#Hater (Hashtag #2) (26 page)

Rimmel

All the work was done. I’d spent so much time here the past few days that there was nothing left to scrub, organize, or feed.

The shelter never looked better, but me… I was a mess.

I missed Romeo, the closeness we usually shared. Even when we’d gone through stretches of time between us, I still felt close to him. But lately it’d been muffled. It’d been hard to grasp.

And I knew it was my fault.

I needed to stop hiding and stop pushing everyone away.

“Since everything is done, I thought I would leave early,” I told Michelle.

“Of course!” she said. “This place is spotless.”

“Great. Thanks!”

“Do you need a ride to campus?”

“Oh no, I texted Romeo.” I lied.

The truth was I wanted to walk. I wanted to clear my head and organize my thoughts. I needed to compartmentalize some of my feelings and put them away so I could be there for Romeo. I barely knew what was going on in his life because I’d been so focused on the crash and burn of mine.

Michelle smiled and called out a good-bye before she went back to her office. I was relieved I didn’t have to stand around and pretend to wait, so I hurried out into the cold and started in the direction of campus.

There was snow on the sidewalk and on the ground, so I walked carefully and tucked my head down against the wind.

The walk was good for me and I enjoyed being out in the fresh air. Even if it was freezing. When I got back to the dorm, I ignored the stares of some of the girls and went about my business. I took a shower and then spent more time than I liked blowing my hair completely dry.

I hadn’t been trying at all with my appearance lately, and since I planned to call Romeo later, I decided to make an effort to look nice.

Once my hair was brushed out and falling around my shoulders, I dressed in a pair of light-colored skinny jeans, brown boots, and a white sweater with sparkly gold elbow patches.

Ivy walked in from class and gave me a onceover. “Wow, what’s the occasion?”

I shrugged. “I’m just tired of being depressed.”

She nodded with a frown. “I still feel terrible—” She started, but I held up my hand.

“Stop apologizing. You couldn’t have known what Zach was after the night you brought him here.”

She flopped down on her bed. “Is there any word at all from the computer guy? From Romeo’s dad?”

“No,” I said glumly. With a week already passed and no new proof in my favor, I was beginning to think there wasn’t going to be any.

“Ugh!” Ivy shouted. “I can’t believe he would do this to you!”

“Well, technically, we don’t know it was him,” I allowed.

Ivy made a rude noise. “Yes, we do.”

There was a firm knock at the door. Ivy and I shared a look. “You expecting anyone?” I asked.

She shook her head. “You?”

I shrank back, suddenly worried it was more bad news. “No.”

She jumped up from the bed and flicked her long hair over her shoulder. She pulled open the door only enough to poke out her head.

“Rimmel Hudson,” a man said from the other side of the door, and I stiffened.

I heard her exclaim with excitement. “Thank you!” she called, then came back in the room, slamming it shut with her foot.

“Look!” she squealed.

I glanced over and gasped. She was carrying a huge bouquet of red roses. It was so large I couldn’t even see her head behind the blossoms.

“It’s gorgeous,” I breathed, taking in the silky petals, the bright red, and the way they gracefully arched out of the large glass vase.

No one had ever sent me flowers before.

“Read the card!” Ivy exclaimed as she set them on the table near my bed. “Even though we already know who they’re from.”

I smiled and snatched the card off the little cardholder thingy in the middle of the bouquet. I giggled and pressed it to my chest. “He wants to meet me. Tonight.”

Ivy pretended to swoon while I stood there with a goofy smile on my face. I guessed Romeo had enough of the distance between us too.

“What do you think he has planned?” Ivy asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied, gently setting the card with the vase. I leaned in to smell the blossoms. “I don’t really even care,” I mused.

Ivy sighed. “He’s like the perfect guy.”

I glanced at the clock. I had an hour before I was to meet him. I thought about texting him and saying how much I loved the flowers, but I decided to wait. I wanted to tell him in person.

Ivy started fussing with my hair and ended up flat-ironing it so it was sleek against my shoulders. She went on and on about romance, but I barely listened. I was too busy thinking about Romeo.

When it was close to eight, I pulled on my coat and tucked my phone in my pocket. “Don’t wait up,” I told Ivy.

