Authors: J. Lynn
David didn’t answer immediately. “He was charged with sexual assault and several other offenses. He goes to trial in June, but has been out on bail. It’s not looking good for him. There’s a lot of evidence. The only reason I know any of this is because his father came to mine to represent his case. My father turned the case down. I want you to know that.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Thank you for not representing the asshole? I didn’t know what to say at all. I was stunned. I’d always wondered if Blaine had done what he’d done to me to someone else and if my silence would enable him to do it again. I had hoped not—I’d prayed that wouldn’t be the case.
“The girl he… raped contacted your family.”
I didn’t know what I was more shocked about: the fact that this girl contacted my family or that David had actually said rape. “What? Why? I haven’t said anything. I’ve kept my—”
“I know, Avery. I know you didn’t say anything, but she went to the same high school as you. She heard the rumors about you and Blaine, and well, she put two and two together. She went to your parents first and I’m sure you know how well that went.”
I needed to sit down before I fell down.
“When they refused to even speak to her, she came to me.” David paused. “I didn’t tell her anything, Avery. That’s not my place, but I think she’s been trying to get a hold of you. I don’t know how she got your information.”
“I don’t think she has.” I plopped down on the couch. Then again, I deleted almost every email I didn’t recognize. “The girl? Is she… okay? I mean, did she seem like she was okay?”
David cleared his throat. “Honestly? No.”
Rubbing my brow, I let out a low breath. “Of course she’s not. That was a stupid question.”
“You might want to, uh, check your email or something. She really seemed like she needed to talk to you and that was back in August.”
“I can’t say anything to her. If I do and it gets out, his family will sue me and my family for
millions
.” Bile rose in my throat. “It’s a part of my nondisclosure.”
“I know,” David said. “But like I said, I thought you’d like to know what is happening.”
My head was full of so much I could barely pick one question to ask. “And the charges? You think they’re going to stick? That’s he’s going to go to jail?”
“From what Father has seen, the charges are going to stick. He’s going to go to prison, Avery, at least for several years.”
My eyes fluttered open. Relief swamped me, so potent, so powerful that it was like having a ton of bricks removed from my chest. Never in my wildest hopes had I expected this. Blaine wasn’t going to jail because of what he had done to me, but justice was being served. Finally. I just hated that this had to happen to another girl—a girl who probably faced a terrible amount of censure for coming forward, but had stuck to it. A bit of the relief turned into guilt and shame. What if I had told my parents no? What if I had held my ground? This might not have happened to Molly. And only God knows how many other girls this could’ve happen to that we’d never know about. My stomach roiled at the thought.
“Anyway,” David drew the word out. “I just wanted to let you know.”
“Thank you,” I said, meaning it. “I’m sorry about not responding. I thought… well, it doesn’t matter what I thought.”
“I know what you thought. I haven’t really given you a reason to think anything other than that.” He paused, and my eyes widened. “Look, I want to tell you that I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“All these years, well, I never knew what really happened, but I should’ve done something,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through what you did.”
Emotion crawled up my throat. Nothing short of amazing happened. Not only was David removed from my fantasy ‘shit list,’ those two words, such simple words, were like a bright beacon in the middle of the night. My fingers trembled around the phone. I squeezed my eyes shut, but a tear snuck out.
“Thank you,” I whispered hoarsely. “Thank you.”
Chapter 23
I was still in a state of shock most of Saturday, so much so that when I met with Jacob and Brit for our study date with coffee, I couldn’t even remember what the hell I had done with them and then after eating a quick dinner of mac n cheese, I realized that I left my bag in my car, along with my phone.
Too distracted and a little bit lazy, I didn’t even put shoes on as I yanked open my door and stepped out into the hallway, drawing up short when I spotted Ollie coming up the stairs with a case of beer in his hands.
“Hey!” He smiled. “What are you doing out here… in your socks?”
“Uh, I was running to my car to get my bag.” I shifted my weight. “Thirsty?”
Ollie laughed. “While I’m always thirsty, this is not for me. There’s a fight tonight and we’ve got a few people over.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Yeah…” He glanced at his door, switching the case to his other arm. “Why don’t you come over?”
My heart jumped. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Maybe another—”
“Come on, the main fight hasn’t even started yet, so you haven’t missed anything.”
I hesitated. “I don’t know…”
Ollie stuck out his lower lip, and it was so ridiculous, that I laughed. “Cam will be happy to see you.”
“Yeah, I don’t think—”
“Sounds like a plan right there,” he interrupted. “Don’t think about it. Come over. Just for a little while, okay? Maybe we can take Raphael for a walk.”
I laughed again, thinking of Ollie and the poor tortoise as I glanced back at their apartment. Why shouldn’t I stop by? It would be a normal thing to do and Ollie lived there. He could invite me. And if I was honest with myself, I wanted to see Cam.
I… I missed him.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “Okay. Just for a little while.”
“Great!” Ollie looped his free arm through mine, and before I could change my mind, he led me down the hall.
“Wait! I don’t have shoes on.”
“Who cares?” He gave me a goofy grin as we crossed the short distance. “Shoes are overrated.”
My heart rate kicked up as Ollie nudged the door open. Immediately the sound of laughter and fighting amplified until for a moment, I was little overwhelmed. Everyone was focused on the TV. Ollie let go of my arm and set the case in the fridge. He picked up two shot glasses off the counter in the kitchen. What in the hell was I doing here?
“Jose welcomes you,” he offered me one of the tiny glasses.
