Page 56 of Exactly What I Needed
My gaze slid to Tera, who was unusually quiet. She lifted a single knowing brow, and I groaned. I was drunk and still couldn’t escape Asher. He came flooding back to my mind, and I frowned, kicking my feet in the water.
Suddenly, hands wrapped around my ankles and jerked. Liquid cocooned me, shoving down my esophagus. Choking on chlorine that burned my throat, I gasped for air, clawing to the surface.
Breaking the water, I blinked, spewing out as much of the pool liquid from my lungs as I could. “Who?” I coughed again, splashing and flailing like an idiot.
“Here, let me help you there.” A sickening sound flooded my ears as fingers grabbed my wrist.
I swung my drunken gaze to the edge of the pool to find Danny squatting down beside it.
“No. No. No.” I ripped my wrist from his hand.
“Get out of here, Danny!” Sydney shrieked.
“This is a girls-only party!” Katie shouted.
Danny merely gave me a smirk as I slipped beneath the water again. Flailing, breaking to the swaying surface that was making me nauseous, I glared at him.
“Leave, asshole,” I snarled, spinning around, and began to wade clumsily through the water to the stairs at the far side.
“Your parents want me here, so I’m not leaving. Besides, it looks like you could use some help.” He once again reached for my wrist.
“Go away.” I karate chopped at his outstretched hand and toppled sideways, crashing beneath the water again. Sounds were muffled; the dank sloshing of liquid curling around me helped me bob upright.
Spitting up chlorine once I broke the surface, a belch tumbled from my throat, as I continued my stumbling excursion forward. My friends shouted at him to leave, even splashed some water in his direction, but he slowly mirrored my clumsy movements instead.
Wrapping my hand around the metal railing, I hoisted myself up the stairs, tripping a time or two before finally exiting the water and swinging my head to glare drunkenly at Danny. The end of my ponytail slapped me in the face, which stung a little.
Spitting the hair from my mouth, the sudden rush of silence surrounding me crashed against me. Even Danny stared at me silently, wide-eyed in shock. I furrowed my brows and scanned my friends.
An umbrella flopped sideways in one glass.
Ice clinked against the edge in a drink, as the pool water swayed, but not a single person moved.
Finally, Danny pointed toward my leg. “Did someone hurt you?” he asked.
I glanced at where he was pointing. Panic sliced through me like hot iron at the sight of the briefly forgotten massive bruise and undeniable bite mark on my inner thigh. In the midst of falling in the pool, my swimsuitdress cover must’ve risen around my waist, which left nothing but my bikini bottoms covering only a small corner of the bite, but not enough to camouflage what the bruising was from.
“Yes,” I grumbled, feeling every ounce of heartbreaking pain rush back into me. Every emotion I’d gotten drunk to forget came crashing through me. Shoving down the swimsuit cover, I clenched my jaw.
“What’s his name? I’ll call the cops,” Danny asked, and I rolled my eyes, shoving past him.
“None of your business. And he didn’t hurt me like that.” I stomped back up the stairs.
“Cosi, you need to explain!” Sydney shouted, but I ignored her, continuing up the path.
“What do you mean he didn’t hurt you like that?” Danny followed me, reaching for my hand.
“Back the fuck off, Danny. Just go. I’m a big girl who can enjoy whatever pleasure she wants,” I hissed, and slapped his outstretched fingers away. Hustling across the bricks, I wound my way through the beautifully sculpted lawn and reached the back iron gate doors to the house.
“Look—” he started, but Tera cut him off.
“Sydney, get Danny out of here. I’ll go take care of Cosi.” Her voice was hollow, distant behind me, as I swung open the door and stepped into the mansion. Padding across the beautiful marble floor, I finally stumbled my way to a bathroom. Passing statues and an indoor fountain, golden accents intricately carved amongst the balcony above, I slammed my hands against the heavy oak door and crashed inside.
It shut behind me, and I leaned my back against the stand-alone black, stone tub, sliding to the floor.
Tears threatened to spill over the edges, and I closed my eyes, leaning my head back. The doorknob clicked, and footsteps shuffled inside. Cracking my hazy eyelids open, I was met by Tera’s stern gaze. She crossed her arms and looked down at me.
“Did you just disregard every fucking thing I said to you?” she hissed, and I rolled my eyes.
