by Jenika Snow
Andrea narrowed her eyes and held her hand out behind her, as if trying to hold back her friends when they took a step closer.
“Regardless, I just wanted you to see that you are no more special than any other girl he’s fucked.” Andrea leaned in and spoke slowly. “And you have let him fuck you, right?” It was a question, but then again it wasn’t. Before Kiera could walk away Andrea held out a set of photos. “I took the opportunity to print these out for you, seeing as I was the one that snapped them.” Her grin was malicious. “Thought maybe you’d like to really get a look at them, and really know what you’re dealing with. Because, honey, if you plan on being Reese Trenton’s flavor of the week you need to know where you stand.”
Kiera looked at Andrea and down at the photos. They were grainy, but clear enough that she could see Reese and another guy fighting.
“I have no desire to see pictures of Reese fighting.” She went to move again, but Andrea blocked her path. Kiera felt her blood pressure rise. “I’m done here, Andrea. Move the fuck out of my way.” A look of surprise flared on Andrea’s face, and Kiera admitted she was surprised at herself as well.
Andrea schooled her features and said, “No, I think you’re going to want to see these.” Andrea shoved the photos in Kiera’s chest again and walked off. For a moment Kiera just stood there and contemplated tossing them away, but curiosity got the better of her and she looked down at them. The first few were just of Reese and some guy fighting. The look of rage on Reese’s face was downright frightening, but that wasn’t what had her heart stopping. The picture she stared down at showed Reese in a chair with a redhead in his lap. They were definitely kissing, and by the way Reese held her to him it was clear he was enjoying it. If not for the date and time stamp at the bottom of the photos she would have ignored them and just thought they were from before they got together. Clearly she wouldn’t be thinking that now, though. The rest were of them kissing, and bile rose in her throat. Was it that easy for him to just forget about her? Tears slid down her cheeks, and she heard the high-pitched giggle just feet from her. She didn’t need to look up to know Andrea and her lemmings had stayed behind to watch her realize she had been nothing to Reese. As she ran out of the school the last thing she heard was the cackling laughter and cruel words of Andrea.
“I told you Reese didn’t want you for more than a piece of ass.”
Once outside she quickly called Alex to come pick her up. Ten minutes later he pulled in front of the school, and she ran to the truck. Tears were a steady torrent down her cheeks, and she hoped Alex didn’t drill her for why she was upset. No such luck, though, because as soon as she shut the door he started with the questions. At least he kept driving, because she couldn’t handle seeing Reese right now, and had worried the entire time she waited for Alex that he would come outside looking for her. Her phone vibrated, but she didn’t bother looking at it.
“Kiera, what the hell is wrong?”
She didn’t respond, just stared out the window and tried to force herself to stop crying. Another few minutes passed before he was asking her again.
“Kiera, tell me what the fuck is wrong.”
She sniffed, not wanting to talk about it, but knowing that Alex wouldn’t relent. He veered the truck off the side of the road so abruptly she had to brace her hands on the dash or she would have slammed into it. “You’ll tell me what the fuck is going on, Kiera.” His voice had dropped to a low growl, and she looked at him. She forgot how scary Alex could look when he was upset.
She whispered, “It’s nothing.”
His face grew darker. “Bullshit.” His jaw worked, and he looked out the windshield. “Was it Trenton? Did he hurt you?”
When she didn’t answer right away his head snapped forward again. The muscles under his jaw worked back and forth, and she could tell he was barely controlling his temper.
“That’s it. I’m going to that school and beat the shit out of that motherfucker.”.” He slammed the truck into gear and pulled back onto the road. She reached out and placed a hand on his forearm. Tears continued to stream down her face, and that just pissed her off even more.
“He didn’t hurt me, not in the way I’m sure you’re thinking.”
“Kiera, you’re crying because of him. I don’t care if he snubbed you in the cafeteria. He hurt you, and I’m going to make him realize that if he fucks with you, he fucks with me.”
Kiera closed her eyes, not wanting this to escalate. This was the last week of school. She could tough it out. Her cell continued to vibrate with texts, and when she obviously wasn’t responding the calls started coming. “I just want to go home.” She pleaded. “Please, Alex.” The breath she had been holding came out of her in a rush when, after several long seconds, Alex finally started heading to their home. “Thank you, Alex.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Kiera.” She didn’t need to ask what he meant, because the unspoken threat was there.
As soon as he pulled into the driveway she didn’t wait for him. Running into the house and slamming her bedroom door behind her, Kiera squeezed her eyes shut as the tears fell harder now that she was alone. She locked the door and face-planted on her bed. Taking a deep breath she screamed into her pillow as loud as she could. It felt good, but didn’t help much more than giving her a second of relief. Her phone rang for the hundredth time, and she pushed herself up and grabbed her phone. Molly’s smiling face illuminated the screen. She thought about ignoring it, but no doubt by now everyone in the school knew of her humiliation. Swiping her finger across the screen, she answered. “Hello?”
“God, Kiera. Ian and I have been trying to get a hold of you. Where are you?” The worry in Molly’s voice was clear. She could also hear Ian rattling off a string of questions in the background about if she was okay.
“I’m fine, and I had Alex come and get me.”
“Kiera.” Molly’s voice dropped to a soft volume. “Are you okay?”
The tears started again, and dammit, Molly heard.
