Page 78 of Conner

This time he managed to get a good grip on her and picked her up off the ground to bring her back into the room.

"Sasha!" Cash was banging on her door.

"Help!" she managed to get out before he slapped her and threw her down on the bed coming down on top of her.

"Sasha!" Cash called again as he tried to break down the door.

She got up off the bed while his back was turned, but then his arm grabbed her around her waist, and she felt something cold and metal pressing against her neck.

“Tell him to go away,” he whispered in her ear.

She caught sight of them in the mirror. This average looking man was holding a knife to her neck. “Tell him,” he said as he held the knife tighter.

“Cash… I’m okay.”

“Let me in.”

“No... I’m okay.”

“No, you’re fucking not, I’m coming in,” he yelled as he continued to bang on the door.

“Sasha, just hear me out,” the man continued. “I know we’re meant to be together. I have followed you all the way here just to tell you I love you. You are meant to be with me. I know it. Only me.”

She struggled against him again.

“If I can’t have you, no one will,” he said, pressing the knife harder to her throat.

She heard Conner join him at the door and it bolstered her enough to remember some of the self-defense moves she’d learned when she took a class back when this all started.

“You love me?” she asked, trying to distract him.

“Yes, Sasha. I love you.”

His hand at her neck loosened slightly so she took her chance. Both of her hands pulled up at the hand holding the knife and pulled it away from her neck, while she threw her shoulder into him creating a space for her to pull her head out. She banged his hand on the counter making him drop the knife.

She made a break for the door as she heard Conner trying to open it, but he pulled her down again, both of them falling to the floor. She managed to twist as she fell onto her back and kicked him off her. She heard his head hit the dresser as he slumped down onto her.

“Sasha!” Cash called again banging on the door.

42

Conner

Conner had been so preoccupied with the game he didn't even stop to think he needed to go with Sasha to check her room. He was focused on talking to Coach and then he would make his way to her room.

“Sasha!” he heard Cash yelling in the hallway.

His heart dropped. He had walked her to her room every night. But not tonight. “Fuck!”

“Go.” He barely heard Coach Wagner say as he tore out of the room down to Sasha's door. Then he heard her cry out and he got the key from his suit jacket as he saw Cash trying to break down the door. By now the doors in the hallway were opening and the rest of the team started poking their heads out.

He was running to the room and slid the card into the door as he heard a loud commotion in the room. The door wouldn't open. It had been latched from the inside. He pushed at it one more time to no avail. Then he slammed his shoulder into the door. Nothing. His eyes connected with Cash’s and they both slammed their shoulders into the door at the same time. The wood splintered as the door flew open.

When the door opened, he found Sasha on the floor with a strange man on the floor unconscious. He ran to her and pulled her into his arms.

“Conner!” She clung to him, tears streaming down her face.

“Shhh, I've got you,” he said as he stroked her hair.

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