Authors: Marissa Farrar
Cole - Eleven Years Earlier
“Hey, Cole,” Ryan
shouted to me from across the street. “Got a sec?”
I’d been avoiding both the guys and band practice. It wasn’t just about the run I’d done for them down to Norburn a couple of week ago. The things Ryan had said about Gabi had been running around in my head, fueling my anger. Gabi had been asking why I hadn’t been going to practice recently, and I’d made the excuse that I wanted to spend more time with her. Truth was, I didn’t want to spend time with Ryan. I worried I’d lose my temper if he so much as mentioned her name again, and after the fights I’d gotten into with my foster brother, I couldn’t afford to get into any more trouble with my foster parents. I had another few weeks, and then we would graduate and life would start anew. I had a decent sum of money hidden in my room, and I was looking forward to being independent. I didn’t need problems just because Ryan didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.
I shoved my hands in my jeans pockets and kept my head down, my hair falling over my face.
“Hey, Cole,” he shouted again. “Don’t pretend like you can’t hear me.”
I huffed out a sigh and stopped walking. “What is it, Ryan?”
“I’m not going to shout across the street. Just come over here for a minute.”
I was tempted to make him come to me, but I didn’t want to get into a yelling match in the middle of town. The sooner I found out what he wanted and then told him to get lost, the sooner I would be away from him.
Checking the street both ways, I ran across the road.
“What do you want?” I asked.
He moved closer and lowered his voice. “Me and the guys have got another run for you to do.”
My stomach sank. “Nah, I don’t think so.”
“It’s the same money. Same setup. What have you got to lose?”
I cocked my eyebrow. “My freedom.”
He laughed. “You’re such a girl. Don’t be so dramatic. It’s just a bit of weed. Nothing to get your panties in a twist about.”
“So you take it, then.”
“I can’t. My car couldn’t be fixed, and I don’t have any money to get a new one yet. Another run or two, and I should be sorted, though.”
I shook my head. “Sorry, Ryan. You’re going to have to find someone else for this one.”
His eyes narrowed, his head tilting to one side as though listening hard for something. “I don’t think you’ve quite understood what I’m saying. We need someone to do another run, and that person is going to be you.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “And I don’t think you understood what I said. I’m not doing it.”
“You don’t want to go saying things like that, Cole. I’d take it kind of personally, and when I take things personally, I like to hurt things that are personal to you.”
I stiffened. “What exactly are you saying?”
He sucked and licked his lower lip. “That girlfriend of yours is mighty sweet. Get a couple of drinks in her, and she’s practically humping the leg of the nearest guy.”
“Gabi’s not like that!”
“No? I’ve seen her all flirty when she’s around us older guys. Don’t pretend you haven’t, too.”
I suddenly regretted guilting Gabi into coming to my band practices. It had gotten her in trouble with her dad, and now Ryan had set his sights on her. She hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, but I’d wanted to show off my gorgeous girlfriend. What an idiot I was.
“I get the impression your girl has a bit of a reputation to uphold as well. I don’t know what she was thinking hanging out with the likes of you, but I can tell she definitely cares what people think of her.” He nodded slowly, as though considering his words. “I imagine if word started getting around that she let me and the other guys gangbang her, how we’d all taken our turn and loved every second, it wouldn’t exactly be good news for her reputation.”
I balled my fists, a muscle in my jaw twitching. “You wouldn’t fucking dare!”
“Just watch me, kid. And I’ll tell you something else, if you don’t play ball, or you cause some kind of trouble for me and the guys, I’ll make sure that little scene happens for real.”
The idea of all my band members raping Gabi was like a punch in the gut.
“You fucking bastard!” I swung my fist, but he side-stepped it, sending me reeling out into the street.
“Don’t cause a scene, Cole. You need to learn to keep your head down.”
It took every ounce of self-control I had not to throw myself, roaring, at him. Only the idea that he could tear Gabi down with just a few words stopped me from doing so. If rumors like that started going around about her, she would be utterly heartbroken. Devastated. Rumors had the power to destroy a person—especially someone as sweet and innocent as Gabi. I couldn’t let it happen and I would do everything within my power to make sure Ryan kept his mouth shut.
