Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Oh.” Oooooh. “Right. Okay. Good.”
“Glad we got that cleared up.” He threw an arm around my shoulder as he led me down the winding staircase and into the marble foyer. “So, about that party…”
From the interactions I’d seen tonight, Gracie loved Chad, and he loved her. Part of me wanted to get to know him for her sake. I really did hate parties, though.
“I didn’t say I was going.”
He stopped by the front door before pulling it open. “You didn’t say you weren’t.”
On a sigh, I rammed my feet into my Converse, bending to re-tie the laces. “I guess I have nothing better to do.” Except for any-fucking-thing.
An hour later, I’d decided Barrington parties weren’t so dissimilar to Dayton parties.
People danced and chugged beers—granted, the speakers weren’t busted, it was a pool instead of a stagnant lake, and no one was butt naked. Yet.
I wanted to dislike Chad just for having everything I didn’t, but like his entire family, I couldn’t. Who knew there were rich people who weren’t pricks?
I handed him my beer. “Watch my drink?” It was one of the biggest acts of trust I could offer him, and he seemed to know it, taking the plastic cup with a nod. I got up and went in search of a bathroom.
The inside of the empty house was pretentious. Artwork a five-year-old could have drawn that undoubtedly cost thousands decorated the walls. The place looked like something out of Modern Living, and the bathroom was just as bad. Why did it need to be so shiny and bright just for someone to take a shit?
The moment I stepped back into the hall, someone grabbed me and slammed me against the wall.
“Get the fuck off me.” I shoved my palms over a guy’s hard chest, panicking at how silent the rest of the house was.
“What’s the matter, whore? Not in the mood to lure any more good, decent men between your poisonous legs.”
He pulled back just enough that I could make out his angry features, the nasty gash on his forehead. “My dad told me what you did, Lola Stevens. He doesn’t deserve to be in jail for a gold-digging, Dayton slut.”
Dad? He shifted, the light cutting across features that were horribly familiar. Features that were branded into my mind like a scar. Johan Taylor had a son… And he knew my darkest secret…
Everything around me faded, and my pulse leaped into a frantic sprint. I knew nothing about Johan except he was a rapist. A rapist his son was now trying to defend…
“What did I do?” A storm of rage lashed within me. “There is nothing good or decent about your piece-of-shit father. I hope he’s getting ass raped daily.”
With a snarl, he pressed his entire body to mine. “Maybe I should—”
“You fucking piece of shit!” Hendrix’s rage-filled voice boomed off the walls seconds before he yanked Ethan away from me.
“I should have knocked your ass out at the gas station.” Hendrix landed several blows on Ethan’s face. Blood splattered the pristine marble just before he went down. “You even think of touching her again, and I’ll murder your ass.” He straddled him, whaling on his face.
“Hendrix,” I shouted. “Stop.”
But he kept throwing jabs while I stood frozen against the wall, all the emotions I’d bottled up over Johan and Hendrix clawing at the surface of my skin.
“Jesus Christ…” Wolf barreled down the dark hall, snatching Hendrix off of Ethan. “We gotta get out of here. Now.” His gaze moved from Hendrix to me. “Now, Lola.” Then he ducked around a corner, shouting for Hendrix to hurry up.
Hendrix swiped over his face, his expression feral and possessive as he closed the space between us. “Did he touch you?” He cupped my jaw with blood-slicked fingers.
I shook my head and caught his jaw tic before he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the front of the house. We hurried through the door, then took off toward Bellamy’s ratty Civic, headlights on and waiting at the end of the suburban street.
Wolf had just climbed into the front when Hendrix yanked open the back door and shoved me inside. As soon as Hendrix was in, Bellamy floored it.
We were silent throughout the drive back to Dayton, which did little to distract me from the loop of memories playing through my head. Two years later, I still felt tainted. Soiled. My life was still in shambles.
My gaze drifted to Hendrix, the passing streetlights flickering over the side of his face.
Johan still had a year left in jail, but he would get out, and what then? The records were sealed, but now that Ethan had approached me, Hendrix discovering the truth felt like far too real of a possibility. And after watching him beat the absolute shit out of Ethan for touching me…
The Honda rolled into Hendrix’s drive. Neither Bellamy nor Wolf said a word as Hendrix climbed out.