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“Tell me how to fix this, Nattie, please. I need to fix this for you.” Coop’s pleading with me now.
Taking a deep breath and turning my head, I look for Chloe. She is following Tiffany around with a big black trash bag as they deal with the aftermath of the abruptly stopped party. They’re in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess in there.
“Chloe… Can you please ask Brady, Bash, and Murphy to come inside? I have a few things I would like to say, and I don’t know if I can say them more than once.”
Nodding her head Chloe goes through the open doors to the porch and has the guys following her back inside within seconds. No one is saying anything. The tension in the room is a living, breathing thing.
It’s strangling me.
Deep breath in—slow breath out.
I do that a few more times before I make eye contact with Brady.
He gives me a small, sad smile, and for a reason, I am not ready to unpack right now, that smile gives me the extra strength I need.
Okay. I can do this.
“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to get it out there. Darby didn’t rape me. I didn’t give him a chance. Do I think he was going to try?”
I think about that for a moment. “Yes. I do. He wasn’t listening to no, even though I said it more than once. He was forcing his hand where I didn’t want it, and he was starting to unbuckle his pants right before I hit him.”
Making the mistake of looking at Cooper, I immediately see the pain in my twin brother’s eyes shining back at me. He’s pulling on the strands of his blonde hair. It looks like I just hit him harder than any punch could have.
“Cooper. Sit down. Please listen to me.” I take his hand and pull him down next to me.“Do you remember a few years ago when you and Declan went on that self-defense kick? You were trying to teach me everything you could think of.
“When that young girl in Newport had been raped and killed, and you guys insisted on teaching me how to flip someone but ended up having to settle for teaching me where to knee or kick them and how to throw a punch instead?”
Coop is looking right below my eyes. Refusing to make eye contact. Trying to protect me from seeing the pain in his glassy, red eyes, but it’s not working.
No tears are falling, but my big strong brother, my protector, looks so hurt right now.
“Cooper…” Pleadingly, I place my hands on his shoulders. “Coop. Look at me. I remembered everything you guys told me. I kept my thumb on the outside, I pulled back, and I aimed for his nose. I hit him as hard as I could. Then I ran away. I need you to see that you and Declan saved me.
“Even if you weren’t standing right next to me, you were with me, and you saved me.” I feel tears welling up in my eyes but refuse to let them fall. I will not give that asshole another tear.
Another deep breath and I glance at everyone else. “I hit him and then ran as fast as I could. He started to chase me, screaming, and that’s when I saw Brady and Bash. You guys know everything else. I don’t need to see a doctor because he didn’t get to do what he wanted to do.
“I don’t want to call the cops because school starts in a few days, and he’s going to be there every day. This will be complicated enough already, and if I call the cops, the media will get involved. I do not want that. I just want to forget this night ever happened and try to enjoy this school year. After the way you guys took care of him tonight, I doubt Darby will come anywhere near me now.
“I also don’t want Sebastian and Brady to get in any trouble with the cops for them hurting Darby, either.”
“Little Sinclair,” Bash says, “you don’t have to worry about the cops. Nobody here is getting in trouble. My family is taking care of it.” He walks over to me, pulling me to my feet, and gives me a big, bear hug. Pulling back, he looks me in the eyes. “You being alright is the only thing any of us care about right now.”
The damn tears are threatening me again. “I’m so sorry that I caused all of this. I know you guys don’t know me well yet, but I swear I am not a drama queen. I hate drama. I like to think that I avoid it at all costs, but I guess I missed the mark with that one tonight.”
Murphy makes his way to me next. He takes his green hat off and runs his finger through his hair before putting it back on and adjusting the position. He wraps one arm around my shoulders. “Nat, as long as you’re okay, we can handle everything else. Darby’s been a fucking dick all summer, and the fact that a five-foot-nothing pixie broke his nose is fucking awesome. You didn’t cause any of this, and we will make sure that this isn’t the talk of the school next week. I guarantee you no one will say a word.”
I actually manage a small laugh. “You are insane Murph. You know that, right?”
He squeezes my shoulders tighter. “Just remind me not to piss you off. That’s a hell of a right hook you’ve got there, Killer.”
Eyes roll, and laughs are heard. It’s what the room needed.
I look around at the people I haven’t known that long.
They feel like family, like home.
Like exactly what I was hoping to find.
