Page 61 of To Love the Stars too Fondly

“Oh, come on, you frigid bitch.” He removed his hand with a huff. “It’s not like I haven’t touched you before.”

My jaw clenched, lest it quiver. My head pounded from dehydration. Thankfully, I had no more tears left for him.

“This is what you deserve, leading on a nice guy like me. I really liked you, you know. I swear you had the tightest pussy, which is impressive given what a whore you turned out to be.”

I kept my glower to the road, my fear steadily fading into something hot and bitter.

“I’d have treated you right, you know? And what sucks is…Fuck it, I still like you, Terra. I’ll even forgive you for sleeping with Ray for me. If you’d just give me a chance, I could be good for you. What’s even wrong with me? Not man enough for a dyke like you?”

My nails dug into my arm, threatening to break skin. I’d heard worse. I’d heard it when they’d held a gun to El’s head.

“You know what, fuck it.”

Cliff signaled to turn. I sat up as he pulled into a dark parking lot, empty from what I could see, though the flicking streetlights were useless at their job. We were in a slum part of town, far worse than where I lived. My heart rate spiked when he put the car in park.

“I can’t do this,” he said. “Ray’s not a good guy. He’d have probably tied you up in his basement or something.”

My breath caught. I stared Cliff straight in the eye, determined to channel rage.

“So don’t make me do this, okay?” he pled. “I don’t get why you think you hate me. I love you, Terra. We’ll fuck here in the car. I’ll take you home after.”

He was officially out of his damn mind. But the car was now in park. I swallowed and forced myself to nod. “Kiss me first,” I said, though my stomach churned at the thought.

But it all fell together so easily: Cliff leaned in, he shut his eyes—

And I grabbed the door handle and leaped out of the car.

“Dammit, you bitch!”

His footsteps sounded behind me, faster than mine. This man was a football star; I was a tiny idiot.

I felt his presence. He grabbed my arm. I spun around.

I all but heard Alex’s voice in my ear: “Break their nose and run the hell away.”

She’d taught me to pull power from my stance and put my whole body into a punch. Start with my foot, up through my back and arm, and finally my fist. Cliff had accidentally put me in the perfect position. I balled my fist, aiming with my pointer finger knuckle.

Crack.

The crunch could’ve been my hand or his nose. Maybe both. Didn’t matter.

Cliff buckled down, crying out as his hands flew to his face.

I didn’t linger to figure out if the blood on my fist was his or mine. I ran through the parking lot, fueled by pure adrenaline. To the alleyway beside it, where I climbed the fence, ignoring the ache in my hand as I swung my leg over—

And collapsed onto the pavement behind it.

I couldn’t rest, even as I groaned. I forced myself to rise from the cold pavement and stumbled onward, the lights of a distant drug store spurring me forward.

I didn’t have a phone, but they would.

Soon, I shambled through the automatic doors, a mess but respectable enough to get a, “Hello, welcome in!”

I reached into my pocket habitually, hoping for perhaps a spare dollar or two, only to touch ratted paper.

I withdrew and stared at Alex’s business card—having clearly gone through the wash but still legible.

A sign. A miracle, even. Besides, I had no shame left. My jaw trembled. “Let me take care of you,” she’d said.