She laughed and made me promise to give her all the details later.

I wasn’t entirely sure what field to go to, but I decided the indoor field would probably be where he meant. He knew how much the cold bothered me, so it made sense he would have us meet inside.

It wasn’t a short walk, but by the time I got there, my toes and fingers were numb. I didn’t see his car anywhere outside, and I hoped that didn’t mean I was at the wrong field. But I decided to go inside anyway. He might have parked on the other side where I couldn’t see his car.

I walked inside, sort of at the underneath level (even though it was on the ground) because the stadium seats rose up above it, creating this hollowed-out space below where fans could buy their tickets to scrimmage games. There were also bathrooms down here and a concession stand, which was obviously closed.

As I walked, my footsteps echoed over the concrete, and the slightest inkling of fear slithered up my spine. I pushed away the shiver and continued on, wondering what kind of surprise Romeo had planned.

I walked up the stairs leading to the field and bleachers. “Romeo?” I called, thinking it seemed kind of still and dark in here for someone who had planned something.

He didn’t answer, but I did hear a sound. The sound of scuffling feet above.

I paused but then continued the rest of the way up, thinking it must be Romeo.

“I got the flowers,” I called. “They’re so beautiful.”

When I reached the top of the stairs, I walked across the floor toward the railing to overlook the field.

It was way too dark in here. There was only enough light for me to make out where I was going.

Clearly, I was at the wrong field.

Dreading the walk to the other field, I pulled out my cellphone to call Romeo. I would just ask him to come get me. I was too cold to walk.

A light kicked on and I jumped back and held up my arm to shield my eyes. It was so bright and intense that my eyes watered even as I shielded them.

“Hello?” I called out. “Romeo?”

Someone behind me laughed. Someone up higher in the stands.

Romeo didn’t laugh like that.

The spotlight that had been blinding me swung around the large space, making me dizzy before it settled on its target.

“You’re late,” the voice said.

I gasped and looked up.

I knew that voice.

He was illuminated by the light, standing up on one of the bench seats, and staring down at me with cocky smile.

“Zach,” I said, confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you,” he answered like it was obvious.

Fear slammed into me and I rushed forward to the steps. Two figures materialized out of the darkened stairwell and rushed me. The cellphone in my hand was ripped away, and I heard it break apart when it was thrown against the concrete wall.

I screamed.

A set of unrelenting arms wrapped around my waist, and even though I kicked and screamed, he held me captive.

“Bring her,” Zach ordered.

I was dragged forward on the orders of a man who had truly lost his mind.

Romeo

Thirty minutes.

That’s how long ago Rimmel was supposed to meet the person pretending to be me.

I was certain who that person was by now.

I called her phone for the millionth time as I tore across campus to the indoor football field and prayed to God I had the right place.

She isn’t answering.

She’s been alone with him for thirty minutes.

She isn’t answering.

Fuck my future.

I was going to kill him.

I should have taken him out a long time ago. This was all my fault. If I had, then she wouldn’t be in danger and I wouldn’t be on the verge of panic.

The parking lot was empty, but I knew that didn’t mean anything. I sped all the way to the entrance and slammed the brakes. I left the Hellcat sitting right there, pocketed the keys, and rushed in the door.

“Rimmel!” I roared and ran inside and up the stairs. “Rimmel!”

There was a bright light shining down on the field. It was pointed at the end, at one of the field goal poles. My eyes followed the light as the sound of muffled yells echoed through the stadium.

Holy.

Shit.

My entire body froze. It was as if for a heartbeat, everything in me stopped working. The horror of what I was looking at completely shut me down.

Rimmel was in the center of the spotlight. Her arms and legs were tied together and there was something binding her mouth so she couldn’t speak.

But that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was her location.

She was hanging from the goal post.

Thick rope wrapped around her middle and she was strung up like some kind of human piñata.

I’d never know this kind of rage before. I’d never known this kind of fear.

It was the kind that rendered me instantly numb, almost like my brain just couldn’t comprehend the kind of shit it was seeing. Adrenaline surged through my system, making me feel jittery, and my stomach clenched so hard that I had to swallow back the gagging reflex forcing its way up my throat.

