Chapter 20 #2
Sloane relaxed and glanced over her shoulder at me.
Her eyes were so red and swollen they looked like someone had punched her.
It was only the lack of bruising that gave me any reassurance that the swelling was the effects of her tears.
I joined the two already on the bed and handed Sloane the glass at Autumn’s nod, watching as Sloane drank the scotch down in one gulp, spluttering as the fire probably scarred and burned its way to her gut.
“What the hell was that?” She hacked, the back of her hand pressing to her mouth, only to wince when she disturbed a tiny cut on her bottom lip.
“Something to take the edge off,” Autumn answered, crossing her ankles. “Sometimes a little liquid courage is needed to get things done.”
Sloane laughed maniacally, her hand moving to her throat and squeezing as though the pain would make everything better.
The sound was disturbing but better than the sobbing that had been shaking her since Drew found her on the side of the road going who the fuck knew where.
I looked to Autumn, but her eyes were on Sloane, watching the emotions roll around her like she was the eye of a hurricane.
Nothing stuck, just more emotions and reactions all piling and spinning with more force until I felt my own anxiety rising to meet hers.
“Sloane,” Autumn said in that serene way of hers. Sloane rocked like someone had slammed on the brakes too hard, her wild eyes meeting the older woman’s. “Breathe, baby.”
“I… I can’t.”
“Yes, sweetheart, you can. Same as always. Breathe in and let it go.”
“I just—”
“No talking yet. Just you find your breath. The rest we can deal with later.”
The breaths started roughly at first, the oxygen inhaled with rattles as it filled her anxiety-narrowed lungs.
The release wasn’t much better, but they improved the more she forced herself to concentrate on the vital task.
As the seconds ticked by, the wild panic in her eyes started to regress, and sadness and guilt replaced it.
My heart burned for this young girl. Everything she’d known and been sure of had just been replaced with a harsh reality and uncertainty of the world that now surrounded her.
It didn’t matter that she’d been sexually active for a while with my younger brother.
Her innocence had still been taken away.
Gone was the reassurance that she was safe in the places most familiar to her.
Her world had crumbled down around her, narrowed in one violent interaction.
I wanted to castrate the fucker who had done this to her.
“Better?” Autumn asked, her eyes flicking to me, a silent request for me to keep my shit together and back her up.
Sloane nodded, her hands rubbing her thighs before she flexed her fingers and dragged in yet another breath.
“That’s a girl.”
“Thank you,” Sloane whispered. “I just…”
“Panicked?” Autumn said with a warm smile.
“That’s completely normal. There’s no right or wrong way to deal with this kind of thing, Sloane.
You have to figure this out your own way.
Unfortunately, you do need to explain what happened still.
This guy, whoever he was, we need to stop him before he can try again or try on somebody else. ”
The edge of lunacy flared to life in her young eyes, making Sloane look older than her years. Autumn managed to knock the panic back once again by gripping both of Sloane’s hands in hers and holding them tightly.
“Breathe, sugar.”
“Ana was supposed to be there. She’s smaller than me. If he’d overpowered her—”
“No what ifs. What happened is done now.”
“But he could try again.”
“That’s why we need you to tell us who he is,” I said gently.
“I can’t, but I know if I don’t…” Her breathing became ragged again, escalating to that thin, rattling sound. She was clearly torn. “I have a meet tomorrow. I have to go to Abilene for the regionals. I can’t, Ayda. I can’t miss them. I need to go.”
“Sloane.” My voice was quiet, but cut through her rambling like a hot knife through butter. Her eyes met mine.
“Ayda, I don’t want to do this. I can’t do this.” Her sobs came again and she fell into Autumn’s open arms, this time allowing herself to be looked after, leaving Autumn and me to look at one another with concern.
There was a reason Sloane was hiding the identity of her attacker.
At first, when Drew and I had spoken to her, I thought she’d been disorientated and just didn’t want to face what had happened, like anyone in that situation would have been.
Now it felt like she was purposefully withholding the information on who had attacked her like this.
If this was just one of the kids in her school, why would she feel the need to protect him?
Was he a footballer? Someone on the baseball team?
Why would she feel the need to shelter this person?
“If I could take this from you, I would,” I said quietly, leaning into the two of them and rubbing circles into her back.
“God knows, I would. You should never have to feel this, honey. This asshole, he did something he had no right to do. You don’t need to protect him.
Nothing in the world is worth protecting this asshole for. ”
“I can’t, Ayda.” She sat up and wiped her eyes, her hands dropping to her lap and scrubbing at her uniform like she’d just realized how dirty it was.
When the mess didn’t move, she glanced back up at me, her eyes hard and set.
“I just want to forget this happened and move on with my life. He scared me, that’s all.
I just need a minute to get past this. You’ve been amazing.
All of you have, but I’m done talking about this. I don’t even want my dad—”
No sooner than she’d said his name, Howard Sutton burst into the room, ignoring the smash of the door as it hit the drywall and left a dent there.
Just one look at his face and I knew he wasn’t taking the news well.
I hadn’t expected him to. I just hadn’t been prepared for the feral look in his eyes that matched his daughter’s, and the ache of my heart that knew exactly what had put it there.