Page 25 of This Is Love
“Yeah. Do that.” Jaxon nods, then follows the nurse.
This is up to me now. “Okay, Rya. Stay on the phone with me. I’m heading out now.” A moment later, I’m out of the ER and heading for Jaxon’s car at a jog. “Did I hear right that you’re in the woods somewhere?”
“N-near my house. But not really cl-close. He stopped on a long stretch of road, but I had to run into the trees to get away.”
He, who? Jesus. “Any idea of a road you know you were on?” My mind screams, wanting to ask what the hell happened, who the fuck she was with, but with the temperatures already below freezing and falling fast, we can talk about all that later. I don’t want her out in this weather any longer than necessary. Her teeth click together as they chatter.
“I think we were on Route 11, maybe, but I-I don’t know. I had to wait for him to leave. My phone—I don’t know if I should try to open Maps to see where I am or if I’ll l-lose you. My phone screen is all cracked.”
I unlock Jaxon’s sedan and climb in, taking off only a few seconds later. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. And you said woods, right?”
“Y-yeah. What if he comes back?” The fear in her voice reaches into my chest and twists my heart. My jaw sets. I don’t know who the fuckheis, but she doesn’t need to be thinking about that right now.
“Hang tight. I’m going to head toward your parents’ house, and we’ll go from there.”
Ten minutes later, I’m tearing north, eyes scanning all along the tree line when I finally spot her. Rya must see me at the same time because my Tiny Dancer springs from the cover of the trees and darts toward the car as I slow and pull off the road. The poor thing isn’t dressed for the weather at all. She’s in her dance clothes, tights, and a sweatshirt with a leotard underneath, no doubt. Not even a coat. Her hands are pulled up inside her sleeves. I glance at the outdoor temperature on the dash rightbefore I scramble to get out. Twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. Fucking cold as hell.
I leave the car idling and catch her in my arms as she slams into me. She’s trembling like a leaf. I’m struck by the overwhelming urge to put my hands on every square inch of her to make sure she’s whole, safe, and unharmed. I bury my face against the chilled skin of her neck as I fold her into my embrace, letting her burrow against me.
Only a moment later, she wrenches free, stumbling backward. She covers her face with both hands. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
My body reacts strongly to her misgivings, brows furrowing together as my stance goes rigid. “Rya,” I rasp, “don’t do this to us.” The ache in my chest spreads through my body as she lowers her hands, and I look into her eyes. There’s a clear sense of apprehension in her when it comes to trusting my words, and when the only thing to come from her is a wobble of her chin, I exhale hard, reaching for her. “You need to be in the car so you can warm up.”
Her lips press together, and in typical Rya fashion, she fights the tears I see in her glassy eyes. I don’t withdraw my hand, choosing instead to wait patiently. Each moment she doesn’t take it is another bruise that gets left on my very soul. Because this girl—she’s everything to me.
When her hand finally lands in mine, and she allows me to pull her close again, I don’t say anything at first, I simply hold her. Then, as a shiver quakes through her, I turn and pop the back door open and usher her inside. I follow, slamming the door shut behind us. I sigh when she folds her arms over her chest, but I’m determined to let her decide for herself what she needs—or wants—from me.
“Rya, I don’t know what the fuck happened, but the fact that I only have bits and pieces of information and finding you like this is driving me fucking crazy.”
She draws in one breath, then another before turning to face me. “When I got to the locker room before rehearsal, a whole row of lockers was emptied out.” Frowning, she shakes her head. “Everything was everywhere. My pointe shoes are all jacked up.”
I shut my eyes, clenching my teeth. This is bad.
She nods, knowing immediately that I get it. Throwing her hands up, she hurries on with the story. “I needed to get home to see if my old pair was going to be usable or if I’m just screwed.”
“Get to the part where I found you on the side of a road.”
“I used the campus ride message board—and this guy picked me up. He was giving me the creeps the whole way. Kept looking at me.” A rough chuckle that only tells me how upsetting whatever came next rips from her throat. “And I should have known that the reason he was wearing a ski mask had more to do with him being a weirdo than that his window wouldn’t roll up.” Her hands shake as she stares at me, wide-eyed. “Oh my god, I’m an idiot. The window wasn’t broken, was it?”
I grit my teeth. “Probably not. A convenient excuse for wearing a mask, sounds like. Tell me the rest of it.”
“Well, he obviously didn’t take me home, and he—” Her voice becomes a little hysterical, and she stops to swallow, shaking her head as if upset with herself.
“Hewhat?” Those two words come out with a bite that wasn’t intended for Rya, but it makes her flinch all the same. “Fuck. That wasn’t aimed at you. I need you to tell me what else he did.”
Finally, she leans into me, and I don’t hesitate, I wrap my arms around her, tugging her tightly against my side. With her like this, every erratic breath she takes, every tremble of her body—all of it makes it clear she’s more upset than she’s letting on.
“No. I know you aren’t mad at me. Um…” And as she tells me the worst of it, I know that if I ever find out who this motherfucker is, I’m going to kill him. Fucking insane to have two people I’d like to unalive within twenty-four hours, but there it is.They’d better hope I don’t discover their identities?—
I cup the back of her head with my hand, gently stroking her hair. “I can’t believe you rammed your fist into his dick.”
While clenching her teeth, she cracks a half smile. “I did. And it worked. I ran for the trees and hid while the asshole crept along the edge of the wooded area, trying to spot me.” She draws in a distressed breath. “I thought for sure he was going to hear my teeth chattering or something. He waited around for a long time before he chucked my phone into the woods and left.”
“We’re going to have to report this,” I murmur softly. Now that she’s relaxed against me, I don’t want to upset her by giving voice to my internal freak-out. “But right now, we need to go get your ballet shoes so you have them for your audition.”
She peers up at me, relief washing over her features.
“Did you think I’d tell you to forget about your shot at the spring showcase? I know you, Rya,” I rasp. “Never forget that.”
