Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
CALLUM
Sis: Are you there yet???
J esus . I roll my eyes, shoving the phone back in my pocket.
It’s not like I had plans for tonight or anything.
Good god, you would think Sutton was on the brink of running away or being kidnapped, not just going to some local frat party, with the panic that Lena called me in a few hours ago.
I swear she’s as bad as a helicopter parent with how damn overprotective she’s being right now.
The phone in my pocket buzzes, but I ignore it. Until it buzzes again, and again.
Annoyed, I reach to grab it once more, knowing full well the texts are coming from my annoying-as-hell little sister. Most of the time she’s great, but when it comes to things like this, she acts like a goddamn basket-case.
Sis: Why aren’t you answering
Sis: She’s been at the party for over an hour now and hasn’t said anything
Sis: I swear to god, Cal. If you don’t get your ass over there right now. . .
Sis: If Frankie hurts her, I will never forgive you for taking your sweet time. . .
What the hell?
With a quick swipe, I press a button and her voice fills my truck.
“There you are! Freaking , finally!”
I can hear the exasperation in her tone, but I choose to ignore it.
“What the hell did you mean by that?”
Silence fills the line for a minute, before a more hesitant voice responds back. “I don’t know what you mean.”
I bite back a grimace. “You know exactly what I mean, Eliana. Now I need you to tell me what the hell you meant by Frankie not hurting her?” I can’t help the bite in my tone as I force myself to take a calming breath.
I can only think of one Frankie that I know of, off the top of my head, that Sutton would also know; Frankie from my old team back in Juniors.
But that doesn’t make any sense, because Sutton and Frankie get along like oil and water.
And I have had to step in more than my fair share of the times over the years to act as a verbal shield any time Frankie or his best friend Benny got it in their damn heads to try and bully her again.
Sutton wouldn’t ever lower her standards to go out with an asshat like that, not that I think Frankie would ever have the balls to treat her with any human decency, let alone want to date her.
Lena doesn’t say anything, and if I were holding my phone, rather than the steering wheel of my old pickup, I’m sure it would be crushed in my fist with how tightly I’m gripping it at the moment .
“Lena.”
My tone is sharp, and I wince. I never talk to my little sister like this. But then, she’s never acted this hesitant or evasive with me either. Her silence has my heart rate kicking up a notch.
“Eliana.”
I swear I can almost picture her eye roll.
“She’s on a date with that Frankie, okay? Geez.”
Take a deep breath. Okay. I’ll bite.
“Frankie?” I draw his name out, my tone questioning whether or not I heard her right. “Like Frankie, Frankie?”
“Yup.” She makes the ‘p’ sound more like a pop. “The one and only.”
“How the hell -”
As I drive closer to my little hometown just outside of Seattle, I listen in confusion, and my stomach sinks as she continues to explain.
The place is packed like sardines, the music is loud and the floors are sticky from spilled beers of parties past. I weave my way through the crowd, my head inches above the rest as I try to scan their faces, while simultaneously trying to fend off the advances of several shit-faced chicks.
Normally, this would totally be my scene.
I love a good party. But right now, I can’t see a goddamn thing through the tangled mess of drunken bodies grinding against each other and it’s starting to piss me off. Where the hell is she ?
“Oh my god! Callum!” Red talons scrape along my chest as peaked nipples press into my back. The cloyingly sweet perfume wafts around me, and I don’t even have to see her face to know something is off by the tone of her voice .
“Sarah.” I turn, barely glancing down at my ex.
Things have been rocky between us ever since the break-up, though she periodically reaches out, trying to get back together.
When I was in the middle of it, I didn’t fully get what the big deal was.
It took my first real fight with Sutton to truly open my eyes, but even then it wasn’t until things went nuclear when I dumped her, that I saw our relationship for the toxic shitshow that it actually was.
After she was out of the picture, my game significantly improved, to say nothing of the changes in my relationships with Sutton and my sister.
Sarah’s calls and random drop-ins have become less and less frequent over the past several years, and last I heard, she had moved to a different area. It’s surprising to see her here tonight, of all places. It’s bad enough that I had to deal with the Frankie situation.
Now this?
Hell.
“It’s so good to see you!” She playfully slaps at my chest, voice still cloyingly sweet.
“I feel like we haven’t seen each other in forever.
How long has it been? Like, at least a few months, right?
” By the toss of her hair, I don’t even have to glance down at her face to know she’s probably batting her eyelashes at me as she leans in closer, her chest brushing against mine.
I place my hands on her shoulders, firmly pushing her away as I continue, “I really wouldn’t know. Sorry, but I’m kinda busy.”
Her outraged gasp can only be at my audacity to ignore her, I’m sure, but I don’t even look back in her direction as I brush past her, slowly weaving through the crowd once more.
I’m so focused on searching for a face, Sutton or Frankie’s - I don’t even fucking care which at this point - that I almost don’t catch as she calls out from behind me.
“Oh do stick around baby . Wouldn’t want you to miss all the fun! ”
Trying to ignore the warning in her tone, I shift to look in another direction when the music comes to an abrupt stop. Lights cut out, and darkness fills the room as the shouts of belligerent drunken party-goers fill the air. A soft hue of light flicks on behind me, and then I hear it.
“A-are you sure about this? I haven’t – I mean I -”
A nervous voice competes with the sounds of exaggerated moaning and wet-kissing noises and I swear my heart fucking drops into my stomach.
