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He staggers closer to me. Every instinct in my body is telling me to run. But, even in his state, he could easily catch up to me. I dig around my purse for the keys, for any sort of sharp object to stab him with. I pull out the key fob, forgetting it’s just a square piece of plastic. Shit.
“You have something to say, just say it.”
In one swift dash, he’s standing in front of me. He reeks of alcohol as he leans in close to my ear, his hot breath brushing against my face. “I saw those pictures of you, Taylor. You’ll fuck anyone but me, huh?”
He grips my hips with his hands and swirls me around to the brick wall alongside the store. “I want my turn.”
I try to shove him off the same way I did the night he was in my room, but he doesn’t budge.
“Yeah, fight baby. That’s what I want.” I knee him in the crotch, and he stumbles backward. I take that as my chance to run out into the street but, at the last second, he grabs my arm and yanks me, sending me flying backwards onto concrete. As I struggle to sit myself up, my body aching and freezing, I see another person running towards us at full sprint.
I cover my eyes and that’s when I hear Derek’s yelp, his body slamming through the glass. Shards fly past me and I shield my eyes. Luckily, my heavy jacket takes most of the glass, leaving me protected as I stand to my feet. I look into the empty shop to see a bloodied Derek, unconscious.
Warm hands find me and pull me close to a tall body. I look up at Elijah, his eyes huge.
“Taylor,” he says frantically. “We have to go, come on.” He picks me up like a ragdoll and starts running.
“No, wait, my dad’s truck is by the theater.” He groans and spins around, running back past the scene and to the theater in under three minutes. I hold onto his neck, burying my face into his chest from the misting rain.
When we get to the truck, he gets in the driver’s seat and spins out before I’ve closed my door.
“We have to call him an ambulance,” I insist, pulling on my seatbelt. “We can’t just leave him there!”
“No, no, nobody can know about this, do you understand?”
“Elijah…”
“No, Taylor, you aren’t going to say a fucking word. Do you understand me? I’ll get arrested, get expelled. This stays between us.”
“But what if he dies? What if he’s already dead? How could you do that?” I feel a wave of nausea overcome me.
“How could I do that?” he snaps. “Should I have let him rape you, Taylor? Let him hurt you?”
“No—I—” Tears spill over my eyelids and onto my lap.
He reaches over and wipes them away with his thumb. “The parents are home. They’ll already be wondering why we’re together, and I sure as hell don’t need you crying.”
I nod, wiping away another tear.
“Never go out at night alone again.”
“You can’t tell me what to do. This, this was a freak accident. An accident.”
He parks the car and glowers at me. “Fix your hair.”
I pull down the mirror and smooth back my damp hair, tucking it behind my ears. Then I swipe away the mascara under my eyes and pat my cheeks to get some color going into my skin.
“Good. Let’s go.”
13
TAYLOR CROMWELL
“Hey, you two,” Dad says, leaning against the marble countertop, sipping wine. He picks at a charcuterie board.
Elijah leans in and grabs a handful of crackers and stuffs them into his face before talking. I swipe back my hair again, making sure my mascara is still in place before making eye contact with Dad.
“Everything okay? How was your run?” he asks Elijah.
