Page 3 of Tainted Rose

Scarlett

He said he’d always protect me.

In the dark, I hurry down the long driveway. My mind races as I come to a halt to pull on my athletic shoes. I don’t even have my socks. A stuttered breath rattles around inside my chest as I start walking in what I hope is the general direction of my aunt and uncle’s home. I don’t know where my undergarments or socks ended up, but he can fucking keep them. I hope he feels like shit whenever he looks at them. Asshole. He’d fucked me, all right. First literally and then figuratively.

I don’t understand any of this. I thought I meant something to him. I thought we were together—that he was just waiting for Aria to get over her shit. I’d hoped in the end there would be an us.

The pain of it burns through my chest, my heart clamping down hard. I rub my hand over it, a sob ripping from my throat. Oh my God, I’m that girl. The one who is too stupid and naive to know when a guy is playing her to get into her pants. Fuck. Why hadn’t I listened when Aria warned me?

The answer is simple: because you’d been blinded by everything you felt every minute you were near him. Everything from the way he looked at you like he was going to devour you to the way he tasted on your lips. You were a goner from the first time you saw him. He must have recognized it. You made it easy for him.

And the fucked-up thing is, there’s only one person I want right now. One person I need. And she’s gone.

Grief washes over me in a way it hasn’t in ages. I stop, drag myself over to the curb, and collapse to ride out the pain. My head hangs between my shoulders, and I cover my face with my hands, letting tears sneak their way out of my eyes. I’ve tried to stay strong, tried to get my life back on track. But now it feels like a disaster all over again. Another cry wrenches its way out from deep in my gut. Mom, I need you.

A while later, I collect myself enough to realize I can’t sit here on the side of the road all night. It’s late, and I’d told my aunt I was going to be staying with Daphne after the game. I swallow past the knot of tears at the back of my throat. Now what the fuck do I do? I don’t have an Uber account or money with me for a cab. I bite down on my lip, glance at my phone for a second, and decide against calling anyone. I throw my bag over one shoulder and across my body and begin the long run home, letting the wind on my face dry my tears.

Finally home, I’m completely worn out, worn down. I drag myself through the door and up the stairs as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake Aunt Liz and Uncle David. Heading straight for my bathroom, I carefully assess myself. I’m a hot mess—a layer of sweat coats my skin, my face is red and mottled, my eyes are puffy, my hair is wild. And my heart is completely broken.

“Scar? Is that you?” A voice drifts to me from the direction of my aunt and uncle’s bedroom down the hall as footsteps sound on the carpeting.

I cringe and swipe at my cheeks before quickly heading to my bedroom doorway. Maybe I can head her off. Poking my head out, my aunt stands right outside my door, a funny, questioning look on her face. “I thought you were staying at Daphne’s tonight.”

I swallow hard and hope she buys what I’m selling. I don’t want to have to go into detail about my heartbreak tonight. “I wasn’t feeling well, so I came home.” I hope she can’t see that I’m not sick. I’m destroyed.

Tainted.

She takes a step closer to me, and as she does, her eyes widen. “What happened?” More frantic now, “What the hell happened, Scarlett?” I guess I look worse than I thought. She closes the distance between us and pushes my door open so more light falls on my face. Crap. If she looks any closer at all, she’s going to know something’s wrong. We’ve always been like this, even though we hadn’t seen each other often before Mom died. She knows me. She takes my head between her palms and tilts my face up so she can stare right into my eyes. Nope. My eyes slam shut.

“Look at me, Scarlett,” she demands. “Did someone hurt you? Why are you all sweaty and out of breath?” She backs me up and makes me sit down on my bed, then squats down in front of me.

I shake my head and cover my trembling lips with my fingers. “I can’t—”

“Is everything okay?” Uncle David appears in the doorway, his deep, rumbling voice hitting me square in the chest. When he gets a good look at me, a crease works its way onto his forehead. “Whose punk ass do I need to kick?” he growls.

Now that I’ve had a chance to sit down and breathe, shudders work their way through my body. Aunt Liz gazes into my eyes, her concern rising. She’s gentle as she pushes my hair behind one of my ears, then repeats the process on the other side. Softly, she whispers, “Talk to us, honey.”

“Xan-Xander …” I relive every word he’d said to me. How am I supposed to talk about this when I feel so raw and broken? Finally, I get the courage to blurt out, “He broke up with me.”

Uncle David cocks his head to the side and points his finger at me. “You told us he was just a friend.”

My aunt eyes her husband with a duh face as if to say, You didn’t really believe that, did you?

I press my lips together. “We were just friends.” I frown, looking down at my hands. “And then it was more than that.”

“I’ll kill him. I knew he’d do something like this.”

I wince and shake my head. “Why would you think that?”

“Because boys like him don’t date girls like you.”

My aunt sucks in a breath. “David.”

He grits his teeth, seeing my distress. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I swipe my fingers under my eyes again. My cheeks feel itchy from the tears that have already fallen and dried there. “Why wouldn’t he date me? Do you think the same thing he obviously does of me? Am I somehow less than? Not a Rose. Not good enough?”

David sits on the bed beside me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it like that.” He runs his hand along the stubble on his jaw. “It’s just that with what we assume your mother went through at that damn school, I— Well, it makes me sick to my stomach to think about Xander messing around with you. I should kill him. I still might.” Anger radiates off of his body, but he appears to have it under a firm leash when he puts an arm around me to give me a sideways hug. “I’m sorry.”

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