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Piling all the reports together, I place them back in my filing cabinet and lock it up. I’ll have a meeting with the team about the delays regarding the unfinished reports tomorrow. Everything at work can wait until tomorrow.
The shadows in the building make me break out in a cold sweat. Fear grips my insides as I work to grab my stuff and lock out the building as quickly as possible. It almost makes me want to laugh at how scared I am over one small woman. Almost. The thing is, I know exactly how much damage someone her size can do, whether I overpower her or not. My fight, flight, and freeze instincts make it impossible to not just close my eyes and wait for the torture to end.
My breathing is heavy and erratic as I climb in the truck, sending a quick text off to Lay asking her to meet me in my room when I get home. To talk about this while it’s still a fresh wound will be difficult, but I can’t sit on it by myself.
If anyone can help me heal the wound faster, it'll be Lay. Before that woman walked into my life, I was barely living, just coasting from day to day. The demons in my mind were constantly torturing me and taunting me with the pain of hidden scars that never truly healed.
With her, I have something to live for that I never did in the past. It makes fighting the demons and smoothing the scars a walk in the park. It's kind of amazing how much love and having a trusted partner helps the happier parts of you shine.
Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Alayna
SittinginAdam’sroom,I wait anxiously for him to come home. When I got his text twenty minutes ago, my mind started racing with the possibilities of what could be wrong. It’s not really like Adam to need to talk to only me, away from the guys. For the most part we’re all very open with each other. It has to be serious, yet for the life of me I can’t think of what it could be.
Rhys and Hudson seemed just as perplexed as I am when I mentioned I would be in Adam’s room waiting for him. The good thing about our group however, is that despite their obvious worry and curiosity, they respect Adam’s request.
Rhys is going to finish up dinner and keep it warm until we’re able to eat. Hudson just mumbled something about checking on his mom and walked out of the kitchen with his face in his phone.
Whatever is going on with Hudson is another mystery that’s been growing. With how he reacted to Adam having to talk to me, he’s supportive, but his face also showed signs of anger and frustration. Hudson started going through his phone with vigor and hadn’t looked up again before he walked out to speak to his mom.
He’s lying to me and he’s angry all the time. I spoke with Dot this morning, and honestly, my suspicion that he’s doing something he shouldn’t be is becoming more raised by the minute. He’s up to something, I just don’t know what it is.
Adam’s door opens and my mind jumps back to him and what’s going on. Adam looks at me on the bed, his face tired and ragged with whatever is weighing on him.
“Adam?” Moving to the edge of the bed, I push myself to stand and hesitantly take a step towards him. “Are you okay?”
“Honestly, no. I’m not,” he murmurs, his eyes filling with tears as he pushes the door closed with his back. “Lay, I— I don’t really know how to say this.”
Stepping close to him, I run a hand down his arm gently until I reach his hand. Adam tightly grabs my hand, squeezing it and pulling me into his chest.
“You can tell me anything,” I say quietly, rubbing a hand up and down his side.
“I was attacked at work today,” Adam confesses, holding me so tight I can’t pull back to look at him. “It was Jade, the receptionist. She, ah, touched me.”
Fury explodes throughout my body, the protectiveness coming over me so intense I almost scream. Adam doesn’t need me flying off the handle, and that’s the only thing that keeps me standing here in his arms.
“Touched you how?” I ask, the anger evident in my voice despite my best attempts to hide it.
Adam swallows heavily, his voice cracking with tears. “She touched me inappropriately. I told her to leave after she tried to come onto me, but s-she pushed it even further. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I tried to stop her. I—”
“Woah, woah,” I reply, pushing out of his arms so I can see him. “Why are you apologizing? You were sexually assaulted. That’s not your fault.”
Adam crosses his arms over his chest and huddles in on himself. It’s like he’s here with me, but his mind is elsewhere. Swallowing all of my anger at that bitch, I lightly touch his arms, doing my best to guide him towards his bed without invading his space too much.
Adam cries silently, his body shaking from head to toe. He’s murmuring over and over again how he didn’t want it and he said no. I can’t tell where his mind is, whether it’s stuck in what happened earlier tonight, or whether it’s stuck in a past perpetrated by his mother.
“It’s not your fault, Adam. You did nothing to deserve being attacked,” I reassure him, my heart shattering for him. “Her actions belong to her alone. You said no and that should have been respected. No one gets to touch you without your consent, Adam. No one."
"I just froze, Lay. I just froze and didn't stop her." Adam shakes his head back and forth, shame and hatred evident in his tone. "I should have stopped her. It just never worked out for me when I tried to stop the others."
Adam leans against me, lying his head on my lap. His hot tears soak into my leggings as I stroke my fingers through his hair.
"Oh, Adam. That's natural and it doesn't mean you wanted it. Saying no was enough to tell her it was unwanted. She decided to ignore your rejection and sexually assault you. Nothing you could have said or done would have changed the fact that she felt entitled to your body and took advantage of you."
Adam sniffles against my legs, laying silently for a while. Giving him all the time in the world, I sit with him, playing with his hair gently.