I feel it fall out of my chest as I turn, as if in slow motion, and come face-to-face with a live video feed being projected on the back wall.
More people have caught on that there is a new form of entertainment to momentarily distract them, and jeers and catcalls fill the room as they gather to watch with drunken amusement, what I’m now watching in silent horror.
“Yeah, honey. Trust me. You’re gonna love it.” More kisses, and groping hands fill the screen. “Goddamn girl! These titties are next level. They’re gonna feel so good with my cock shoved between them when I’m fucking your face.”
“ Oh -”
Her soft voice doesn’t sound as if it’s filled with pleasure, more like apprehension, but then his mouth is all over hers in a slovenly kiss that makes me nauseous.
Her dress is shoved higher, revealing soft curves, and it fully hits me that Sutton, my Sutton, is being ogled by a whole fucking crowd like she’s their own personal porno. My fucking girl. Hell. No.
There’s a soft jingle as he fumbles with his belt, and I see red.
Without the time or the mental capacity to worry about hurting anyone, I shove my way through the crowd in a desperate rush to find the stairs for the second floor.
Assholes hang haphazardly from the banister, laughing and sloshing their drinks around but I pay little attention, taking the steps two, three at a time.
I hit the landing and scan the scene before me.
There are a few open rooms with people milling about, and a line that pushes into the stairwell coming from what must be the bathroom.
But at the end of the hall are several closed doors, and I rush forward, hesitating briefly.
Right or left? I strain to hear any signs of what I heard in that damn live stream downstairs, but there’s too much chaos between the pounding of my heart and the drunken laughter filling the air.
“Left or right?” It comes out as a whisper.
I jerk to the left, picking a room at random and twisting the handle. It’s not locked, and as I burst into the room, I stop in my tracks.
“Oh shit. My bad.”
The two guys fucking don’t even notice my intrusion, so I quickly back out of the room and shut the door behind me. Ok, next door.
“Wait,” My hand freezes millimeters from the handle.
Sutton.
The door crashes into the wall with a bang as I push my way into the room.
“Frankie, I -”
Her words are smothered under his drunken mouth once more, her cries stifled as he shoves his fingers inside her. Pants halfway down his pasty flat-ass, he grinds against her leg, while forcing his fingers in deeper.
Sutton jerks her head to the side, breaking free of his kiss with a gasp, cloudy eyes widening at my unexpected entrance. “Ow - wait! Fran-”
“She said no , motherfucker.”
All-consuming rage fills me as I spring forward, ripping him off her and planting my fist in his face.
“What the fuu -”
I hit him again. And again. My fists are pummeling, punishing.
I see nothing but red at the thought of my former teammate taking advantage of Sutton, hurting my Sutton.
Vaguely, my mind registers a dim voice in the background crying for me to stop, but I can’t.
Not after what he did, what he was going to do.
“Cal, please.”
Her soft voice finally registers as a gentle hand lands on my arm just when I’m about to pull back for another swing, and instantly, I freeze.
“Cal, just take me home. Please. Let him go. I just want to go home.”
Breathing hard, I look up to find tears streaming down her beautiful face. Her hair is a chaotic mess from the curls she must have spent hours neatly styling, only to be ruined by this drunk asshole’s hands.
“Don’t.” I shrug her hand off my arm, desperately trying to heave air back into my starving lungs but I push myself off the now unconscious asshole lying on the ground. Straightening, I stand to my full height, and turn to glare at this beautiful mess of a girl.
“Don’t you ever get in the way when I’m throwing punches.
I could have hit you!” My voice is shaking with anger, but I can’t help it.
The full force of what could have happened, what almost happened, hits me like a ton of bricks.
And I am so furious with her for putting herself into this goddamn situation. She is so much smarter than this!
“You didn’t though.” Her voice is still quiet, but the shaking has eased up as she looks at me, eyes full of an assurance that is completely misplaced. “You would never hurt me, Cal.”
My eyes sweep over her, searching for any outward signs of injury, desperately trying to reassure myself that she’s okay.
With a jolt, I remember that there’s a fucking camera somewhere in this room, and my girl’s clothes are ripped and still exposing way too much fucking skin.
Shrugging out of my jacket, I drape it around her shoulders and zip it up to her chin before she even has a chance to slip her hands through the sleeves .
“Come on. Let’s get you home, Shorty.”
Without a second thought, I drape an arm across her shoulders, and draw her close to my side, guiding her out of this hell-hole.
Walking out of the room, Sutton presses closer into my side to avoid bumping into anyone in the crowded hall.
Instinctively, my grip tightens on her shoulder as I shove ahead, trying to block as much of the scene from her view as I can as we descend the stairs into the main room of the party.
We just make it to the bottom of the staircase when there is a loud cheer throughout the crowd.
“There she is! The star of the show!”
“Come on, sweetheart . Don’t you wanna play some more?”
“Yeah, I bet you could show us a real good time, hon .”
Sutton freezes; wide, panic-filled eyes shifting from the make-shift screen on the wall directly across from us that shows a now prone Frankie, moaning in pain, to look up at me.
“Wh- I- I don’t understan-”
“Oh, there you are! ” A sickeningly sweet voice comes from Sutton’s other side.
“The star of the show! Everyone was just looking for you.” Her drunken cackle is like nails on a chalkboard.
I turn to face the callous bitch, pulling Sutton closer to my side, subtly shifting so that I stand between them.
“Cal?”
Sutton’s voice is quiet, full of a hurt so deep that it pierces my heart.