Page 22 of SnapShot

“Excuse me?”

He’s getting closer now, trying to pin me against the shower building, but I’m smarter than that. I turn the opposite direction, keeping my options open. I’ve known Brad forever; he’s just a couple years older than me, but I’m getting such a bad feeling right now that I trust nothing. I need to get back into the crowd.

“Is that such a surprise? I’ve always felt very strongly about you, Haedyn.”

“So you felt it was necessary to make a fake account to buy my pictures? That makes perfect sense.” I really shouldn’t antagonize him, but I don’t know what else to do to keep control over myself.

“I actually found your account by accident, from my real profile. But I knew you wouldn’t take well to me buying them from there, so I made a new one that wouldn’t scare you off until I could see you and explain.”

“Do you hear yourself? Why wouldn’t you just fucking ask me out like a normal person if you wanted to be with me? You would’ve had much better luck that way.”

“Would I though? Because you ghosted me. We hooked up every year for four years, then you just vanished. I thought we could really be something after you graduated.”

“You know damn well that what we had was a good time and nothing more. This is wrong on so many levels, and I’m done with this conversation. I won’t say anything, but please leave me alone.”

I turn to go back to the fire, but he grabs my wrist, pushing me against the hard brick wall that makes up the outside of the shower building I was trying to avoid.

“You don’t even have a man, do you? You just said that to keep me away. Guess what, though? I don’t really care if you think you have a man. I’m the only one that’s going to get to keep you. You’re mine, and you have been since the first time you let me inside you.”

I’m starting to panic. What the hell is he trying to accomplish here? Surely he wouldn’t force himself on me out here in the open. Right? I don’t understand what changed between the last time I saw him and now. He was never like this toward me before. A little douchey, yeah, but never obsessive or forceful. Just my luck that I got involved with a damn psychopath.

Willing myself to keep my head, I try to think of a plan. I need to get the fuck away from him before he really hurts me. I can hope all day long that he wouldn’t take things that far, but going by what he’s already said and done, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Think, think, think. I don’t have anything on me to hit him with, and I’m too far away for anyone to hear me scream over the music and chatter by the fire.

A refresher on those self-defense classes would be great. Why can’t I remember? There’s a fog over my thoughts, keeping all the important shit hidden from me. I do remember learning that the palm of your hand is deadly when forced against someone’s nose. If you can’t manage that, throw some elbows. They’re hard as hell and do a lot of damage. Cheap shots are life savers. Don’t be afraid to nail a guy in the balls to get away. Chances are if he’s willing to hurt you that way, he doesn’t need to use them in the future anyway.

Okay. Plan my attack first. Then escape. Attack and escape. I can do this. I can do this. I will not be a victim. He doesn’t win. God, I’m so scared. My heart is hammering against my temples. The blood rushing through me is audible in timed whooshes. Breathe. In. Out. This panic is temporary. I can overcome it. Even though the feel of his hands on me flips my stomach, I have to see past it. It’s just until I have a plan. Let him think he has me where he wants me and then make my move.

He manages to get one of his hands down the front of my jeans, impaling me on his finger while pressing his free arm against the hollow of my throat, pinning me to the cold brick behind me. The burn of my drink threatens to explode from my mouth, but I swallow it down, biding my time. He removes the pressure from my throat long enough to throw open his pants. God, the way his dick is already hard against my thigh makes me want to retreat into myself, to that dark place I would go when my parents would fight. Where I can’t feel or hear anything going on around me. At least then, I wouldn’t have to be here with him. I could just wait it out and see what happens afterward.

When he crushes his mouth to mine with his eyes closed, I strike, snapping myself out of the fog threatening to take hold of my entire being. My knee meets his balls, which are hanging against the teeth of his zipper, and my elbow greets the side of his face with a loud crack. His hands release me as he reaches for his junk, bending at the waist and spewing curses at me on his way to the ground.

I don’t have time to process his words or rejoice in my small victory, though. I’m running back to the bonfire, looking for Kate. By the time I get to her, I’m out of breath and holding back tears. My limbs are noodles, tingling without reprieve, hot and cold simultaneously.

“I need to get out of here. Now.” She takes one look at me, and she knows. Her eyes widen slightly, but she doesn’t let anything else through her iron shield. She simply takes my hand and turns to walk me back to our campsite.

“Say less, let’s go.”

We remain holding hands as we run back to our camper and lock the door, and that’s where I fall apart. The tears flood my face, and my breaths are labored and shallow. I’m going to puke; I can feel it. I run to the trash can and it feels like forever before the world stops spinning and my stomach is completely empty.

“What happened?” Kate pins my hair up and starts rubbing my back.

“Brad happened, but I told him to leave me alone. He completely flipped out on me. He’s been buying all of my content under a fake profile, Kate. He thinks he owns me now. What do I do?”

“I’m gonna kill him.”

In this moment, I believe her; her eyes are flooded with murder.

“You can’t kill him, Kate. He didn’t get to finish what he started before I knocked the hell out of him. Nobody will believe me. You know that we’ve been together before. He’ll use it against me, say that I wanted it just like in the past.”

“This son of a bitch tried to force himself on you? Oh, hell no. Absolutely not.”

She picks up her phone and dials, though I haven’t the slightest idea who she might be calling.

“Yes, I’d like to report a sexual assault, please.”

I jump up and try to grab the phone from her. Reporting this to the police is the last thing I want to do. It’s only going to piss him off. She climbs up on the couch to keep the phone out of my reach. Smart for her because I’ve exhausted all my strength for the foreseeable future.

“We’re doing this, Hae. I’ll stand by you the whole time.”

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