Page 28 of Above All Else

Chapter 8

June

Every cell in my body froze over as the ties dug into my wrists, making my trapped pulse thump in my hands and fingertips.

Tears trickled down my face—the haunting memory of that night blasting my neuropathways.

“Carter... I... um, need to tell you something.”

He spun on me with his goat’s face mere inches from mine. “Finally.”

“Can you take off the mask, please, just for a second?”

With an irritated huff, he swiped the mask overthe top of his head, letting it rest like sunglasses.

“What?”

“Two nights before the party, you kissed me. Do you remember what you told me?”

“Yeah, I remember.” He stalked towards me, walking me backward into a tree. “I said you were a mistake.”

I winced and hung my head, glancing at the ties, then back to his dark brown eyes. “Yes, but that was after you told me how much you wanted to do it again and to meet you later.”

I’d been eighteen for a cool ten minutes, and given our seven-year age gap, he’d shown no interest in me. But something happened the night of my birthday, and it sent excitement down to my toes.

“What’s your point, June?”

My teeth ground against one another as the bitter memory pervaded. “You told me it was a mistake and that you shouldn’t have kissed me. You were going back to medical school in a few days and didn’t have time for a relationship.”

He laughed. “Don’t tell me you still have feelings for me?”

My bottom lip sucked into my teeth, and I bit down as I glanced away from him, blinking away the tears. “I never lost my feelings for you, Carter. But you’ve changed.” I sucked in a staccato breath. “So much so, I didn’t recognize you on the street.”

“It’s been eleven years. People change.”

“Not like this. You’re consumed with hatred.”

“You have no idea.” He pulled the mask halfway over his face.

“Wait. I wasn’t taking a trip down memory lane for kicks.”

He glanced at his watch. “Make it quick. Time’s ticking.”

“That night...at the party, I met Ethan. I wanted to forget all about you.” My throat tightened, and the bark dug into my back as I shifted. “That’s how I know there is no possible way I blanked anything from that night because I remember it all in vivid detail.”

“So...you’re bragging about your sex life as a way to exonerate yourself?”

I shook my head, my chest compressing.

“That’s really quite pathetic, June.” He slid the mask over his face as the words locked on my lips.

Tell him.

Say the words.

Carter grabbed the ties between my bound wrists and dragged me through the trees.

“He raped me.” Bile hit the back of my throat.

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