Chapter Eight
Zuri
One flyer I could let slide, but whoever this is has crossed a line.
And it just makes me want to stand up for women even more.
“I don’t like this,” Ash says. “It feels personal.”
“It is personal. I’m a woman, and whoever this is wants to shut women up, probably so they can keep slipping drugs into women’s drinks and taking advantage of them.
If they think they’re shutting me up or making me cancel this rally, they can go fuck themselves.
” All this does is make me want to have the rally even more.
“Come on. Let’s get back to your dorm,” Aislin says, her eyes darting around like she expects someone to jump out of the bushes and attack us.
“Hey. Are you okay? I know you had your own issues freshman year. If this—”
“No, it’s not that. Something just feels weird, and I’ve learned to always trust my gut. And I want to keep you safe.”
It’s wild how I can be independent, how I want to always be able to stand on my own two feet, but hearing her say things like that makes my heart melt, too. Because I know she cares. I know she’ll be there for me, and it’s been so long since I’ve had that.
My parents were great. I have bits and pieces of memories of them that I’ve locked away and held on to, but I haven’t let myself have anyone since them…not until Ash. “Thank you,” I say. “For caring.”
“I’ll always care. Once one of us falls for someone, you’re basically stuck with us for life.” She smiles.
“I like that. I want to be stuck with you.”
“I want to be stuck with you, too.”
We clasp our hands together again and make our way to the dorms. The second I walk through the door, I see the envelope on the floor, and I freeze, all the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
“That wasn’t there when we left this morning,” Ash says.
“No. It wasn’t.” I bend over to pick it up, hands shaking slightly when I open the envelope.
Zuri,
Women like you are all the same. You hate men. You make hating us your whole identity. Stop your stupid rallies and blaming us because women can’t keep their legs closed. You don’t want to know what will happen if I have to tell you again.
SLUT!!!!!!!
My skin goes cold, prickles of nerves racing up my skin. I’ve seen stuff like this on TV, of course, read about it in books, and have even heard of it happening in real life, but those things are abstract—things that happen to other people and not to me.
“Close the door.” I push it hard, realizing it’s open and suddenly feeling very on display, like someone could be watching me, like my safe place has been compromised.
“Who the hell is this motherfucker?” I say, pacing the room.
“I’m not going to stop. I don’t care what they do, but…
” But someone has it out for me. Are they watching me?
They’ve been to my door. What if they’ve been inside? “I…”
“Hey. Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. Nothing bad is going to happen to you.” Aislin hugs me, one of her hands running up and down my back as I let myself lean into her, trust her, in this way I could only do with her.
I hate that a few tears fall. I don’t want to give this piece of shit that power over me, but this is very real and very scary and, sadly, not surprising in this world. “We should call the police,” I finally say, which isn’t something I’m excited about doing.
“No,” Ash says, and I stiffen. She pulls back to look at me. “I mean, we can if you want, but my family doesn’t do real well with the authorities…and honestly, I trust Tiernan, Dean, Cillian, Rory, and Shai to take care of this more than I trust them.”
Take care of…what does taking care of a situation like this mean for Ash and her family? And do I care?
I’m not sure yet. But I do know I trust her, and she trusts them—and there’s nothing they won’t do for Ash—so I know they’ll care about keeping me safe in the way cops won’t, if only because they know how Ash feels about me.
And fuck this guy, whoever he is. He’s clearly a piece of shit, and if he’s willing to do this to me, what else would he do to a woman? What has he already done?
“Yeah,” I answer. “Okay.”
“Thank you for trusting us.” Aislin pulls out her phone and makes a call.
Whoever it is answers immediately. “T, I need you,” she says.
He must say something because a moment later, she says, “Zuri’s dorm.
” Then ends the call…that quick. That’s all she had to say.
She didn’t even have to give him any information.
“Wait. Don’t you need to tell him which building and room I’m in?” I ask.
“No.” She shakes her head. “We have each other’s location on our phones, and even if we didn’t, they would have looked into you, Zuri. I’m sorry I didn’t mention that earlier. It’s what we have to do to stay safe.”
What they do to stay safe. It’s another reminder about how different their world is from mine, but if I’m with Ash—and I will be; I want to be—this will now be my world, too.
“Okay,” I say, unsure of what is even normal in a situation like this.
What does one say when they learn their girlfriend’s family did a deep dive into who they are? “That’s a lot.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” she says again.
