that you’re safe here.
It’s just us in this room and whatever you say can only help you.
We just need to know what happened. Were you…
?” I swallowed and looked up at Drew for strength, before I dipped my view lower to find her eyes, then changed tactics at the last moment. “Tell me what happened. Please?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.”
“A guy in school got a little… rough, that’s all. I just want to go home and forget about it all.”
Drew stepped forward a little too harshly, stopping himself and tensing his whole body when Sloane flinched and looked up at him through wide, heartbroken eyes.
I glanced at him, too, seeing the way he closed his eyes and fought to stay in control before he internally counted to ten, let out a breath and looked down at her again.
“That’s understandable,” he said as softly as he could manage, considering it was through gritted teeth.
“To want to go home, I mean.” Drew cleared his throat roughly before he lowered himself and kneeled down so his eyes were level with Sloane’s.
“But if that’s true, Sloane, why were you walking out of town, in the opposite direction of your home? ”
Sloane’s wild eyes darted between Drew and me before her gaze landed back into our tangled hands. I felt them try to ball and released my gentle grip to allow her to do so. Sometimes you just needed the physical representation of your emotions, and I wasn’t going to deny her that.
“I just wanted to think. To go somewhere I knew no one would be.” She lifted one of her hands and swiped away the tears that were falling more freely now. “It all happened so fast. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared, confused, and I didn’t know what to do.”
A myriad of emotions swarmed into me, fury dripping into my bloodstream as every possibility flickered across my mental screen. I still wasn’t sure what had happened, and I needed to know before we decided where to go from here. Before we told Sutton.
Shit.
“It’s okay. No one would know what to do. We just need you to start at the beginning and tell us what happened.”
The shudder that ran through her body was the only indication that she was even considering my request.
“I stayed late after practice. We have a meet coming up and I wanted to make sure everything was ready. Ana couldn’t stay because she had a date, so she asked me.
It’s not difficult. I was heading out when the…
the guy stepped out and blocked the hall.
I didn’t think anything of it really. I didn’t think he would…
” She trailed off, a vacant look passing over her eyes as the fear slipped that little bit deeper.
“It was school. I wouldn’t have thought it either,” I encouraged.
“He started flirting with me. It was really weird and made me uncomfortable, so I tried to politely excuse myself. When I tried to walk past him, he grabbed my arm and pushed me really hard against the wall. He started saying all this really pervy shit that kinda scared me, so I pushed him and tried to run. He… he grabbed my ponytail and his…” A sob broke from her throat, and her head shook from side to side as though she’d reached her limit.
“His hand went between my legs, grabbing at the skin there, and I was about to scream when the door to the gym opened. He jumped back and I ran. I just ran and ran and the next thing I remember is Drew calling my name. I was so scared, Ayda. If that person hadn’t come into the gym… ”
She broke down then, and I let her. I released a breath and looked up at Drew. This was bad, really fucking bad, but knowing it could have been worse terrified me.
Drew’s eyes were closed again, and his strong jaw was ticking as he tried to stay clear-minded. “Sloane,” he said as he peeled his eyes open again.
“Yeah?” she sobbed.
“Don’t lie to us, sweetheart,” he whispered tenderly.
Sloane blinked in confusion, her sniff of emotion being the only sound she made.
“That isn’t the last thing you remember, is it?” He paused, giving her chance to answer before he went on, but Sloane stayed quiet. “Everything you’ve just told us happened indoors, and that doesn’t explain the state you’re in.”
Sloane opened her mouth to say something, quickly closing it again as her trembling grew harsher.
“Your story doesn’t explain the dirt on your knees. The clothes that are ruined. The…” Drew dragged in a deep breath, filling his chest and letting the rest go unsaid as he exhaled.
Sloane curled in on herself, her fists pushing into her eyes as she started to rock.
She was inconsolable. I hadn’t even thought to ask her to go on, but Drew had known.
He’d seen what she wasn’t saying and leaned just a little bit harder to get that truth from her.
I hated that Sloane was hurting. I loathed whoever had done this to her, but more than anything, I was terrified about what else she was hiding from us.
Rubbing her back in soothing circles, I tried to compose myself before dipping back in.
Sitting back on my feet, I picked up the washcloth and started cleaning the open wounds on her knees.
When she looked up again with red-rimmed eyes, I uncapped the water and pushed the bottle into her hands before continuing to clean the dirt from the bloody flesh.