Chapter Six
I stand behind Reid for a moment before stepping onto the ledge next to him.
I don’t say anything, but I watch him. Reid has always struggled with depression, but this is the first time I’ve seen it surface in a long time.
His dad was never home, and his mother was a fucking waste of space.
She abused him from a young age, and, incredibly, he coped as well as he did.
In college, I thought I was going to lose him.
When he was assaulted by a frat as a sick joke, he tried to kill himself.
If I hadn’t come in when I did, he would have.
“She raped me,” Reid says after a long stretch of silence.
“She was abusive and just… Horrible. She told me no one would believe me… She’s trying to get herself pregnant and said she would accuse me of raping her…
I got pissed while she was… Pretty sure I broke her arm… I’ll lose everything I’ve worked for.”
Reid turns to me with tears rolling down his face, and it breaks my fucking heart.
“I won’t survive rock bottom again,” Reid says, choking on his emotions.
I abruptly grab him into a hug and step down from the ledge to bring him with me.
He immediately falls apart and sobs, like I’ve never heard before, breaking out of him.
“I’ve got you, Reid,” I say, tightening my hold on him. “I swear to God, I won’t let you lose anything… I will kill that bitch myself if I need to.”
“I was taking male birth control,” he says, wiping his face as he pulls back. “She found out and fucking tortured me.”
“How?” I ask.
“She has a thing about pegging me and making fun of me when I come,” he admits.
“You know that isn’t your fault, right?” I ask. “I know it’s one thing to tell a survivor of rape that, but to hear and believe it is different.”
“I’m not a…” he starts to say, but stops when we hear a noise at the door. I smirk, knowing that Ayla stayed behind.
“Come back out here, brat,” I say. The door slowly opens, and Reid can’t help but smile when she grins at us as if to wave a white flag.
“I was worried,” she says carefully.
“It’s okay,” Reid says, waving her over. When she gets close, she wraps her arms around him, and he melts. They both do, really. He rests his cheek on her head, and it dawns on me that Reid is in love with Ayla.
How did I not see this? He was pissed when I was eating her out and damn near in tears when I fucked her.
It’s the main reason I did that, because I wanted to see how they interacted.
He’s been helping her for so long and has taken a special interest in her.
Should I be his boss or his friend? Can I be both? What is best for Ayla?
Ayla pulls back, and Reid rubs his hands down his face. “I’m sorry I worried you,” Reid says.
“When did she hurt you?” Ayla asks.
“Last night,” he says. “Missy is…”
“Insane,” I say. “The bitch is nuts.”
“Missy Holland?” Ayla asks.
“No, Missy Ramos,” Reid says.
“Oh, I know a crazy bitch named Missy,” she says. “I’m sorry she hurt you.”
“I’ll be okay,” Reid says with a simple smile. I don’t trust her questions one bit, though.
I decide I am going to let her think she’s gotten away with disobeying my instructions. I will get Reid to spank her later and see where it goes.
“Let’s go to group therapy,” I tell Ayla. She nods, and I can tell she doesn’t want to go.