“You just always need to be honest with me from now on. I want to know everything possible when it’s not about me and everything if it is. That’s the only way this works, baby.”
She nods. “I promise.”
It feels like no time at all passes before there’s a knock at the door.
Ash and I step away from it, and I let her open it.
Tiernan is the first one inside, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit he scares me the most. He’s just so stoic most of the time—cocky and arrogant, but closed off and more serious than the others.
Dean is right behind him, followed by Cillian and Rory.
“What happened?” Tiernan asks the second Rory closes the door behind them.
Dean crosses his arms. He’s wearing one of his standard hoodies.
Rory is bouncing around, Cillian looks serious and concerned, and I don’t know whether to laugh at this whole scene out of a movie, be scared, or appreciate these four men being here for me.
“Can I tell him?” Ash asks, which I appreciate.
“Go for it,” I tell her.
She gives them the rundown of the flyers, the messages, and the note under the door. Tiernan takes it from her, the four of them huddling close to read it.
“Sounds like a disgusting, loser, incel, red-pill motherfucker,” Cillian says.
“When we find him, can I kill him? I really want to kill him for messing with our Ash and Zuri,” Rory says, bouncing on his toes. “I like Z. We became best friends today.”
“Rory!” Ash snaps, before looking at me, waiting for my response.
“Does she not know we’ve killed people?” Dean asks. “I would think that’s pretty obvious.”
“Jesus, Dean.” Ash runs a hand through her hair while I try to realize this is real life…and these guys are talking about killing people in front of me.
I know they do. Ash told me everything just last night, but this is real now. And this is about me.
“I like you, too,” I admit, remembering what Rory said just a moment ago. That’s a whole lot easier to focus on than the rest of it.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Tiernan says, then looks at me. “Ash trusts you, and I trust her more than anyone in this world. But she’s my family. My heart. Everyone in this room is, and there is nothing I won’t do to protect them. Don’t let us down, Zuri.”
“What the fuck, T?” Ash pushes her brother, who doesn’t seem surprised or annoyed by her.
“I’m sorry, Ash, but it has to be said. I did the same thing with Ollie and Shai.
There’s nothing more important than keeping us safe.
The question is, can she accept who we are?
If she can, and if we can trust Zuri, then that includes her.
She’ll be family because you’re family, but anyone who is a risk to us isn’t family anymore. ”
I take that for the threat it is, and as uncomfortable as it sounds, even though it makes my neck prickle and my stomach twist, I appreciate Tiernan for putting it out there, for being honest and upfront.
And it’s impossible not to respect him for the way he loves his family, and especially the way he loves and trusts his sister.
“You can trust me,” I promise him. “I would never do anything to hurt Ash, and hurting any of you would be hurting her. I love her,” I admit, earning a gasp from the woman beside me.
We haven’t said those words to each other yet, even though I’ve felt them for a while.
How could I tell her when she hadn’t let me in on all the parts of her?
When she started to avoid me and put distance between us?
“I love you, too,” Ash replies, tears in her eyes, before pulling me in for a hug.
“Oh, I want to hug. This is so sweet. Can I get in on that?” Rory asks.
“Shut the fuck up, Ror.” Cillian laughs, wrapping an arm around Rory and kissing his cheek.
“I don’t want to hug you. I want to hug them,” I hear him say in the background.
“You’re going to have to accept me for now,” Cillian replies.
“Would you two shut up?” Ash says, then leans forward, pressing her forehead to mine. “We’re in love.”
“We are.” And that means something to me. Right or wrong, it means more than anything else.
I press my lips to Ash’s once, twice, three times, before forcing myself to pull away. “We’ll pick this up when we’re alone.”
“I’m counting on it,” she chuckles.
“Jesus Christ,” Tiernan groans. “Pack some things. The two of you are coming home with us.”
Both Ash and I freeze, and I have a feeling she’s giving him the same “excuse me?” look that I am.
“You did call me for help, right?” he asks.
Okay, so he does have a point.
“These are strong, independent women, T. They deserve to be asked, not told.” Rory winks at us.
Tiernan sighs, then pinches the bridge of his nose. I feel bad for the guy. He clearly has a lot on his plate. “Will the two of you come home with us?” he asks.
“Yes,” we say in unison.
“Sleepover!” Rory cheers.
And I have a feeling, possible murder and current creepy incel man aside, my future is going to be really interesting with Ash and her family.