Page 13 of My Secret Protector
“It was the night of the big game. The state championships my senior year. We won. By a lot. Everyone was excited and I was flying high about the win. I wasn’t thinking and I took my time getting ready in the locker room that night. I wanted to look good for the afterparties. I was so damn obsessed with that back then. Always wanting to appear like I had it all together when the truth is I didn’t. I never did.”
She closes her eyes, and I can feel her body tensing again.
“You don’t have to say anything else.”
“I do. I do because every time I tell it, it gets a little easier. My girls in the Survivors Club would tell me that anyway.”
“The Survivors Club?” I ask hesitantly.
“It’s a few girls and me. My therapist put us together as a group because we’ve all survived something. They’ve become…well, they’ve become family to me over the last year or so. They make me want to heal.”
I rub my hand along her arm, and she cuddles in closer to me.So that’s what the meetings at the community center were about?I swallow hard, thinking about all the nights I stood outside there while she relived her past.
“He cornered me that night. I c…can’t go into specifics. He said a lot of things. Touched me. I tried pushing him away. He didn’t…” she breaks off on a sob. “He didn’t rape me, but he did other things. Probably would have done more if one of the girls in my squad hadn’t come in to check on me.”
Fuck that guy. He dies. He dies slowly and painfully.
I struggle to maintain my gentle hold on her and not take the rage I feel out on my precious girl.
“I told my uncle. I thought he would believe me. I thought he would immediately get the coach arrested. I was so damn wrong.” One tear slips down her cheek and I squeeze her shoulder.
“What did he do?” I ask. I have a feeling, but I hope I’m wrong.
“He said that maybe I misunderstood things. The coach had a good reputation, so how could he possibly have done that to me? He made me feel like it was all my fault.” I feel that sadness from back then creep into my voice. I knew I hadn’t misunderstood anything. It took years of therapy for me to realize that what happened that day wasn’t my fault.
“What the fuck?” I can’t help it. I try to hold onto her, but my anger gets the best of me. I sit straight up.
“Why the hell would he do that? I’ll go beat the hell out of him right now, make him sorry for how he treated you. How dare he?”What kind of fucker doesn’t stand behind a woman that’s been attacked? Especially his own niece?
She lays a gentle hand on my back, and I turn to look down at her. Her eyes are still glazed over with tears, but she’s smiling.
“Lay back down, tough guy. I’m okay. It hurt like hell then. And I have to admit it still does, but I learned to not let how he treated me, and what the coach did, affect my life anymore. I have good people in my life now, and I focus on that.”
I lay back down and gather her in my arms again.
She strokes my stomach with her soft hand, and I take a deep cleansing breath. She will never have to worry about being afraid again. I’m hers and she’s mine from this moment forward.
“I’m glad you told me,” I say softly.
“Me too,” she says in a sleepy voice.
I hold her for a long time after she falls asleep. I place a gentle kiss on her forehead, and I make promises to her that night. I never say those promises out loud, but I mean every single one of them.
My tough survivor. The only woman I will ever love.
Chapter Seventeen
I want him and I’m tired of denying myself.-Flora
My arms circle Levi’s waist and I press my head against his leather-clad back as we lean into the turn. I close my eyes. There’s so much freedom in riding on the back of his motorcycle. Over the last two weeks. I’ve almost become accustomed to the vibration of the bike between my legs and the warm feeling in my gut from holding onto my Levi.
For once in my adult life, I don’t stiffen when a guy touches me. I don’t fear his arms around me. If anything, I fear that I won’t feel his touch again.
He parks the bike in front of my apartment. I swing my leg over and try to take off my helmet in a seductive way. Instead, a blonde curl snags on one of the straps and Levi has to help me out of it.
He grins down at me. I roll my eyes. My goal of being so sexy that he can no longer resist me is not working at all.
I discreetly watch his ass as we walk up the stairs to the apartment. I’ve become a pro at watching this man’s ass. I would gladly follow it anywhere.
