Chapter 31 #2
I smile to myself and use the ledge of the pool to lift myself out of the water. That was … exhilarating. I want to do it again.
Only my excitement is short-lived. As soon as I take off my goggles, I catch a familiar face pushing off from the wall across the room.
Parker Benson.
What is he doing here? I glance at the clock. Soccer practice must have just ended, but it doesn’t explain why he’s here. Or why he’s heading straight for me.
His expression is dark. Angry. My stomach drops, and I quickly scan the room. No one seems to have noticed his arrival. Either that, or they don’t care.
He’s dressed in a pair of loose-fitting jeans and one of the University’s navy blue hoodies.
A wolf is outlined in white and neon green, with the school’s crest taking up most of the center.
His hair is damp. Freshly showered. Which means he came here immediately after leaving the locker room. But why?
What can he possibly want with me?
My breath catches in my throat, panic rising up inside me with each step that brings him closer. I try to get my legs to move, to run the opposite way, but they refuse to obey me.
Frozen in place, I hold my breath as Parker draws closer, his dark blue eyes locking onto mine.
His lips curl into a sinister sneer, and a shiver runs down my spine. A thousand questions swirl in my mind. What does he want? Why is he so angry? How do I get myself out of this?
Despite all of my questions, I have no answers.
My heart races, and my palms grow damp with sweat.
My chest tightens, and all of a sudden I feel exposed in my conservative one-piece swimsuit.
The urge to cover my body, to hide, sweeps through me, but worse is the desperate need to run fast and far away.
Only, I can’t. My feet refuse to move. It’s like the wires have short-circuited inside my brain.
I feel like I’m drowning on dry land and any moment I’m going to black out and Parker will be free to do whatever he wants to me.
The memories of that night come rushing to the forefront of my mind. I can’t escape them.
What. Does. He. Want?
As he approaches, his voice reaches my ears, a low and mocking tone that sends a fresh wave of fear down my spine. “For someone so small,” he snarls, his words dripping with malice. “You’re turning into a big fucking problem.”
I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. My voice abandons me, leaving me mute and defenseless. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He steps even closer, his presence overwhelming. “You’re fucking up soccer for me,” he growls, circling me like a predator closing in on its prey. “You’re messing with my future.”
Every fiber of my being screams at me to run, to cry out for help, but I’m paralyzed.
My fear has taken hold of me, rendering me powerless.
All I can think about is when he and the others shoved me to my knees.
How he shoved his cock into my mouth while Austin held my arms behind my back. How he violated me.
“Hey! Back the hell up,” a woman bites out, and both Parker and I jerk in her direction. One of the team swimmers climbs out of the pool and approaches us, tearing her goggles and swim cap from her head.
“Are you deaf or some shit?” she snaps, her gaze trained on Parker. “Or are you just an asshole? I told you to back off. No girl wants you up in her personal space like this.”
Parker scowls, but doesn’t bother giving her his attention. “Walk away. This doesn’t concern you.”
She scoffs, “Pass,” and moves closer until she’s standing so close that if she takes one more step, she’ll be smack dab between us.
Her proximity forces him to pay attention to her now.
“Back the fuck off, or we’re going to have a problem.
” Her voice is even. Sure. She doesn’t have to raise it to get her point across.
You can hear the threat in her tone, or at least, I do.
My breathing becomes ragged. She shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what Parker will do, but I can’t imagine it’ll be anything good.
With exaggerated slowness, Parker turns his face toward her. “Who the hell—”
Everything happens so fast. One second, Parker is towering over me. We’re near the edge of the pool but a safe enough distance away that no one is going to accidentally fall in. Then the next second, he’s tipping over the edge, exhaling a harsh note of surprise.
The girl shoves him hard and fast, seemingly out of nowhere.
Parker loses his balance and his body careens over the ledge, colliding with the surface of the pool at an awkward angle. The water sucks him under and rushes over his head.
Holy shit! I stand there frozen and wide-eyed, watching the water lap over him. Did she just—
I turn to look at her.
She stares down at the water, a satisfied smirk on her face.
Oh no. This is bad. Really bad.
Parker resurfaces and sputters out an angry curse. “You fucking bitch. You’re going to pay for that.”
