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AVERY
“Iwish you could come with me,” I pout.
It’s been a few days since Alec’s assault, and I’ve been hiding out in Samuel’s penthouse. Things between us have been calm. He hasn’t laid a hand on me, and truthfully, I’ve been okay with that.
Samuel’s been cagey too. The day after my altercation with Alec, he came home very late. His knuckles were split and bleeding, and the dark look in his eye told me not to ask questions.
“I’m sorry, but I have an errand to run in Boston,” he says, hardly bothering to even look at me.
“Is there something going on?” I ask.
Samuel finally glances up from his phone. “No. Why would you ask that?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. You haven’t said much to me in the past few days.”
He scratches his head and then runs a hand over his mouth. “I’ve just been a little preoccupied working on something.” He sets his phone down and stands up, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his pants and walking slowly toward me. “Are you nervous?”
“A little,” I whisper. “I don’t really have any proof. It’s going to be his word against mine.”
“Show them the pictures of your face,” he insists.
After Samuel cleaned all the marker off me and we showered, he took photos of the bruise that bloomed on my face from when Alec slapped me.
“And they can interview the sorority sisters who came home too,” he tells me.
I finish getting ready and when I’m about to leave, I grab my bag and head toward the front door.
“Wait,” Samuel calls out.
He scratches the back of his head as he walks slowly toward me. When he’s close, he reaches out a hand and slides it around my waist, tugging me forward. He dips his head and brushes his lips against mine. The kiss is soft and sweet, not his typical demanding style.
“Everything will be okay. I promise.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, because his words make me believe I’m doing the right thing.
“Call me when you get back.”
There’s a taxi waiting for me in front of Samuel’s building, and I slide into the back. The entire ride to campus, my stomach is in knots. Reporting Alec is the right thing; he needs to be punished for hurting me. But I can’t help but worry about Samuel’s position at Danville or my future. We could be kicked out, and despite what Samuel thinks, that would be a huge problem.
When I make it to campus, I take my time walking toward the administration building, where the Discipline Committee office is located. As I reach for the door, it flies open, and I’m nearly run over by a woman exiting the building.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” she sneers as she pushes past me.
I stop and watch her walk away. It’s not until I’m inside the elevator, on my way to the fourth floor, that I realize the woman was Stephanie, Samuel’s ex.
Holy shit! What if she somehow found out about us and reported him?
The knots in my stomach tighten.
I just want to get this over with.
Surprisingly, giving my statement is easy. The woman who hands me the paperwork to fill out has a sweet smile and looks like someone’s grandmother. The questions are open-ended, and I answer them to the best of my ability, excluding any information that may implicate Samuel.
When I hand it to her, the sweet old lady reviews my answers before she looks up with kind blue eyes.
“Did you list the names of anyone who may have witnessed the assault?”
“Yes,” I reply with a nod. “It happened in my sorority house, and some of my sisters were home.”
