Page 23 of Between the Lines

“I don’t remembershitwhere that is concerned,” I countered. “You said we were friends, right?”

“Yes, but?—”

“But nothing. How close are you now?”

She was quiet for a moment, then admitted, “I’m pulling up to your gate.”

I navigated quickly to a different app on my phone, opening the gate to give her access to the little gated community I called home. It hadn’t always been gated, but some top-secret shit went down with someone moved in last year.

And then there was a gate.

The neighborhood association came around and gave everyone access to the app and codes—I really didn’t think wewere living fancy enough for all of that out here, but if it made my shit more secure too, I didn’t have too much complaint.

Once that was done, I glanced down, suddenly wishing that in all my pacing over the last several minutes I’d remembered that I was only wearing a pair of old sweats.

Not even boxers with them.

Shit.

I was halfway to my room to throw something on when the bell rang, and it was a quick decision to not leave Ellie waiting. It wasn’t like it was anything she’d never seen before.

And this wasn’t aboutthatanyway, not for either of us—especiallyseeing the distress on her face up close. She was clearly distressed, and the arm on her oversized hoodie was torn at the shoulder, and…shit.

Without giving it a second thought, I pulled her inside and into my arms, wrapping her in a hug that seem to flip whatever switch was helping her hold it all together. She just collapsed against me, bawling.

After a few minutes passed, I’d calmed her enough to divert her into the kitchen for a drink. When she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirrored tile backsplash, she frowned.

“He was…all over me,” she muttered, sounding disgusted as she pulled the hoodie over her head, tossing it onto the floor. “I tried to pepper spray him, but I barely got his face at all. Just enough for him to let me go.”

“It was on your keys?” I asked, and she nodded as she sat down.

That’s when I noticed it.

A damn bruise.

From where that bitch-ass dude had grabbed her.

“Fuck,”I muttered under my breath, mind racing for what I was supposed to do. It seemed like it was spreading anddarkening right in front of my eyes, but what the hell did you do for a bruise?

“He grabbed you this hard?” I asked, pulling her out of the apparent daze she’d been in. Her eyes went wide when she looked down, seeing the ugly black and blue blotch on her arm.

“Shit. I hope they can hide this in makeup, or Nolan and Charlotte are going to be pissed.”

“That’syour first thought?” I asked. “Don’t nobody give a shit about them being pissed. Ellie, you got attacked. We should be getting video footage from the parking lot, and?—”

“Absolutelynotgoing to the police,” she interrupted with a raised eyebrow. “I’m hoping nobody saw it, and it can stay that way. I do not need a single shred of controversy right now. Did you not see what the media just did to Vanessa? Do you remember how they treated Teagan?”

I sighed.

Of course I’d seen the way both women had been crucified fordaringto be a victim of violence. There was lots of chatter about whatthey’ddone wrong, could have done different, but not nearly enough about how the people who perpetrated the violence against them could have made different choices.

There was no reason to believe Ellie would get much different.

“I don’t like that shit,” I told her and she shrugged.

“Me either, but it is what it is. It’s what I get for being stupid.”

“Don’t say that shit—it’s not stupid to expect to go eat fries without getting assaulted,” I assured her. “It should really be a bare minimum.”

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