Christian’s gut.
“Ugh!” He blew out a gust of air, grabbing his stomach. “Damn, slugger. What was that for?”
“Shit! I’m so sorry, Christian.” My hands hovered over him, not wanting to touch him and not wanting him to touch me. I felt like my body was shaking, my skin vibrating with static.
“Did Jude teach you that?”
“Sorry,” I said again, wincing. I knew I could pack a mean punch if I needed to.
“Is something up?” He rubbed his stomach, his face in a slight grimace. “You haven’t been yourself the last couple weeks. You look as though something has you spooked … and, what’s this?”
His hand reached for my right cheek, but I moved my head to the side before he could touch it. “Nothing.”
“Did someone sock you in the face? Your jaw is swollen.”
I raised a hand, my fingertips lightly touching the tender skin. Like a nervous doe, I scanned the parking lot around us. It still felt like I was being watched, and I fucking hated it. It made my skin crawl.
“Come with me to my truck.”
“Lina, you’re freaking me out a little bit.”
I didn’t say another word, my eyes darting back and forth as we walked to my truck.
“Get in,” I said, unlocking the doors. I climbed in, waiting for Christian to get in the passenger seat and shut the door. I flicked the locks, the sound click echoing in the quiet cab.
“Lina, what’s going on?”
I turned to my friend. His cool, green eyes were full of concern, and his mouth was turned down in a frown.
“Someone has been following me since—well, I don’t know how long.”
“Wait … what?” His brow furrowed.
“He hit on me in Joseph a couple weeks ago, and I turned him down. He didn’t like that very much.”
Christian’s jaw ticked.
“He made it sound as though he’d been watching me for a while.”
“Fuck, Lina. Who is this guy?” Christian’s hands balled where they rested on his thighs.
I shook my head. “I—I don’t know. He hasn’t told me his name, and I haven’t asked.”
“Was he here today? In the stands, I mean. Did you see him right before your run?”
“Yeah, he was there.” I nodded.
“That’s when you went all pale.” Christian looked out the windshield, pondering, before turning back to me. “What happened tonight? Did he fucking touch you? Did he do more than what I can see right now?”
I shook my head furiously, gripping the steering wheel as tightly as I could, hoping it could keep my hands from shaking. “I thought I could tell him off, and I kneed him in the balls.” I stared at my hands.Don’t shake. Don’t fucking shake.“He didn’t like that. He—he grabbed me.”
“So he did touch you!”
I whipped my head back to Christian. Even in the dark, I could see his skin go red with rage. Christian rarely got angry, but when he did, you could read it from a mile away.
“He made sure I knew he wasn’t going to stop. That next time, he wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer.” I breathed inthrough my nose and out through my mouth, attempting to quell the nausea.
“Lina, this isn’t good. What the fuck?”