He struggles in the water, his heavy clothes making it difficult to stay afloat as he swims toward us.
The girl folds her arms over her chest and glares at him, her expression lethal. “I told you to back off. You’re the one who didn’t listen.” She turns her attention to me. “I don’t like having to repeat myself, and men can be so fucking stupid sometimes.”
My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. I have no idea what to say to that. Panic has stolen my words. What was she thinking? Parker is going to retaliate. Guys like him always do.
“You alright, there?” she asks, stepping closer to me. She waves a hand in front of my face.
My eyes flick between her and Parker. He’s already hoisting himself out of the pool.
His clothes are plastered to his body, wet hair dripping down his face.
Shit, shit, shit. His jaw is tight. Nostrils flared.
I’ve never been confronted by him before.
It’s always been Austin going out of his way to fuck with me.
Parker Benson and Gregory Chambers—the other guys involved that night—they’ve always given me a wide berth.
I sort of assumed they were just happy to get away with what they did to me and weren’t going to chance it.
Austin doesn’t work that way. He gets off on putting me in my place. On making me relive the fear and humiliation. I didn’t think Parker was like that.
I guess I was wrong. I don’t know why I ever could have thought that way. Parker was always sort of out of sight, out of mind. But that was stupid of me. He’s always been a threat. Always been dangerous. They all are.
Something must have happened.
Think, Cecilia. Think.
He said I was ruining soccer for him, but what does that even mean? I stopped going to Gabriel’s practices. I’ve never been to any of their games.
I’m not bothering anyone.
Fuck. The expression on his face is murderous as he climbs to his feet and makes a beeline right for me. Again.
We need to get out of here.
I grab the girl’s arm, unwilling to leave her here to face Parker’s wrath alone. Not when she defended me. She doesn’t even know who I am. Why would she put herself at risk like that? Parker is pledged to the Zeta Pi fraternity. If one of those guys has it out for you, they all do.
This is bad. Really bad.
“Come on,” I say, all but dragging her from the room by her forearm.
“What? Where are we—”
“Hurry!” I hiss and increase my steps.
Parker gets held up when some of the other swim team girls rush over, fawning over him and asking if they can help get him out of his wet clothes. One goes so far as to push the sopping wet material of his sweater up to his neck, exposing the hard lines of his abdomen.
Gag. But I don’t stop to warm them away. Not when they’re making it possible for the two of us to get out of here. I don’t understand why women fall all over themselves for guys like him.
There is no amount of good genetics that will ever make Parker look like anything less than what he is.
A monster.
Quickening her steps, the girl follows me toward the exit. We’re close. The door that will lead us outside is right there. I chance a quick look over my shoulder and our gazes collide.
“Cecilia!” Parker roars. “We’re not done!”
The hell we aren’t. If I never have to see Parker Benson again, it’ll be too soon.
Ignoring his demand to stop, I break into a run.
“Come on!” My wet feet slap against the pavement. Quickly grabbing my things from the chair I’d dropped them on, I shove open the door and exhale a breath of relief as soon as I taste the crisp fall air. But we’re not out of the woods yet.
“We need to put some distance between us and Benson,” I tell the girl. “You can come back to grab your things from the locker room later.”
Her brows furrow, but she nods, so I drop my hold on her arm, praying she’ll continue following me.
We run between buildings, turning left when a small walkway between the commons and the library appears. Pressing myself to the rough stone wall, I strain my ears for any sign of Parker’s pursuit.
I don’t hear heavy footfalls on the pavement, and his furious voice never reaches my ears.
My chest heaves. I don’t think he followed us. Which just means I’ll need to be on the lookout for him whenever I’m on campus. I don’t want him catching me off guard like that again.
I’m pissed at myself for just standing there like a frozen freaking fish. What would have happened if she didn’t intervene? Yelled at me for sure, but what if he did more than that? What if he touched me or did something worse?
A shiver travels down my spine, and bile rises in my throat thinking about how Austin pressed himself into me.
Would Parker have done something like that?
Would he have tried to corner me? Maybe drag me off somewhere private?
Would I have stayed so frozen in my fear that I would’ve allowed him to get me alone?
There’s a chance I might have. But I don’t let myself dwell on it right now.