She was looking in my direction. I wasn’t sure if she could see me, but she must have heard me call her name. Even from the distance between us, I could see her tearstained cheeks and the fear in her eyes.

Her glasses were gone.

She was yelling and screaming, but whatever was against her mouth made it so I couldn’t hear anything.

“I’m here, baby,” I screamed. “I’m gonna get you down.”

I readied to leap over the railing to get down to the field, but movement below her stopped me.

“‘Bout time you showed up,” Zach said, stepping up close to where she hung. He was dragging something along behind him, and my eyes narrowed.

“Quit being such a fucking moron, Zach. If you got a problem with me, then be a man and come at me. Don’t pick on a defenseless woman,” I yelled.

“But watching you rush around to her defense is just so rewarding,” he crooned.

What the fuck? This guy was seriously off his rocker. He needed a padded cell and meds. Like now.

“I wonder,” Zach yelled as I leapt over the railing and landed on the field. “How long does it take hypothermia to set in?”

What the fuck?
I started toward them.

“Or is it possible for someone to drown without being submerged in water?”

Rimmel started screaming, her muffled cries panicked, and her body began swinging back and forth.

Zach lifted what was in his hands.

Rimmel screamed more.

I was down at the other end of the field and I started to run. “Don’t do it,” I growled.

Zach laughed.

Then he held up the hose the maintenance team used and aimed it at Rimmel.

“No!” I roared and pushed my body as hard as it would go. I covered the field quickly, but I wasn’t fast enough.

Water shot out of the nozzle and hit Rimmel. Her body jerked like it was shot as water drenched her entire body.

Zach laughed and laughed. He sounded like a maniac as he waved the hose all around, making sure to spray every last inch of her.

As I drew closer, I heard her struggling. I saw the water rushing into her face.

Pissed off didn’t even begin to cover how I felt.

I crouched low and rammed into Zach from behind. He’d been so involved in torturing Rimmel that he hadn’t even known I was coming.

I tackled him into the ground and he dropped the hose. I sat up, pinned him to the ground with my weight, and started punching him as hard as I could. I was so angry that I didn’t even aim. I just punched and hit him anywhere. His moans and the sound of crunching bones were the most satisfying sounds I’d ever heard.

“Keep… hitt… ing.” Zach laughed between hits. His teeth were outlined in blood. “She’s… gonna… freeze.

I hit him again and his head rocked to the side, and he didn’t move. I shoved away from him and looked up at Rimmel hanging from the pole, bound in rope, and dripping wet. She was already shivering.

“I’m gonna get you down, baby. Hang on,” I said.

From the sidelines, two guys watched the unfolding scene like they were shocked. “What the fuck did you think was going to happen when you helped that pecker kidnap a woman?” I yelled. “Find something to cut her down!”

They snapped into action, and I gauged the distance that she was hanging above me. I wasn’t going to be able to jump to reach her. How the hell had he even gotten her up there?

I felt Rimmel’s stare as I moved around down below, looking around for anything I could use to get her down. Her eyes were glued to me like she was clinging to my image.

I stopped and looked up at her. “I’m not going anywhere. Everything’s okay now.”

More tears fell from her eyes, and for the first time, I noticed the bruise on the side of her face.

He hit her.

He. Fucking. Hit. Her.

Impatient and unwilling to venture too far away from her to look for a ladder, I took a running start and leapt up on the pole. I jumped as high as I could and wrapped myself around it. Because I was tall, I made it a good distance up.

The field goal was shaped like a giant U on a stick. Using my arms and legs, I shimmied my body up until I made it to the top of the stick part. Rimmel watched as I balanced myself on the bottom of the U-shaped part she was tied to. She was far enough out that I had to straddle the pole and work my way toward her.

The closer I got, the slicker the pole became. Everything was soaked. Her hair was in wet clumps hanging in her face, her skin was pale, and her lips were turning blue.

I took a steadying breath as I reached the place the rope was tied. The weight from her drenched body was pulling her down, and I knew the rope tied around her had to be cutting into her skin. It had to hurt.

“I’m gonna pull you up, okay?” I said.

