Page 60 of What Is Love
“Not as bad as I made it out to be in my head, but still a little nerve-racking.”
He looked down with a small smile. “You get used to it.”
I’d have to take his word for it. “Thank you for the ride.”
“Anytime, kid.”
I gave him a little wave as I headed for my house. I didn’t hear him take off until I was almost halfway up my driveway.
I pulled out the house key attached to my car fob to unlock the front door. As soon as I got inside, I took my boots off my aching feet. I set them, my keys, and my wristlet by the stairs to take up to my room later. In sock feet, I went to the kitchen. After all the walking I had done, I was parched.
The house was quiet, which wasn’t unusual. Prue was the only one who worked weekends. We had three housekeepers, one landscaper, and a handyman who fixed and maintained everything on the property, including the pool out back. Prue, who was the head housekeeper, was also the staff manager. Shehad been working here for twenty-plus years. She worked late some days and knew everything about the house.
I filled up a glass of water, chugged it all down, and refilled my glass again. As I went to take another drink, I felt someone come into the kitchen. I thought it was Prue. I was mistaken.
“You’re finally home,” a male voice said.
My stomach dropped as I turned toward the kitchen’s hall entrance. Clay stood there, dressed in casual but still expensive attire: starched jeans and a gray Prada cashmere sweater.
His nasty eyes looked me up and down, not hiding that he liked what he saw. “You look like you’ve gained weight.”
What?
No, I don’t.
“I went to a party with Brandon last night. He insisted I drink. I’m just bloated from that,” I explained.
“Is that who you were with all night and this morning?” he asked.
I nodded and tried to act calm by taking a small sip of my water.
“Did you fuck him?” he asked.
I choked on the water in shock and began coughing.
“I’ll take that as a no,” he said as he came farther into the room toward me. “That’s not going to make your mother happy. In fact, she might get angry enough to cancel the rest of her trip and come right home when I tell her.”
I set my glass down on the kitchen island. The way he stared at me, I felt like prey. The hair on the back of my neck was standing.
He came closer until he was only a few feet away. He leaned a hip against the counter. “I totally understand why you haven’t given it up. I know how inexperienced you are.”
He doesn’t know shit.
He slid his hand across the top of the island over to mine, which rested near my glass. His pointer finger ran over the tops of my fingers. “I can help, you know. I can pop that little cherry of yours?—”
I pulled my hand away in disgust and took a step back.
He smiled. “Oh, come on. I can show you how to please him.” Just as the last two words left his mouth, he lunged for me, knocking over my water glass.
I barely heard it shatter on the ground. I was too busy running, trying to get to the other side of the long island. I didn’t make it. He caught me by the sleeve of my dress. I tried to pull free, but my sock feet kept slipping on the tile floor. His hand shot up from my sleeve to my collar. He yanked me to him with such force that the neckline ripped and I went falling toward him. He didn’t catch me before I hit the tile floor on my knee and elbow hard. I didn’t have time to comprehend the pain before fingers snaked into my hair and fisted.
“Get up,” he barked as he yanked up on my hair.
Sharp, stinging, burning pain spread all over my scalp. I screamed an ear-piercing scream. When I got my feet under me and could focus on something other than the pain, I noticed his fist still on my torn dress by my shoulder. I pushed up on my feet, shooting up quickly so he wasn’t pulling my hair taut, and bit his hand hard enough to draw blood.
He roared, releasing my dress, but not my hair. So when I went to get away, I just fell back.
“You little bitch!” he yelled, punching me in the ribs with the fist I’d just bitten.
