Page 24 of Falling With a Spin

“Do you need help?” A deep voice asks. What kind of help are you offering? At this point, I could use all of it.

I open my eyes to see who I just ran into. He has black hair, striking blue eyes, round full lips, and high cheekbones. I know this guy. He was at the house that Garett brought me to after the party. But what is his name? Harry? Henry? Hector? No, definitely not Hector. Crap, this is going to be bugging me all day.

“Nope. Nope. Nope. I'm all good.” I pick myself up from the ground and collect the papers scattered across the floor. “Are you okay?” I ask, examining him as if he was the one that fell on his ass.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He raises an eyebrow, handing me the rest of the papers that fell.

“Oh yeah, I guess, but I ran into you.” My cheeks flush red, realizing that I ran into this man who most likely didn’t even move a muscle.

“I'm fine, but are you? I’m not the one that fell on my ass because I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.” He shakes his head and a deep laughter comes from him. I see a faint set of dimples peeking out, but they quickly leave when he catches me staring.

Sighing, “Yeah, I'm good.” But my ass isn’t, and I can practically feel the bruise already forming. Great. “Thanks for gathering these up. I appreciate it.” I give him a small smile and start to walk away.

“Wait!” he yells, only taking a few steps to catch up with me.

Man, this guy is super fucking tall.

“What can I help you with?” I give him a firm smile, “I would really like to get to work without being late.”

Pushing open the door, I pull my glasses out of my bag and put them on to block out the bright sun.

“Okay, we can walk and talk. That's cool. But I saw–” he starts but is caught off by someone yelling my name. I turn to the source of the noise and stop dead in my tracks when my eyes land on Chad. My heart starts racing a million beats a minute, my breath becomes ragged, and I begin to tremble. I continue to stare at him as he approaches me.

I thought I would have more time to think of what to say to him or how I would react.

“Hey babe, how are you? I’ve been trying to reach you since the party.” He leans and kisses my cheek.

“Yeah, I haven’t been feeling well lately,” I say, looking around and trying to avoid eye contact.

“Huh, that's what Taylor said, too, but you seem fine to me.” When I finally look up, I see that there isn’t something right in his eyes. “Emma, tell me what is going on right now.” He takes my wrist, squeezing it, and I wince at the pain. The bruises aren’t fully healed yet, so I still have some discomfort, especially after class today.

“I just need some space right now. I have a lot to think over and so much going on with school.” The words come out quietly but loud enough for him to hear, and I can practically feel the anger radiating from him.

“You’ve had two weeks of space. Two weeks of ignoring me and making me go crazy,” Chad’s grip tightens while his other hand cups my cheek.

To any innocent bystander, you might think it’s endearment or a mild intimate situation. But it’s far from that.

“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t respond to you. I’ll do better, but I really need some space right now. Something happened at the party, and I just need to figure that out.” My voice quivers as I try to tell him again. I attempt to hide my wince as the hand that's cupping my cheek pinches my skin.

“What are you talking about? I brought you upstairs, we had sex, and then you ended up falling asleep when I went to grab a drink.” The smile on his face is frightening, and everything in me screams to back away.

“That isn’t what happened, and I believe you know that. I think you know what actually happened in that room that night.” I yank my wrist from his grip and take a good three steps back from him. “You took a piece of me that night that didn’t belong to you.” It comes out in a whisper, and I look up, seeing anger burning behind his eyes.

I hit him with the final blow, and I pray that he doesn’t do anything in public. “We are done. I don’t want ever to see you or hear from you again.”

He closes the distance between us before I can even move, looking down at me as he takes my hand roughly. “Emma, you listen carefully. You asked for it when you came to the party wearing practically nothing. The drink I gave you just loosened you up.”

Before I can form a response to what he said, the guy I was walking with mere minutes ago comes up beside us, and his fist collides with Chad’s nose.

“If I ever see you around her, talking about her, or even looking at her, I will make sure to break something else that's more valuable than that nose.” He says, shaking out his hand.

“What the actual fuck, man?” Chad says, holding his nose with one hand while using the other to get himself off the ground.

“Do I need to repeat myself?” He seethes. “If you go anywhere near her, you will be sorry.”

A deep laugh leaves Chad as he holds his nose with his hand. When he looks towards me, I step back, terrified that he’ll reach out for me again. However, he turns around without a word, and for some reason, that scares me more than anything.

I stand there, stunned as Chad walks away, and when I turn to the guy next to me, I see his hand still clenched in a fist. There’s an instinct to reach out and uncurl his hand, but I quickly look up at him, “Thank you.”

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