Page 27 of Before Us (Next Generation 3)

“I saw you with him,” Brody finally said. He rubbed his nape, his gaze flicking back and forth but still not meeting my eyes. “I saw you with them. The twins.Him.”

“With who?”

Brody reached his hand behind him. It came back a second later with a knife in it.

My world tilted on its axis. This was it. This was how I was going to die, or worse.

“I like you, Piper.” Brody met my gaze that time. “I’ve always liked you, but you didn’t like me back. I don’t know why. I have money. I have a lot of money. I could make you fall in love with me. Whether you like it or not. You will be mine. I’ll see to it. No matter who gets in the way, you will always be mine.”

“We’re friends,” I told him, backing up until I hit the edge of my dresser. “We’ve always just been friends.”

“Yeah.” Brody chuckled, the sound cold and vile. “You see. That doesn’t work for me. If I can’t have you, no one’s going to have you. I don’t give a shit who they are. It kind of sucks that I have to do this here though. I like your friends. They have nothing to do with this. It’s all you, Piper. You and that slutty little body of yours. You’ve been prancing around here half naked ever since you got back from Paris. Is that what you learned over there? How to be a whore?”

My blood burned at what he was accusing me of. “I’m not a whore, and I don’t dress like it either.”

“No? You don’t? I’ve seen you with the twins. I like them though. But Jaron? Come on, Piper. You could do so much better than him. He’s a biker.” Brody took a step toward me.

“Please, Brody. We can talk about this.” I reached behind me, trying to find something on my dresser that I could use as a weapon, but there was nothing. My dad had tried getting me to have a gun, but I refused. Even if I kept it in a locked case, we threw too many parties. I didn’t want to take the chance that someone would stumble into my room and find it. I suddenly regretted that decision.

“Talk?” Brody laughed. “What are we going to talk about, Piper?”

Taking a breath, I ran around him and jumped onto my bed when my feet were pulled out from beneath me. I cried out, struggling against him. I kicked and fought with all of the strength I could muster. My foot landed against Brody’s crotch, making him grunt, but it didn’t stop him from ripping at my clothes. His fingers dug into my sides, his knee pushing into the small of my back.

I winced, attempting to push him off of me but he was too damn strong. “Brody, please stop this.”

Brody removed his knee from my back and towered over me. With his fist in my hair, he leaned down to my ear. “You see, Piper. I do want to do this. Because no matter what, I can get away with it. I wonder what would happen if Jaron walked in. There would be a struggle, naturally. But people will think I actually fought him off. That I was the one to stop him from raping you.”

My eyes widened. “W-What are you saying?”

“I’m the hero, baby. I’myourhero.” With a firm grip on my head, he leaned back and slammed his fist into the side of my face.

Spots danced in my vision. Agony screamed through my cheek. My lip split, a metallic taste coating my tongue.

Brody turned me onto my back and knelt between my legs. “You’re so fucking beautiful. Why couldn’t you fall for a guy like me? Why him?” Wrapping a hand around my throat, he grazed the other up my thigh, pushing it beneath the hem of my dress.

Bile rose to my throat, when I remembered I had no panties on. He would see me. Just a little more and he would see every inch of me. A part that had belonged to Jaron since Paris. I struggled, trying to grab the fabric from him but he was too strong for me. “Please, Brody. Stop this.”

Squeezing my throat, he towered over me. “I want you to look into my eyes when I fuck your soul.”

I whimpered. “Please stop.”

“That’s right.” He licked up the side of my face. “Beg for it. Isn’t that what you do for Jaron? I bet he has you crawling on the ground for him like a little bitch in heat. You’re a fucking slut. Sleeping with the twins. Now Jaron. And then me.”

My stomach twisted. “No.” I grabbed his hand around my throat, digging my nails into his skin, but that only seemed to make him squeeze harder. The lack of air burned through my lungs. I gasped for breath, spots dancing in my vision. “Brody,” I croaked. “Stop.”

A heavy fist slammed into the side of my head and then my stomach. It forced the fight from me. No matter what I did, I couldn’t push him off. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t fight. I couldn’t overpower him. I had no idea that Brody was this strong. He was smaller than Jaron. Much smaller.

“Brody,” I whispered.

He leaned down to my ear. “I will make it so you never forget me.”

He was right. I wouldn’t. I never would.

***

(Jaron)

“Hey, Jaron.” Gigi came toward me, followed by Meadow.

---