Page 140 of Edge of Unbroken

“What do you mean?” My jaw is tight.

“Cat kicked his ass,” he says, then smiles at Cat.

“We kept an eye on her the entire time you were gone, Ran,” Steve says. “We obviously noticed Drew hovering and shit, and the night of Shane’s party, Cat was a little…”

“Drunk,” Cat says matter-of-factly, sliding her hand back into mine.

Steve nods. “She said something about needing to use the bathroom. Tori was like, stumbling around, drunk off her ass, too, and so Shane got distracted. And then we couldn’t find Cat, so we looked for her and we saw her and Drew in the bathroom from across the living room.”

“What did he do?” I ask Cat, trying to keep my voice steady even though unfiltered rage boils in my chest.

“I don’t even really remember,” Cat says with a shrug. “He was talking about liking me and that you were probably off hooking up with girls. He said he’d never do that to me, that he could make me happy…”

My chest feels tight.

“And then he just shoved his tongue into my mouth,” Cat says, her lips curling with disgust.

“What did you do?” I ask.

“Kneed him in the balls,” she says nonchalantly.

The pressure on my chest instantly eases.

“Steve and I just booked it to the bathroom, but before we could do anything at all, Cat punched him in the nose.” Shane laughs heartily. “God, he was bleeding all over the damn place.”

“You did?” I ask Cat.

She nods, smiling at me.

“She sure did,” Steve says. “You would have been so proud of her.”

“I am proud of her,” I say.

Cat’s smile gets even wider. “I learned how to do that from you,” she giggles. “Just a quick little one-two punch to catch him off guard and then finish it with the knee.”

“Oh, okay,” I chuckle at her, feeling relieved.

“Better not pick a fight with her,” Steve tells me with a laugh. “She’s a little streetfighter.”

“I’m pretty good at kicking ass, too,” Vada pipes up.

“Oh, yeah, definitely. Can’t forget about your little brawl,” Steve says.

I raise my eyebrows, waiting for further explanation. My friends begin to tell me about the gossip that’s been making the rounds, ever evolving since I was in the hospital last August. My heart constricts at the vicious nature of the rumors—that Cat was somehow responsible for me getting hurt, my leaving New York—and the name-calling she had to endure.

While I appreciate their efforts to keep my business as private as possible, I can’t help the guilt that claws at me.

“God, baby,” I say, pulling Cat into my arms. I feel like such shit for what everyone has had to go through these past seven months. “Why didn’t you tell me you were dealing with this?”

“Because you wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it, Ran,” Cat says sweetly. “You would have been stuck in Montana knowing what was going on at home, unable to change anything and I didn’t want to burden you with that. You already have so much on your shoulders.”

“So do you guys,” I sigh.

“But we had each other,” Shane says. “You didn’t really have anyone. We needed you to focus on getting better. There was no point in sharing this with you because we knew you’d get yourself all worked up without any way to change anything. So, we just handled shit. Cat handled shit. She might look all sweet and innocent, but this chick is actually pretty badass,” Shane chuckles.

“Yeah, I know,” I say wholeheartedly. “And so are you, Vada,” I add, grinning at Vada.

“I know,” she says, making us laugh.

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