Fierce(27)

She squints, and I can almost see her brain working.

Biting my lip, I say, “It’s Hunter’s. He got into a fight.”

“I knew it! He’s the one who was in the fight the other day. People have been talking about him.” She gapes at me with furrowed brows. “And you were in there? With that guy, who’s got a temper like a stick of dynamite?”

“Shhh,” I say. “Stop making so much noise. Let’s go to our room. We can talk there.”

I push her inside and close the door behind us.

“Autumn, you really shouldn’t be around that guy,” Evie says. “He’s bad news. Big time.”

“I had to help him.”

“Why? You could’ve called nine-one-one.”

“He didn’t want to go to a hospital.”

She snorts. “Why not? Afraid of needles or something?”

“I don’t know … It doesn’t matter. The point is I was the only one who could help him out. What else was I supposed to do? Leave him out there, bleeding to death?”

She sighs. “Well … No, of course not, but …”

“But what?”

“Why were you even there in the first place? I thought you were working at Denny’s place. Next thing you know I find you sneaking out of Hunter’s room.”

“I …” I hesitate. I want to tell her, but at the same time I don’t want to speak. Not about that. I don’t want to relive the moment some group of dickheads almost raped me.

But I’m so grateful Hunter was there to save me and kick their asses. I owe him. Big time.

How can I explain that to her? She won’t understand. Just by looking at her I can see she’s starting to hate him, just like almost every other guy she meets. Her eyes are practically burning with fire.

If I say anything, all it’ll do is cause her to ask more questions. I’m tired, and I really don’t want to talk about it. I want to bury it somewhere deep and never think about it again.

I take a deep breath before I speak. “I didn’t see anything, okay. I wasn’t there when it happened. I just found him and fixed him up. That’s it.”

I know I’m lying. And I hate myself for it, but I really want to sleep right now. Maybe I’ll tell her sometime later, when things have calmed down.

When I’ve had the time to calm down.

She sits down on her bed and changes into her pajamas. “Well, I still think it’s risky to hang out with him.”

I sigh, closing my eyes. “I don’t think he’s that bad. There’s just a lot we don’t know about him.” I sit down on my own bed and start changing, too.

“Like what? You saw who he hangs out with,” she says, crawling under her blanket.

“So? Maybe he has a good reason.” I lie down in bed and pull up the covers.

She shakes her head. “Look, I’m just worried about you, okay? After what happened with Brody … I don’t want to see you go in the same direction.”

I turn around and face her. “I know. And I won’t. I promise.”

She smiles at me, and even though I can see it’s fake, I smile back. I want to reassure her that everything’s going to be all right.

At least, I hope it will.





Chapter 10


Too Close for Comfort



I’m only just getting out of bed when someone knocks on the door. Evie springs up from her bed, seemingly already dressed, and opens the door.

“Who is it?” I say, yawning.

I pick up some clothes from the floor and put them on while I hear Evie talking. And then I hear Scarlet’s voice.

Frowning, I get up and walk up to them.

“What is she doing here?” I say.

“Evie and I are going to study together today,” she says.

My face contorts. I haven’t heard about this before. Since when is she making plans without me?

“Sorry, Autumn, I forgot to tell you.”

“Thanks for mentioning,” I snarl.

“She practically forced me to,” Evie says, shrugging.

“No, I didn’t,” Scarlet says.

“Hold on a second,” Evie says, and she closes the door in front of Scarlet’s face. She comes close to my ear and starts to whisper. “I bumped into her and Brody last night when you were still at work. They were fighting, big time, and she could really use some girl time right now. She doesn’t have any other friends here.”

I cross my arms. “Oh, really? And since when are you so interested in doing charity work?”

“I’m not. Look, she offered me some cash in exchange, and I could really use some.”

“But you never work! Your parents support you all the way.”

Evie shushes me. “Look, I didn’t tell you this before, because I didn’t think it was important, but they cut me off a bit.”