She nodded. I locked my thighs around the pole and wrapped what I could of the hanging rope around one of my arms. Then I began pulling her up. She wasn’t heavy, but I was balanced on a pole and her weight was below me, so it was awkward. But I refused to give up. I kept pulling, my bicep and shoulder shaking from the effort.

A small sound of pain floated up from below me, and it cut through me. Ignoring how badly my arm burned and the way the rope cut into my skin, I gave one last tug. I was able to wrap my other arm around her and tow her up between my legs.

I sagged forward from relief as she tried not to collapse against me. She was stiff and held as much of her weight as she could. I admired that because I knew she had to be in pain.

She had what looked like an old T-shirt shoved in her mouth and tied around the back of her head. I untied it and threw away the fabric.

She dragged in an agonizing breath and coughed. “Romeo,” she said, her voice hoarse and weak.

“Shh,” I said. “It’s okay now.”

One of the losers appeared at the bottom, and he was holding a pair of large gardening sheers.

“Toss ‘em up,” I yelled. I held out my arm away from Rimmel and opened my hand. “Right here.”

The guy hesitated, and I made an impatient sound. He moved so he was standing under my arm and then used both hands to fling the things straight up. I snagged them out of the air on the first try.

“Balance, okay?” I said and pushed her forward away from me so I could cut her hands from behind her back.

The rope was thick and these sheers were pitiful, so it took me a few minutes, but when she was finally free, she sagged forward with a groan. I caught her around the waist and towed her up.

“I’m not sure if I can cut your ankles free up here and keep our balance,” I said as I went to work on the rope that bound her to the pole. When I cut through it, the remaining piece was left draped over the post.

“I just want down,” she rasped.

“Where’s the ladder?” I yelled down.

But the asshole was gone.

Both of them were.

I glanced to where I left Zach lying.

He was gone too.

“It’s just you and me,” I whispered.

“Want me to jump?” she asked.

“No!” I replied quickly. “You can’t jump from here. You’re all tied up. You’re weak. You’d break something.”

“I don’t think we have another choice.”

I wasn’t sure I could shimmy down the pole with her on my back. Her arms were probably too weak to hold on to me, and I would need my arms to climb down. Her feet were tied together so she couldn’t wrap herself around the pole and slide down. Besides, she was shaking so bad her teeth were knocking together. She wasn’t going to be able to do much of anything.

This was on me.

“Hold still,” I said and balanced her on the pole. She gripped it like it was a lifeline as her body quivered and shook. She was so weak and cold she wasn’t going to be able to hold on very long, if at all. I shifted so I was sitting beside her with my knees bent and my lower legs dangling off the side.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Getting you down.”

I tucked the clippers beneath my arm and locked my legs around the pole. I lowered my upper half so I was hanging upside down by my legs.

“It’s a good fucking thing I work out all the time,” I muttered as I grabbed the clippers and dropped them on the ground.

Blood rushed to my head and I did a partial sit-up and reached for her. She looked at me like I was insane.

“Trust me,” I murmured.

She nodded and came forward. I grabbed her around the middle and then lowered myself back down so I was hanging with my arms around her.

“Wrap your arms around my waist. Hold tight.”

She did, and I basically slid her down my body until my hands were beneath her armpits. “I’m gonna lower you a little more. As far as I can reach. You’re closer to the ground now. I’m going to drop you. Try to land softly. Once you there, get the clippers and free your ankles.”

“I’m scared, Romeo.”

“I got you,” I said with a lot more bravado than I felt right then. Her safety was literally in my hands.

She took a shuddering breath. “I’m ready.”

I released her arms and she fell, a little yelp of alarm ripping from her throat, but I caught her around the wrist before she even finished screaming.

“You ready?” I asked. The weight on my body was starting to make my muscles burn.

“Do it,” she said.

I let go and she fell the rest of the way to the ground. She hit with a thump and her legs buckled under her.

“Rimmel,” I called out.

She looked up at me. “I’m okay.”

Relief flooded my body.

“What about you?” she called up.

I started to tell her I would slide down the pole, but the loud sound of a motor cut through the stadium.

What the—

My thought was cut off when one of the oversized zero-turn mowers the maintenance people used came lurching toward us as fast as it would go.