Page 74 of Under the Ink

“I think so. But…that’s what I mean. What if my high self consented? And what if he thought everything was fine?”

They were quiet for a few seconds until Sage asked, “Did you talk about it later? Did you ask?”

“Yeah. I did. After the other two left, I—”

“Wait. Did he have sex with you in front of them?”

“Kind of. I think. It’s pretty fuzzy. Anyway, when they left, I asked him why he took my virginity without my permission—and he said I wanted it.Did I ask?‘Well, no,’ he said, but he was really good at reading body language.”

“That’s bullshit,” Sage said. “You didn’t consent. I’m telling you that as a guy—you didn’t give clear consent and you were incapacitated, so he took advantage of you.”

Naomi started crying again—and then Sage felt like a real asshole.

“I’m sorry, baby.”

“No, it’s okay. I…always believed that. But Ginny was the only one who ever believed me.”

“Ginny’s your friend back in Winchester?”

“Yeah…the one getting married in September.”

“Did anything happen to this guy?”

“No.”

“So he’s still running around Winchester raping girls?”

“I don’t know. I…hope not. He was going to college in Boulder but I think he graduated.”

Sage pulled her closer, running his hand up and down her arm, letting Naomi know through touch that her scar tissue didn’t bother him at all.

And that he was there for her.

Lying there against his warmth, Naomi finally continued. “I didn’t want to tell my parents…because then I’d have to admit that I’d willingly took an edible.”

“They wouldn’t—”

“Trust me here. My parents aren’t normal parents. They’re church parents.”

Sage wasn’t sure what that meant exactly—so he just kept his mouth shut.

“Ginny talked me into telling one of the church ladies, one of the elders’ wives—and she thought maybe the church lady would know how to tell my parents. So the next Sunday, I asked Mrs. Rodenbeck if I could talk with her sometime. She also worked as a receptionist at the high school, so she told me to stop by and see her on Monday.

“I got to school early the next day, and Mrs. Rodenbeck invited me to come behind the front desk into a small office. It was quiet and felt safe…so I told her everything that happened. And when I was all done, I remember looking at her face. It went from being the sweet, kind church lady who brought brownies once a month to a mean person I’d never met before. And she accused me of trying to ruin Jacob’s life with a lie.”

“She accused you of lying about being raped?”

“She said it had to be my fault. I was being a temptress, a Jezebel. I invited it. And because I didn’t like the consequences, I was trying to ruin his whole life. I told her that wasn’t what happened—and then she started quoting Bible verses to me, telling me women are supposed to be subservient and submissive to men. I can still hear her snotty voice saying,It’s God’s way.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“Actually, Jesus was a pretty cool dude. It was Paul who had all the hangups about women.”

Sage kissed the top of her head wishing that somehow he could suck out all the pain—but then she probably wouldn’t be the woman he’d fallen in love with.

Yeah…he had. He’d fallen hard. And maybe he couldn’t remove her pain—but could he help her let it go?

“So you never told your parents?”

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