AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He touched me there,” she cries, falling into sobs again. I tighten my hold on her, wanting her to know she’s safe in my arms. I want to fix it for her. Knowing that he touched her at all, I also want to go back and beat Mike Thomas to death. But I can’t do that, so instead, I hold her as she cries and wonder how the hell this night got so fucked up.
When we get back to Joel’s house, I carry Rae inside. She’s calmer now and probably could have walked, but I have no intention of letting her go.
I love her—fuck me.
Of course, I love her. As her best friend.
And probably more.
Not tonight. I will not fucking let my mind go near that tonight.
Where was I going with all this? Oh, right. I don’t want her to be alone. I need her to know how loved she is. How I’d do anything for her. We all would. How I’ll always protect her.
Fucking failed at that tonight.
But never again.
As we make our way inside, I set her down on the couch, noticing the throbbing in my hand. I don’t want to draw attention to it, but I need some ice. While everyone else looks between themselves, seemingly ready for a debrief, I glance at Joel, hoping to get him to bring me some ice. Before I can make eye contact with him, Rae’s fingers dig into my arm. Tears are pooling in her eyes again as her body trembles. “Please don’t leave me.” Her voice is barely a whisper.
Without a second thought, I climb over the side of the couch and sit down in the corner.
“Never,” I whisper back as everyone leaves the room. Then I grab a pillow and put it in my lap. “Come here.”
She lets out a shuddery breath, nods, and rests her head on the pillow. I let out a breath, too. The immediate adrenaline rush has ended, and the pain is setting in—both physically and emotionally.
My hand is throbbing. But that pain is far less than the pain of knowing my girl was sexually assaulted. Before I ever had a chance to make her my girl.Because I walked away.
She turns to look up at me, tears still streaming down her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. I open my mouth to tell her to stop, but she continues before I can. “I yelled at you, and then you had to come save me.”
I shake my head and wipe her tears away with my thumbs. “No apologizing. And I’ll always save you. Because you always save me, too. Even when you don’t realize it, Rae, you save me.”
What the fuck are you saying right now? She was just assaulted. Cool it.
She cries more, but softens. “I love you.”
My heart bursts at the words. I know it might only be out of friendship, but… they still mean everything coming from her.
“I love you, too, Beautiful. Try to get some sleep.”
She nods and rolls back over. After a moment, I carefully move my hand to her head, waiting to make sure she doesn’t bristle at my touch. When she doesn’t, I slowly run my fingers through her hair until she’s snoring softly. Even then, I don’t stop. It’s comforting me, too.
I rest my head back against the couch.
Fuck.
“Hey.”
I look up to see Joel.
“Tonight’s fucked,” he says, dropping onto the couch next to me. He hands me an ice pack, nodding toward my hand. “I noticed how swollen it was on the drive back. How does it feel?”
“Shitty. Like all of this.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Aaron.”
I flit my gaze to him but don’t say anything.
“It wasn’t. I know how you are. You’ll blame yourself for this, but—”
