Chapter 18 #2
“I don’t drink. My grandfather was an alcoholic, so it was just not something I ever wanted to touch.
My college roommate had gone to this party, but I’d stayed in to study.
She called me about one in the morning and asked to be picked up, so I went.
” Katelyn’s eyes shimmer with tears. “When I got there, she was laughing and talking to this guy I’d seen around but never met.
He was a football player, I was a nerd, so our paths just didn’t cross. ”
Even as I can see where this story is going, I seriously hope I’m wrong.
“Anyway, we got to talking, and he seemed sweet. Charming. Brought me a soda when I told him I didn’t drink. That’s all I remember until the next morning. I woke up, naked, in a bed I didn’t recognize.”
That anger turns to blinding fury, and it’s all I can do not to lose it right here on the beach. The desire to hunt him down—dead or not—is so strong I literally dig my toes further into the sand, hoping it will hold me here.
“The guy—Victor—was lying beside me, still passed out. Before I could leave, the door opened, and his older brother came in. He accused me of being a tramp and threw my clothes at me.” She closes her eyes, and tears stream down her cheeks.
“I still don’t know how I managed to get dressed—I was shaking so bad. ”
I force my hand out of my pocket and gently brush the tears from her cheek.
“I told my roommate. She apologized profusely for making me go and told me that I needed to report it. So that afternoon, I went to do just that. Before I got the chance, though, I found out she’d been killed on her way to work.
A car accident. The next morning, Victor’s brother showed up with him and told me that we needed to talk. ”
“You never got the chance to get help?”
“I could have,” she says, eyes full of tears.
“But after our “talk,” I was so afraid. Who was going to believe me? There were no witnesses, and Victor’s family was very well known.
It would have been a massive media firestorm, and I would have been caught in the middle.
My family would have found out what—” She trails off.
“My silence is something I’ve had to live with. ”
“Katelyn, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
She nods, jaw tight. “I know that now. Victor told me he didn’t remember what happened either.
That he didn’t slip me anything. His brother showed me a lab report showing high levels of some drug—I can’t remember the name of it now—in Victor’s bloodstream.
He said we’d both been drugged, and then one thing led to another.
He convinced me it was one horrible turn of events that we’d both been caught in.
A way to derail Victor’s budding career. I should have known better, but—”
“You were grieving the loss of your friend. And reeling over being assaulted.” My tone is sharp, anger barely leashed beneath the surface.
“I should have known better,” she repeats. “And by the time I realized what was happening, our engagement had been announced in the papers, and there was nowhere for me to run.”
She’d been bullied into a marriage to the man who raped her.
Who took what wasn’t his to take.
Who spent the time they were together, causing her nothing but pain.
My fury is only matched by the heartbreak I feel for the woman standing in front of me.
“Katelyn.” What else can I say? How can I put into words how furious I am that she suffered? How badly I want to hunt Victor’s brother down and inflict on him the pain he and his brother put on this beautiful woman?
“I have spent the last thirteen years trying to hide the truth from everyone because I am so terrified that Thomas will find out someday. That he will know who his father truly was.”
I take a step closer and drop my shoes so I can cup her face in my hands. “The only thing Thomas will ever know is that his mother is the strongest woman in the world. And she sacrificed unbelievably to give him everything.”
Katelyn’s lashes flutter against her cheeks as shimmering tears fall freely. “I was such a fool.”
“You are a survivor, Katelyn. A fighter.”
She looks up at me. “Do you understand now? Why I can’t—why I said—”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me. Not now, not ever. I will always be here for you. Even if it’s only as a friend.”
“What if—” She tips her face up to look at me, those hazel depths so full of pain that it breaks me. Even still, amidst the pain is something else—longing? “Is that all you want?” she whispers.
“I want whatever you’re willing to give.” It’s the truth. If all Katelyn wants to be is friends, then I will bury what I feel for her so far down it’ll never surface. Even if I have to cut myself to the bone to do it.
I will never push this woman into something she’s not comfortable with. Anything she wants from me, she’ll have to ask. It’s up to her to set the pace.
“What if I’m not sure?”
Her face in my hands, I lean down and rest my forehead against hers. Eyes closed, I can feel her breath fanning against my face. Our noses are touching. Our mouths a mere breath apart. “I’ll be right here when you are.”