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Who the hell does Murray think I am? He can’t kiss me because he wants to. I get a choice too. I’m tired of men stealing my choices. I gather all my courage and push him away.
“Get off of me, asshole.”
He stumbles and I use the opportunity to run out of the room. I don’t stop running until I’m at the police station.
I whip the door open and slam into Lyric. He steps away but grasps my arms to steady me.
“What’s wrong?”
“I-I-I want to report a sexual assault,” I spit out and then promptly burst into tears.
He wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads me into his office. “Sit here,” he orders before shoving a bunch of tissues into my hands.
I inhale deep breaths through my nose to stop the tears. It doesn’t work. The tears continue to stream down my face.
“I-I-I’m sorry,” I stutter.
Lyric sits in the chair next to me. “There’s no need to apologize.”
“Okay. I’m not sorry.”
He smiles at my lame attempt at a joke. “Can you tell me what happened?”
At his question, I remember the asshole Murray forcing his hands on me and shoving his mouth against mine. I shiver.
“It was awful,” I wail. “It was just like ninth grade all over again.”
Someone gasps behind me, but I don’t turn around. I plow forward, determined to get the story out before I lose my nerve.
“He backed me into a corner and forced himself on me. I managed to shove him away and ran here.”
“Who’s he?” Lyric asks.
“Murray, my contractor.”
“He was at your house with you?”
I nod. “I left him there and ran here.”
He stands. “Stay here.”
I nod. I’m not going anywhere. He squeezes my shoulder as he passes me. “Go in there and comfort her. I’m going to send Peace after the contractor.”
Who’s he talking to? I glance over my shoulder. Aspen. Of all the people who I want to see me this way, Aspen is at the very bottom of the list. She’s only on the list because she’s a native of Winter Falls and lives here.
“Here.” She holds out tissues toward me.
“Um, thanks.”
“Let me.” She scrubs the skin underneath my eyes. “There. No more raccoon eyes.”
Silence falls. But the last thing I want is to sit in silence. The thoughts rattling around in my brain won’t be drowned out by silence.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt.
Her nose scrunches. “Sorry for what?”
“For trying to steal Lyric from you. It was wrong. I shouldn’t have done it.” I stare at my hands as I wring them in my lap. “But it’s Lyric. He treated you with respect. I’ve never had a man treat me with respect.”