My hand shook a little as I took it. The voice in my head told me no, but God damn it, I was tired of that voice. It was the same voice that had told me to tell Cam to go away. The same voice that told me to listen to my parents. The same voice that told me to let Blaine take me into that room. That voice had done nothing but fuck me over. I downed the shot and immediately my eyes watered as the liquid scorched my throat.
“Holy smokes,” I muttered, blinking rapidly.
Ollie laughed as he replaced the shot with a bottle of beer and then he grabbed my arm, pulling back into the living room. “Look who I found!” he shouted.
Several heads turned, and my fingers tightened around the neck of the beer. I didn’t see anyone except him and the moment I laid eyes on Cam, I knew this was a bad, bad idea.
It seemed like months since I last saw him.
Cam sat on the couch, baseball cap on backward. He was leaning forward, yelling at the two guys on the TV that were beating the crap out of each other. The burgundy hoodie was unzipped, revealing a white shirt underneath. Beside him on the couch was Steph.
I took a healthy drink of the beer.
She looked perfect, as usual. Hair a glossy brunette, the tight black turtleneck stretched over her breasts. She must’ve said something, because Cam finally looked over, and it was like being punched in the chest.
Surprise flickered across his striking face and then his gaze dropped to what was in my hand. His brows shot up and then our eyes locked. My heart seemed to skip a beat. To me, it seemed like everyone stopped talking and started staring, but in reality, only seconds passed and no one probably even noticed anything.
One side of his lips curved up. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I replied lamely.
He continued watching me for a few more moments and then turned back to the screen, shoulders straight and tense. He didn’t want me here. It was written all over him, and besides, Steph was beside him.
I started for the door, but somehow Ollie ended up behind me and the next thing I knew, he had me sitting in an empty recliner, facing the TV. Two shirtless guys in spandex shirts were punching each other in the face.
Hmm.
Tensed, I drank the beer faster than I probably should’ve. Steph’s husky chuckle crawled into my stomach and started clawing at my insides. Over the course of minutes, she was practically in Cam’s lap now, one hand wrapped around his bicep. She leaned in and whispered in his ear. Cam shook his head, and the most perfect pout filled out her lips. What had she said?
Someone—Ollie, maybe?—handed me another shot of Jose that warmed my stomach and washed away Steph’s claws.
“Like the socks.”
Glancing up, I saw one of Cam’s friends. I didn’t know his name or really recognize his face, but he had a nice smile. I stretched my legs out, wiggling my toes in my rainbow colored socks. “Thanks.”
He ran a hand over the close-cut brown hair and clasped the back of his neck. “So you normally watch UFC fights?”
I looked at the screen. A guy was kicked back into the cage. “This is the first time I’ve watched one of these.”
“You don’t sound like you’ll be watching one of these again.”
Opening my mouth, I was surprised to hear a giggle come out. “Yeah, I don’t know if this will be something I watch regularly.”
“Well, that’s a damn shame,” the guy said with a slight grin. “Cam orders this every month and you coming would be something else to look forward to.”
I didn’t say anything to that and turned back to the TV, running my hand over my knee.
The shots and beer were making my muscles warm and my thoughts fuzzy. The guy asked if I wanted another drink and I realized my bottle was empty.
“Sure.” The smile that crossed my face felt overly wide and bright.
Returning with a cold one, he sat on the arm of my chair, and beyond him, I saw Cam look up and his eyes narrow. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” I took a drink, now to the point where I could easily ignore the nasty after taste that filled my mouth. My gaze collided with Cam’s for a second and I forced myself to look away. I ended up staring up at the guy beside me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”
The guy nudged my shoulder. “I don’t think we’ve meant before. I’m Henry.”
“Avery,” I said.
He repeated my name with a smile. “Like it. It’s different.”
“Like my socks?”
Henry laughed as he glanced at the screen. “Yeah, like your socks. So you going to college, Avery?”
I nodded. “You don’t?”
“Nope. Graduated a couple of years ago. I know Cam from… well, from this thing we do.” He took a swig from his beer as I tried to figure out what that meant. He looked down at me, brows furrowed. “Are you old enough to be drinking.”
I giggled. “Nope.”
“Didn’t think so. You look pretty young.”
“I’m not that young. I just turned twenty.”
“Thank God you’re legal,” he said, shaking his head as his brows rose. “I just won’t tell anyone about the beer in your hand.”
Cocking my head to the side, I tried to figure out his age. “How old are you?”
He glanced down at me. “Old enough to know better.”
Before I could get him to elaborate on that, Cam yelled out. “Hey Henry, come here a second.”
Henry pushed off the arm of the recliner and made his way around a couple of the other guys. Steph sat back and crossed her arms as Cam motioned Henry to lean down. I had no hope of hearing what Cam had said to him, but Henry backed away and headed over to where Jase was leaning against the bare stretch of wall.
More than curious to what was going on over there, I felt the strong urge to do some investigation. I opened my mouth, because why the hell not, but Steph had a hold of Cam’s arm, and I was distracted. He was whispering to her. She jerked her hand back and shot me what could only be described as a ‘bitch’ look.
Frankly, it was a fucking work of art and I was sort of jealous of that level of mastery.
I glanced over at Henry, and he looked up. He winked, and I smiled in returned, feeling sort of giddy. My skin prickled along my neck and I turned to where Cam sat. He was staring at me, and I started to smile at him, too, but then he glanced toward Henry.
Cam muttered something, and Steph shot to her feet, stalking back toward the hall bathroom, yanking the door open. Then Cam was up, coming toward me, and my giddiness was all consuming. A big, stupid smile broke out across my face. It had been so long since we talked, and I missed him, I really did.