I’d always known I would be bad for her, that I should have kept my distance, but yet I hadn’t been able to help myself. I’d been drawn to her, and fallen head over heels so hard in love with her I hadn’t been able to control it. She deserved better. She had an amazing future ahead of her, and being with me only put that in jeopardy.
“I guess I don’t have any choice, do I?” I managed to growl.
Ryan smiled. “Now we’re starting to see eye-to-eye.”
“When is the run?”
“A couple of nights from now.”
“Fine, I’ll do it.”
I knew this wouldn’t stop. Even if I did this run, Ryan would still be here, threatening Gabi and making me do another and another to keep her safe. If I wasn’t around, Ryan would haven’t any reason to threaten her.
My staying in Willowbrook Falls wasn’t good for Gabi’s safety.
Gabi – Eleven years earlier
I started the
walk home from school alone.
Cole had chores he needed to do for his foster-dad right after school, but he said it wouldn’t take long and he’d meet me at my place. I worried about him. He seemed distant lately, but I didn’t know why. The idea that he might be starting to go off me had been working its way into my soul, and I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it.
Lost in thought, I didn’t look up in time to avoid someone stepping out in front of me. I gave a strange squeak of shock, and the next thing I knew, strong hands grabbed my shoulders, yanking me to one side. The hands shoved me down a side alley, away from the main road. My head spun, adrenaline spurting through my veins. A man was standing directly in front of me, and though I tried to dart away, he pushed me back again.
“Now, now, little girl. You stay right where you are.”
I know that voice,
I thought with alarm. I suddenly realized who had attacked me.
“Ryan, what the hell?”
He gave me a sly smile. “Hello, Gabi. You and I need to have a chat.”
“No, we don’t. My dad is expecting me home.”
I tried to move again, but Ryan pushed me up against the wall and then put his hands against the brick on either side of my head, boxing me in. I felt dwarfed by him, and wished I was taller, so I could at least appear intimidating. I’d never hated my small, curvy frame any more than I did right at that moment.
I froze, pinning myself against the brick wall behind me, as though hoping I could push myself through it and disappear. My heart beat so hard it felt as though it filled my whole body, blood pounding in my ears, the pulse thrumming in my fingertips. I glanced around frantically, my eyes darting from side to side, praying for someone to come along and ask Ryan what he was doing, but the street remained deserted.
He leaned in closer, his head tilted to one side so he brushed his nose up my neck and jaw, to exhale in my ear. I held my breath, just wishing he would go away. Tears filled my eyes, but I didn’t want him to see them, knowing they would only give him another reason to taunt me.
“Mmm, sweet,” he rasped against my skin. “I can understand what our little Cole sees in you.”
“Please, I need to go,” I managed to say. “My dad is waiting for me.”
But he ignored me. “I can see what Cole sees in you, but what do you see in him? You know you could have one of us older guys, if you wanted?”
“Really, I’m fine as I am. Thank you.”
Thank you! Where the hell did ‘thank you’ come from?
I should be telling him to get fucked, not thanking him. And yet, I guessed part of me hoped if I just played nicely, he’d let me go without anything bad happening.
I tried to duck under his arm, but he stepped in quickly, reducing the space between my body and his, so one more inch of movement and he’d be pressed right up against me.
“He’s just a boy, you know. Me and the rest of the guys, we’re real men. I assume Cole has fucked you already?”
My cheeks burned and I quickly glanced away.
He laughed. “That’s right. You’re not a sweet little virgin anymore, are you? None of the girls your age are these days. You’re all just a bunch of sluts, spreading your legs for the first guy who comes along. If you’d waited awhile, you could have had me do the dirty with you instead. I’d have loved to have popped your cherry.”
The tears I’d been fighting won the battle and spilled down my cheeks. I didn’t know what Ryan was going to do. Surely he wouldn’t try and assault me out here, in the middle of the street. Statistics about how you were more likely to be assaulted by someone you knew rather than a stranger ran through my head. What else was it they said? You should always put up a fight. A woman who screams and makes a nuisance of herself is more likely to be released than someone who does nothing. Cowards like Ryan only ever went for an easy target.
