“I said, get out,” Daniel hissed.
“Not gonna happen.” Zack kept his voice calm and even. “You’d put up a bigger fight, but I’d still win. I’m like you, but I’ve been this way a lot longer. The older you are, the stronger you get. Didn’t the guy who made you tell you that?”
“You’re bluffing,” Daniel said.
“You don’t believe I’m like you?”
Daniel snorted. “That’s not what I meant, moron. I don’t think you can take me.”
Zack nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t think you could take me. I guess we’ll have to find out. But what if I’m telling you the truth and I beat you? No matter who wins, a couple guys like us fighting in a small space like this, we’d trash the place and reveal our true nature.”
Our true nature? What did that mean?
Daniel laughed again and his grip loosened, then he turned to me, sneering. “He’s only delaying the inevitable. We’ll be together again soon. I promise.” He kissed me on the mouth, mashing my lips against my teeth. Finally, he broke contact. Then, without taking his eyes off Zack, he slipped out the door, which closed behind him.
I squeezed my eyes shut, a light tremor invading my body. “I tried, but he had me pinned. He was too strong.”
In a flash, Zack wrapped his arms around me.
I circled his waist and clung to him as I laid my head against his shoulder. The heat from his body washed over me, comforted me.
“It’s okay now,” he said. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to meet you. Gina got a hold of me and I’ll bet Daniel put her up to it.”
My eyes pooled, but I refused to let the tears fall. If I cried, Daniel would’ve won in a small way. I couldn’t allow that.
“Better?” Zack pressed his lips to my forehead, then he moved to my temple where he dropped a feather-light kiss.
His lips almost made me forget how Daniel had freaked me out. “Yeah.” I sighed, a faint moan escaping me.
Zack stiffened against me and let one of his arms fall to his side. “We should go.”
Yeah, away from Daniel. But in case he was still lurking, I needed to pull myself together. Chin high, I nodded and led the way.
Daniel’s Audi still sat in the parking lot and I involuntarily shivered and glanced around the courtyard for him.
Zack opened the passenger door and I climbed in. After rounding the Jeep, he fired it up and backed out. “You can’t let him get you alone like that again. You’re not strong enough to stop him if he…”
I froze, the implication of Zack’s words making me feel like I needed a shower. “You mean if he tries to rape me?”
Zack’s voice steeled as he peeled out of the school parking lot. “He could get away with it if he said you’d given yourself willingly, which wouldn’t be hard for others to believe since you guys were together.”
My breath left my body in a whoosh. My eyes burned and I felt strangely uncomfortable in my skin. “We dated, yes, but I never slept with him. Ever.” The entire event had been horrific and I felt sufficiently violated. Explaining my situation only added to the humiliation. I started shaking uncontrollably and all I wanted was to run it off. “Pull over and let me out.”
“I can’t. We need to get you home.” He spared me a glance. “Autumn, stay with me. You can’t morph now. Focus on me, Autumn.”
Morph? What the hell? I stared at my arms that were vibrating into a blur. What was happening to me?
“Autumn, look at me.” He squeezed my hand, pulling my attention to him. “If you just relax, it’ll be okay,” he murmured.
It took every ounce of my will to stay with Zack and push thoughts of Daniel, and how he’d nearly assaulted me, out of my mind. My body had an odd floating sensation, but the tremors had stopped.
“I didn’t sleep with him.” A sob burst from me. I didn’t think Zack cared about my sex life, but I still wanted everyone to know that I hadn’t done that with him.
“I believe you. Hang on.” Zack kept a hold of my hand while negotiating a turn. Seconds later, he pulled into the driveway of my house and killed the engine.
I sat there, numb and unable to move. My lids were heavy, and I fought to keep them open. Why was I so tired?
“My first almost-morph wiped me out too.” He slid an arm under my knees and the other around my back, scooping me up.
I didn’t think I’d asked out loud why I was so tired. But with the fuzz in my head, I couldn’t know for sure. I yawned. And what did he say about morphing?
At the front door, he put me down so I could rummage through my purse for the keys. In a fog, I handed them to him and he let us in, then I staggered to the sofa and collapsed.