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Chapter Two
Ellie
Istumbledupthesteps to the trailer home. My toe stuck on the top and I pitched forward, almost face planting into the front door. But a strong, beefy arm grabbed me around the waist before I did.
“Damn, girl,” Callen hissed in my ear, pressing his body close to mine in the dark. I hadn’t remembered to turn on the porch light before I’d left.
I laughed, a sudden burst of hysteria echoing off the aluminum siding. I put my finger over my lips as I swayed in Callen’s grip. “Shhh, you’ll wake my daddy.”
Callen stiffened, his arm almost crushing me. He would leave soon. They usually did. Although, this wasn’t the first time Callen had taken me home. He was getting bold recently and I didn’t think I liked it.
I waited for him to move away, to step back and awkwardly come up with an excuse to leave. He didn’t. Instead, he leaned closer. The small hairs on the back of my neck rose in warning.
“But ya daddy’s sleepin’ now, right?” he whispered. I cringed at his damp breath in my ear.
My muscles tightened as the sweet buzz I’d picked up at the bar fizzled. Great. All I’d needed was a ride home. Not company. Callen knew as much, but it sounded as if he’d had his own fair share of alcohol.
His hands shifted steadily from my waist, working their way down to my ass. The feel of his hands roaming and touching had my mind going blank with panic. He stood behind me, seeming so big compared to my small frame. His lips traveled from my ear down my neck, licking and sucking on the delicate skin.
“You’re so fucking hot,” he mumbled, those hands still roamed…traveling lower until they reached the hem of my mini skirt. He started to tug it up my thighs. “I’ve never met someone as hot as you.”
My chest constricted around my lungs until I couldn’t breathe. It was too much. The cold night air hit my bare upper thighs, and that seemed to snap me out of it. I couldn’t stand here and do nothing. Not again.
I didn’t remember making the decision, but as his hands continued running up my skin, my body finally moved. I yanked out of his grip, whirled around and smacked him so hard across the face my palm stung.
Callen blinked. Those big, watery brown eyes seemed stunned briefly before they filled with rage. A red splotch in the shape of my hand blossomed on his cheek. I was sure it would bruise.
“You bitch!” he roared. I flinched as he spat at me—the thick glob of saliva landed on my shirt, inches from my face. “I don’t need this shit.”
He turned, stomping down the wooden steps of the small, makeshift porch so hard they almost buckled. Relief hit me as he headed toward his car. He yanked open the driver’s side door, but he paused before getting in. My skin prickled as he looked at me from over his shoulder, anger stark in his expression. Then he opened his mouth, delivering one last slap to counter the one I’d landed on his face.
“Trailer trash whore!”
He jumped into the car then, revving the engine and speeding away. The gravel in the drive sputtered and flew everywhere in his wake.
My face heated.Trailer trash. To my horror, tears burned behind my eyes. Great. I couldn’t even say anything to defend myself. It wasn’t exactly a lie.
With shaking limbs, I stumbled into the trailer, the place I’d called home since Mama left me when I was fourteen. I didn’t miss her.
Anger boiled under my skin as I headed to the small bedroom at the end of the trailer home. Callen was a douche. I knew that, but still, it didn’t stop me from hanging out with him after a few beers. He was always in the same crowd at Splinter’s Tavern. I clenched the hand that had slapped him, my palm stung, but I wish I’d hit him harder. He had no business ruining not only my buzz, but also the last shred of dignity I’d managed to hold on to.
I pushed open the slightly ajar bedroom door at the end of the trailer. A pair of yellow eyes glinted from the end of the bed. My long-haired calico blinked at me before she yawned and laid her head back down. Daddy was laying in the same place I’d left him earlier in the night. It wasn’t like he could go anywhere else, but it brought me peace seeing he was safe. I watched his chest rise and fall under the covers, and considered crawling into bed with him like I had when I was a little girl. I wanted to curl up in his arms where I’d always felt safe.
But I wasn’t a little girl anymore.
I sighed, blinking back tears. He couldn’t hold me anyway. I glanced at my cat again.
“Wanna come, Buffy?” Buffy opened one, annoyed-looking eye before she shut it again and curled tighter into a ball. “Traitor,” I whispered.
Not even my own cat would keep me company tonight. She usually slept with me, but she’d been staying in Dad’s room more and more and I missed her. I shook my head and closed the door.
I turned and headed toward my room, which was barely more than a closet with a small day bed. Callen wouldn’t have fit in here anyway. No man would. I was glad for it. Some of my old beauty pageant crowns and trophies glinted from shelves my dad had installed on my bedroom walls. My mother was the one who forced me into them, but my father was always proud of how well I’d done. Even though I never enjoyed those times—my mother often used up whatever cash I’d won and pushed me onto the next show—I’d never gotten rid of the memorabilia.
I fell on top of the rickety bed I’d had for as long as I could remember. I didn’t even get under the covers as I pulled my knees to my chest, holding them tight. I still had my bar clothes on and they smelled like cheap beer and cigarettes. I didn’t care. It wasn’t like I was better than this. From a beauty queen, to trailer trash…how I had fallen.
A shiver quaked through me. Even though it was almost spring, the nights held a slight chill. I closed my eyes against the tears cascading down my cheeks. I prayed for sleep to come take me, sweep me up in its sweet arms of oblivion and chase away the echoes of Callen’s last words.
Trailer trash whore.
