Page 4 of Forbidden Valentine

“I don’t do parties,” I say. “Thank you, though.”

“We could just hang out in my room.”

“I also don’t go home with people on the first date,” I add with more hostility.

“Oh? Riley said you have sex casually. How is this any different?” he asks. When he sets his glass down, his hand bumps the saltshaker, and it crashes to the floor. He does not move to pick it up, so I do. This fucking man child is on my nerves and I've been here three minutes. When I lean back up and set the salt down, he is pulling his hand away from my side of the table.

This sick motherfucker. I can see a small bit of powder on the rim of the glass, and I look up at him in shock that he would be so obvious about trying to drug me. I look over at the server and I can tell that she saw because her eyes are wide, and she shakes her head at me as she stands with what looks like a manager.

“I think I should go,” I say. “I would say it was lovely to meet you, but it wasn't. I really should not have even come out at all, so I am sorry for wasting your time.”

“Wait,” he says as I stand. “What’s wrong?”

I turn and glare at him before I pick up the glass and blow the powder off the rim. When he chuckles, I toss the water in his face and slam it down on the table.

“You bitch!” he gasps and shoots up from his seat. I quickly grab my bag and turn on my heels to get the hell out of here before he can react. The manager promptly steps between us so he cannot follow me, and I leave the restaurant.

“Fuck,” I sigh asI walk along the sidewalk. It is dark outside, so I do not want to hang out for too long. I pull up my app to Uber back to campus and see that the prices have quadrupled since I have been here. Fuck that. I will walk home with the grim reaper before I pay fifty dollars for a two-mile ride. It’s a straight shot down this road and it is lit the entire way, so I know I am okay. Campus security won’t like it very much, but they will be okay.

I get about a half mile down the sidewalk before I stop and rest my feet. This is going to be a long walk home, but I am going to keep looking at the app and see if the prices get cheaper. Before I go to move again, I text Veronica.

Date was trash. He was a dick and basically called me fat. Oh… Then the dumbass tried to drug me after I said I didn’t fuck random people. Left powder on the rim of the glass, so I knew not to drink it. Walking back now and checking prices for Uber. Love you.

As I go to find her contact to send it, I hear footsteps close by. Alarm bells start going off in my head, so I quickly tap hercontact and send before slipping my phone into my bra. When I glance behind me, I see Charlie.

“Aw, shit,” I say as I walk faster.

“Aww. Why are you running from me, Mila?” he says as he gains on me. These heels have straps, so I can’t get them off fast, but if I run in them I’m going to have a broken ankle, and I’ll still get attacked.

“Leave me alone, Charlie,” I say firmly.

“Leave you alone? Baby, don’t be like that,” he says as he grabs my wrist. I try to pull away, but he yanks me toward him, and I lose my balance. Like fucking clockwork, he wraps his arm around my waist and his hand covers my mouth before I can scream. I throw my elbow back and hit him as I try to slip away from him, but it’s like he’s immune to the pain.

“You think you are going to throw a drink in my face and just walk the fuck away?” he growls as he drags me into an alleyway between a closed nail salon and a print shop. “Someone needs to teach you a goddamn lesson on respect.”

I scream and fight against his hold, but he doesn’t budge as he pulls me behind a dumpster and out of the view of people. He slings me down to the asphalt. I scream as loudly as I can, “Help!”

“Shut the fuck up,” he growls, as he straddles my legs. I start hitting him as tears flood my vision.

“Stop! Get off me. Someone help me! Please!” I scream through broken tears. He leans into me and covers my mouth again, pinning my head to the cold ground as he rips my panties off. I scream and sob against his hand as I hit him over and over. It’s like the more I beat on his chest and try to push him off, the more fueled he becomes.

Charlie uses his knees to force my legs apart and a sickening feeling settles in the pit of my stomach when I fully realize that he is about to rape me. All because I rejected him. He spits into his hand a few times to coat his dick before forcing it into me with a grunt. “Not so fucking mouthy now, are you, bitch? You think you can reject me?” he grumbles as he slams his hips into me over and over. I am still hitting him and trying to pull his hand off of my mouth so I can scream for help, but he lays his body weight on me and quickens his pace.

“This is my fucking cunt now. You are mine,” he growls. “Stupid fucking bitch… I would have been so good to you… All you had to do was drink the goddamn water.”

I give up on trying to scream and feel around for anything I can hit him with. I don’t want this. I want him to stop, but he just keeps going harder. He is grunting like a pig, and his sweat is dripping off of him and onto me. My hand lands on something long and skinny, so I use every bit of force I have and slam it into his side.

Charlie’s eyes go wide, and he stops moving. “Bitch,” he mutters as he wraps his hands around my throat and squeezes. When I can’t breathe, I panic and pull the object out before slamming it into him again. I do this over and over again until his body goes limp, and I can breathe again. I am still sobbing as I kick hisbody off of mine and crawl over to sit beside the dumpster. I pull my knees to my chest and hug my legs as I rock myself.

I feel hands on me, and I scream, but I am quickly pulled up from the ground and a hand covers my mouth. I keep screaming, but I finally hear his voice. “It’s me. It’s Gunner. Professor Vega, Shh. I’ve got you, Mila. Breathe.”

I instantly relax and he uncovers my mouth. “I didn’t mean to,” I say tearfully. “I just wanted him to stop… I didn’t mean to. I swear I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“What happened, Mila?” he asks, taking my face between his hands. “You texted me and said he tried to drug you?”

“Yeah,” I sniff. “I was trying to send the text to Veronica. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, love. What happened?” he asks again. He is holding my face so I can’t look at Charlie’s body. His hands are warm and it’s soothing.

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