Page 12 of Saving Shepperd

One moment, I was in my bedroom fighting for my free will, and the next I was mentally thrown back about twelve years to the dank janitor’s room in my school.

“You’re hurting me.” I choked on vomit that came up while I fought to get away. This room at the far end of the building was dimly lit and damp. The smell of greasy rags and oil cans stung my nose and eyes.

I knew telling him that just excited him more by the way his breathing sped up. A wild, unforgivable plan lit his narrow eyes with an evil light and terrified me even more. Kicking and biting, scratching and pulling what little hair he had did nothing to make him stop. The one time I screamed for help, he choked me until the room went black. Never did that a second time.

“Shepperd!” my dad shouted, and I snapped out of the memory. My breathing was rapid and shallow, and I knew if I didn’t calm the fuck down, I’d pass out. I skittered back from him until my back hit the narrow wall beside my bedroom door. Instinctively, my hands shot up in front of me to defend myself, but my parents weren’t advancing toward me.

They were both frozen with confusion and panic to even think of physically consoling me at the moment. I was never more grateful for it because having to fend them off would possibly break me.

With his hands out front, mirroring my stance, my dad said, “Okay. Let’s all calm down. Not sure what the hell just happened, but let’s all just calm down.”

“Shepperd,” Mom said gently. “Honey, do you want to come sit down here? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she finished and motioned to my bed. “Let’s sit.”

With jerky movements, I shook my head. “Just go,” I choked out and then added in desperation, “please.”

“No, honey. I don’t want to leave you like this. Let’s just sit for a few minutes.”

Then I completely snapped. “I don’t want to fucking sit! I want you two to get the fuck out of my room! Now!”

Oh, my dad didn’t like that demand. At all. “Listen, young lady, I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’re not calling the shots. You don’t demand we leave a room in the house we pay for. Got it?”

Oh, I got it all right. If this was going to be his new battle cry every single time something didn’t go the way he wanted it to, I’d put an end to the threats the only way I could.

“Fine. I’ll leave. I’ll move out. Then you won’t have to worry about me and what I eat or don’t eat. Or when I just want to be respected enough as a human to be afforded some fucking privacy!” I couldn’t calm down while they confronted me. Like every other female in our house, my voice was downright thunderous when I was provoked.

“This isn’t over,” my father said quietly, likely just to have the last word.

“Nope. I’m pretty sure it is,” I said, and the second they cleared the doorway, I slammed the thing shut behind them. I flopped down onto my bed, face first, and cried for the next twenty minutes. I was so exhausted and so disappointed with myself when the tears finally stopped rushing out, I fell asleep.

It was close to noon when I woke up. My back was stiff, and my stomach was growling demands for something other than water or coffee. I didn’t want to chance running into either of my parents in the kitchen, so I threw on my gym clothes, grabbed my keys and water bottle, and high-tailed it through the house out to the driveway. My dad’s car was there, but Mom’s was gone.

Damn, I must’ve really been sleeping, because normally, someone coming or going woke me.

I slid into my little car and started the engine. Immediately three different warning lights came on, and I thumped my head against the wheel.

One was gas. I could fix that. The other two were unfamiliar, and I had way too much pride and stubbornness to ask my dad to look at it for me. Especially after what had just transpired.

The gym wasn’t too far from our house, so I thought I would hit the first food joint in between. I ended up ducking into a smoothie place and got one of my stand-by meal replacement combos. I was a sucker for anything mango and got an impressive brain freeze from the first gulp. As I squinted through the agony, I heard a familiar voice.

I popped my eyes open to see Law scooting into the booth across from me. That beautiful, sexy grin he wore did unreasonable things between my thighs. After a deep inhale as the stabbing head pain subsided, I pointed to my temple as though he would understand what was happening.

“Uh-oh. Either you’re really unhappy to see me, or you’re on the tail end of a brain freeze. I love the drinks here and do the same thing every damn time.” He laughed and reached across the table for my hand. “I really hope it’s the second one,” he said quietly.

Somehow the man even made a lack of confidence look good, and I couldn’t hold back my smile. I was definitely happy to see him.

Alarmingly so as a matter of fact.

“Hey,” I said shyly. “This is a pleasant surprise. On my way to work out.” I thumbed over my shoulder in the direction of our gym. “But I needed some fuel first.”

“What a coincidence,” he said with a wink. “Same. I guess I shouldn’t assume you want company here. Do you mind?”

After a little shake of my head, I said, “No, not at all. It’s been a morning. I’ll say that much.” I rolled my eyes to punctuate the comment in case he didn’t pick up on the sarcasm. “It’s definitely great to see you. How did you sleep last night?”

“Not bad. Tossed and turned for a bit after we said goodnight. My mind was all over the place if I’m honest,” he admitted and held my gaze for a few long beats after.

“Yeah?” I asked, deciding to tease him a bit. “Anything interesting? Do I know her?”

Law’s smile widened, and he took both hands then. “She’s pretty amazing actually. It’s super new, you know? But I’m hoping to get to know her better. Can’t stop thinking about her, and seriously, I’m crushing pretty hard.”

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