Page 6 of A Constant Love

Butterflies exploded in my stomach. Our sweet and innocent first kiss was brief but magical. It was worth all the time spent waiting and dreaming about it.

When he pulled back, another blush crept up his cheeks, so I tried to reassure him.

“That was nice.”

“Yeah?’

I nodded and laid my lips on his once more for the briefest of moments.

We began walking again…past all of the corn fields Kansas had to offer.

“Just think Samantha, a couple of weeks from now, I’ll officially have my license, and I can drive us all over this dang town. No more walking everywhere we go.”

Although I never minded a good walk, a smile spread over my face at the thought of riding around in the pickup truck his parents already gave to him.

His hand held onto mine as we walked, and I thought nothing could be more perfect…but suddenly, a strange sense of familiarity washed over me.

I stopped walking and froze in terror as an unknown dread took over.

“Samantha, what’s wrong?” He asked anxiously.

“I don’t know. I feel like I’ve been here before.”

“Of course, you’ve been here before. We walk past this spot almost every day.”

I shook my head at his statement. “No, it’s like I’ve been here, and something bad happened. I was here,” I said pointing to the ground. “In the snow. It was cold, and I was in pain…a lot of pain. And you were there…”

The memory came flooding back so fast it made me dizzy. James and his friends beating me, raping me, leaving me for dead.

My eyes found his, and the once innocent gaze was now replaced with one of fury and rage.

“You just had to bring it up, didn’t you Samantha? Couldn’t just leave well enough alone.”

Before I could process anything else, his fist connected with my jaw.

Chapter 5 – Tyler

I had just fallen back asleep when Sam jolted herself awake in my arms. She started flailing around like she didn’t know where she was or what was going on.

“Sam, hey! What’s wrong?” I asked wrapping my arms around her so she wouldn’t hurt herself.

Her eyes finally found mine, and she looked like a deer caught in headlights. Her chest heaved as she struggled to find her voice.

“Bad dream,” she said swallowing hard.

“Okay calm down, I’ve got you,” I said leaning her back against me. “Was this one about your mom?”

Silence consumed her for a moment, and I knew the answer before she finally shook her head no.

“Was it about him?” I asked.

Her ongoing silence told me I had hit the nail on the head.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

Finally, her green eyes looked into mine. “No,” she said before laying a sweet kiss on my neck.

“Are you sure? Because…”

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