Page 29 of Above All Else

He stopped mid-stride and turned back—the mask acting as a barrier.

“Who did?”

“E-Ethan.” My hands trembled in his grasp as I drew in a slow breath. “That’s how I remember that night. He... he raped me.”

“Wow.” Carter flung his mask to the ground and glowered. “Do you know how many women out there really went through that?” He shook his head. “And you want to use that to your advantage against a dead man who can’t refute it?” He tipped his head back in disgust. “Unreal.”

My heart banged into my chest, my stomach dropping as though it’d jumped out of a moving vehicle. “I’m not—“

“Save it, June. That’s low, even for you.”

“My dress.” I reached out. “H-he ripped it up the side and—“

“And you didn’t say anything?”

His features softened, and I gave a subtle shake of my head. “No. He... said he was sorry and that it would never happen again. He didn’t mean to.”

He scoffed. His brows pulled down, his upper lip snarling as he stepped toward me and wrapped his hand around the back of my neck—his touch feather-light.

My chin trembled, and his hand moved around the front of my throat, his thumb pressing into the tense flesh.

“Do you believe me?”

“I don’t know.” He pulled in a breath, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “It doesn’t explain the video.”

Shaking my head, my mouth bobbing as though if I opened it, the answer would come falling out. I stared into the dark depths of his eyes. “I-I don’t know anything about the video, but...”

My brows furrowed as the movie replayed in my mind.

The ponytail, my ankle socks, and low-top white Converse.

Did I own a white pair?

“Why did you stay with him?”

I shrugged, his question pulling me out of my thoughts. “He changed. I genuinely thought he was sorry, and it had been a mistake.” I screwed my lips to the side and puckered. “I thoughthe could...maybe... replace you.”

“Fuck, dollface.”

He dipped his head and pressed his forehead into mine, his breath tickling the small hairs on my wet cheeks. His hand released my bindings and joined his other on my face, cupping both cheeks. “I’d kill him all over again just for that.”

A sob broke through my lips, and he swallowed it down with his own pressing against mine in a sensual, fevered pitch.

Swirls of warmth invaded my belly, spiraling out of control, my bound hands trailing up his chest.

His tongue slid across my lips, and ice flooded my veins.

I pushed against him and struck his cheek with an open palm, my hand smarting on contact.

Carter turned away and cupped the reddening flesh. “What was that for?”

My heart dropped into my belly, which twisted and churned as though stuck in a blender. “You-you can’t just kiss me after everything that’s happened.” I bit into my lip as he turned on me.

Taking two steps away, my butt hit a bulging burl jutting out at the bottom of a gnarled tree, my head bouncing off the hardwood. “Especially after confessing to being—“

He held his free hand up, his palm open as his other fell away, and gave a subtle nod. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Silence fell between us, and I took a deep breath of rotting wood mixed with fresh pine needles. A heavy dew hung in thewarm, not-so-typical, October night air.

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