I wasn’t going to be an easy target.
I sucked in a breath and lifted my booted foot as high as I could manage. With all of my strength, I stamped down, making contact with the bridge of his foot. At the same time, I shrieked, “Fire! Help! There’s a fire!”
Ryan automatically ducked down to grab hold of his injured foot, looking at me with utter fury in his eyes. “What the fuck, you crazy bitch!”
But he’d moved away, and that was all that mattered. I ran, my arms pumping wildly, my only thought to put distance between me and Ryan. I didn’t think he would chase after me—he would know he’d be seen eventually and I was pretty sure he’d decide I wasn’t worth the trouble it would cause. Either that or he figured he would catch up with me later. I wondered if he knew who my dad was. Surely he wouldn’t try to pull this kind of shit if he did. Or perhaps he’d thought he was being seductive and sexy, and I’d taken it all the wrong way.
I wheeled around the corner, barely staying on my feet, feeling as though they were flying out behind me. My tears blurred my vision, and as I collided with a strong, solid body, I let out a shriek of shock.
“Gabi! Hey, Gabi! What’s wrong?”
I realized Cole had hold of me and I crumpled in his arms, crying in fear.
“I was just heading over to your house to meet you,” he said. “What’s happened?”
With heartbreaking sorrow, I realized I couldn’t tell him. If I did, I’d ruin the one thing he had going for him, the one thing in his life he loved. He’d never forgive Ryan for upsetting me in such a way. In fact, he’d probably head right over there and punch the guy in the face. I didn’t think for one moment that Ryan didn’t deserve to be punched, but I didn’t want Cole to be the one to do it. He was in enough trouble for getting into fights with his foster brother.
I untangled myself from his arms. “Nothing, Cole. Just leave me alone, okay.”
Putting my head down, I kept going for my house.
“Hey, Gabi, wait up!”
His feet pounded the sidewalk behind me, and his hand wrapped around my arm as he pulled me back.
“I said leave me alone!” I shrieked at him.
It was too much. I knew it even as the words left my mouth, but it was too late to take them back. He dropped his hold on my arm and his mouth fell open, his blue eyes full of confusion and pain. He didn’t know why I’d reacted to him in such a way, and I couldn’t tell him.
“I’m sorry, Cole,” I said, shaking my head and turning to run-walk toward my house. I just wanted to get into my bedroom and shut the door and not open it for a week.
Though I knew I couldn’t have Cole follow me, for fear of breaking down on him again and telling him exactly what had happened, I wanted nothing more than to be pulled into his arms so I could sob against his chest. I was still shaking from my encounter with Ryan, and I wondered how I would ever be able to face the guy again. From now on, if Cole ever invited me to band practice, I would need to have some seriously good excuses on hand.
I reached my house and fumbled with my keys, managing to unlock the door, despite my hands shaking. Dad was at work, and even though I was used to taking care of myself, right at that moment I wished he was home more than anything.
But I shook the thought from my head. It was better I was on my own. Just like Cole, my dad would know something was wrong right away, and then he’d be full of questions, and would get the truth out of me eventually. One thing my dad was good at was asking questions.
Despite it barely being evening yet, I took myself to bed, and climbed, fully clothed, beneath the covers. I ran the events leading up to what had happened over in my head. Had I done or said something to make Ryan think I was interested in him? I’d always done my best to be friendly toward him and the other guys, because I’d wanted them to like me. I’d thought Cole would like me even more if his friends had approved of me, and, because they were older, I knew they’d have more influence over him. How stupid of me. Had I taken things too far? Had what happened been my fault? Cole would be devastated if he thought I’d been flirting with Ryan.
Heavy despair clutched my heart and dragged it into the pit of my stomach. What if Ryan said something to Cole? What if Ryan told him I’d been flirting with him? I wouldn’t put it past him to do something so low.
Fresh tears sprang from my eyes and I buried my head beneath the cover, not knowing which way to turn, and I cried myself to sleep.