Page 91 of Unstoppable Love

“I’m not a woman, so I can’t be sure, but I’m guessing a man not understanding no and touching you when you don’t want him to is pretty terrifying, especially with how big he is.”

He played center in high school football, at least until he got kicked off the team for fighting his own teammates. He was a year younger than me, but I’d had to work with him at least during practices. Some games, but he only played in a few varsity games before getting kicked off the team. I’d hated every second of touching a ball after he handed it off.

But he was big. Broad shouldered with thighs like tree trunks, and he’d only gotten bigger and buffer since school. It didn’t only make him a threat, it made him dangerous.

“Filing a report would be useless. What’s going to happen? He’s going to be prevented from going into any bar in town?” she scoffed, like the idea was ridiculous.

“Say he hurts a woman, does something worse than being handsy, a history of assault and intimidation could maybe make him be locked up longer. Attorneys would at least know who to talk to if it ever went to a trial.” We were also getting way off track, and I wasn’t ignorant to the fact she was avoiding my questions, which only led me to think of things he could have done to her. “For my sake, Ava, I gotta know how he scared you back in school. I keep imagining the worst, and you’ve said it’s not, but there’s a lot of ways that kid could scare someone as small as you. I’m asking you to talk to me.”

She licked her lips and took another drink. “He’d been flirting that night, and at first it was gross, but then he’d also seemed really sweet. It was weird, but I don’t know, I’d wondered if I’d read him wrong before or something. Anyway, I’d left him, hung out with Lydia and Meredith and other friends, and I was supposed to go home, so when it got late, I was looking for Isaiah. I walked into the barn to find him, and Jimmy was there. He started…” Her eyes glazed over, and she trailed off. I tamped down the urge to force the next part out of her as tears started to well in her eyes before she blinked them back. Her chin was still trembling when she said, “He grabbed my wrist—I had bruises for days—and he started dragging me to the hay loft. I wasn’t strong enough to stop him, and he kept telling me I’d flirted with him all night, that I wanted it and I knew it.”

“That fucker is dead.”

“He didn’t do anything, though. He tripped over something—I don’t remember—but I was able to get free, so I ran off. And I kept looking for Isaiah, but then I was so scared and crying, and no one was around to help, and I kept thinking about what he could have done.”

“Come here, honey.” My hand at her neck gripped her. I shifted my lap and pulled her into it until her legs were draped over mine and her face was against my chest.

She turned, burrowed her beautiful, now teary-eyed face into it. I wrapped an arm around her and took her glass so she didn’t spill anything.

“I kept thinking that if I hadn’t gotten away, he would have raped me, and it would have been my first time, and it would have hurt, and I was just so scared. That was why I ran to your room. I only went to hide, but then you were there, looking at me in a way I’d never seen. And then I thought about what would happen when you and Isaiah went off to school, and I didn’t want to know what that would be. That was why I asked for you to touch me.”

“I’d thought you were my dream coming true that night. Swear it to you.”

Which made the way I treated her after even worse. I’d taken something special to both of us and tarnished it.

“Thank you for trusting me with that.”

“It’s not even something worth making a report for. What, attempted rape he didn’t get to actually attempt to do? Nothing happened. He hadn’t even kissed me. And then I wanted to forget it, and he does that thing in Tom’s sometimes, but not when I was with Kip, so I thought he’d moved on.”

“Until you were there, sitting with me.”

She nodded against the tear-soaked dress shirt I’d put on for dinner and slipped her hands beneath my arms and wrapped hers around my back. “But he was just talking. Yeah, I didn’t like it, but he doesn’t do anything, just talks about how I’d like whatever he wanted to do.”

“He said that to you?” Thank Christ I’d found them and stopped it when I had. “And he did touch you. He had his hands on you. Did you tell him to stop?”

“I don’t remember. Probably.”

“Then that’s assault, Ava. That’s what needs to be reported.”

“It’s a small thing.”

“Small things can lead to bigger things in the end. Please?” I pressed my knuckle to her chin and lifted her tear-streaked face to mine. I kissed the wetness on her cheeks—salty but still sweet. “Promise me you’ll think about making a report. Even if it’s been a while. At least then Isaiah and the county know and they have a reason to keep an eye on him, you know?”

“Did he touch Alexis?”

“I don’t know, honey.”

She hiccupped and swiped at her cheeks. An awkward laugh fell from her as she brushed stray hairs off her wet cheeks and turned to grab her wine. She leaned even farther forward and picked up my beer. Bringing both back, she handed me mine and took a drink, draining the last of her glass. “This was not how I saw the night going, you know. You ruined all my fun.”

She pouted so prettily, I couldn’t help but lean down and kiss her. “Life isn’t all about fun, it’s about making it through the grit and grime and making it to the other side, and in the midst of it, there’s a hell of a lot of fun to be had. Hopefully, if you’re lucky, doing it with someone you love.”

“I know you’ve said it, but you should know I love you, too, Cameron.”

“I already do.” I kissed her slowly, softly. I barely used my tongue, but even then, it was filled with a passionate heat I’d never felt anywhere, with anyone else. And it made sense, since I’d never loved any of them, never looked at another woman the way I did with Ava. Given what we talked about and the heaviness of it, I kept the kiss light and short. We had time for other stuff later. “Let me get you some more wine.”

Chapter 26

Ava

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