“I am so sorry, Kiera.”
“How did you find out?” She really wasn’t surprised, and maybe she was a masochist for wanting to know the details. A beat of silence passed, and Kiera asked, “Everyone knows, don’t they?” Molly’s deep exhale answered her question.
“Some texts were sent, but there were also pictures.”
Kiera closed her eyes, not shocked, but feeling the humiliation all over again.
“Andrea was right, Molly. I was nothing but a piece of ass to him.” Kiera hadn’t told Molly yet about losing her virginity to Reese, but by the sharp inhalation over the line it didn’t need to be said. Her best friend knew.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
Kiera sniffed and laughed, but it was forced and hardly humorous.
“He went crazy, Kiera.”
“What are you talking about?” She grabbed a tissue and wiped under her eyes.
“Reese. He went crazy when he found out Andrea took those pictures and that you left. He peeled out in his car like five minutes ago.”
Kiera shook her head even though no one saw her. “He was upset that he was caught.”
“I don’t know, Kiera. I’ve seen him upset, but this was something that was damn near toxic. His expression … God, Kiera. It was scary as hell. He was cursing and screaming, but I couldn’t really make out what he said.”
She talked for a few more minutes with Molly, but she was suddenly so exhausted. After she got off the phone she tossed it aside. She stared at the ceiling and took a deep, calming breath. Yeah, it didn’t do shit to help. She should have believed the rumors, and known that Reese wasn’t the type to only be with one girl, but she loved him, dammit. Yes, she fucking loved him. That slammed into her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her face with her hands. She loved him, and it was clear he didn’t share the same feelings. Hard, wracking sobs stole her breath, and she wished the pain could magically disappear.
Maybe she should talk to him, get his si
de of the story. It seemed so unlike him after spending time with him and seeing how he treated her, but the pictures had been clear and unmistakable. Her phone started ringing again, but she let it go to voicemail. Minutes later the sound of tires squealing right outside had her sitting up and rushing to the window.
Oh God.
Reese slammed the car into park and was storming to her front door, calling her name in the process.
“Kiera.” He stopped and looked up at her window. The anguish on his face was clear, and she wanted to go to him, desperately, but fear and pain kept her rooted to the spot. Before she could make a decision on whether or not to go to him Reese whipped his head toward the front door. A moment later she saw Alex making his way toward Reese in fast, angry strides. With the window shut she couldn’t hear exactly what they said, but by Alex’s expression he was furious. Before she could tear herself away from the window Alex reared his arm back and slammed his fist into the side of Reese’s face. Reese fell back, clearly blindsided by the punch, but was up on his feet seconds later. Blood started to form in the corner of his mouth and trickle out his nose. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and turned his head to spit out a mouthful of blood. He held up his hands, a clear act of surrender, but the anger on Alex’s face was like lightning across the sky. He punched Reese again and again, sending him to the ground once more. Alex was on top of him seconds later and kept hitting him like a madman. Everything was happening so fast, yet it felt like it happened in slow motion. What shocked her most was that Reese refused to defend himself. Kiera rushed down the stairs and out the front door.
As soon as she was outside she could hear the rage-filled words Alex spoke. They were vile and harsh and like nothing she had ever heard her brother say.
“Alex. Stop, please. You’re going to kill him.” She screamed over and over again, but her brother was like a machine. She ran up to him and grabbed his arm that he had reared back. In the next second she found herself sprawled on her ass several feet away. The air left her, and stars danced in front of her eyes. For a moment she didn’t know what happened, but then she realized her mistake. She shouldn’t have gone to Alex when he was clearly that upset. The sound of Alex grunting had her looking over at the guys and watching Reese slam his fist into her brother’s gut.
“You can hit me all you want, but when you put your hands on my girl, then me and you have some real fucking problems.”
Alex picked himself off the ground, and the two men stared at each other. Alex was by her side a second later and running his hands over her hair.
“Kiera, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to push you back like that. I was just so angry and didn’t even realize it was you that grabbed my arm.” He helped her up and pulled her into his chest for a hug. “You’re okay?”
“I’m fine, Alex.” She looked around his shoulder and saw Reese watching her with his emotions so raw and tangible she couldn’t stop the flow of tears.
“Kiera.” Reese’s voice was strained, and he cleared it before talking again. “If you’ll just talk to me, let me explain.” His face was bruised and bloody, and he favored one hand close to his chest, but his sole attention was focused on her.
“There isn’t anything to talk about, asshole. You hurt my sister, and that makes you my problem,” Alex said without untangling his arms from him. She internally winced at her brother’s words. Reese closed his eyes and grimaced.
He opened his eyes again, and she swore she saw tears brimming in the corners. “Please, Kiera. Just give me five minutes, and then I won’t bother you ever again.”
She knew this needed to be resolved now. Pulling away from Alex, she looked up at her brother. “I’ll be okay.”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone with him.” He cut a nasty glare at Reese before looking at her again.
“Alex, I’ll be fine. Just give me a few minutes of privacy, okay?” It took her brother several moments to agree, and when he went back in the house she felt the weight of the awkwardness hanging in the air.
“Kiera, baby.” He took a step forward, but she held her hand out to stop him.
“Please, don’t, Reese. Just don’t.” She angrily wiped her cheeks and brushed the tears away. He looked away, anger and hurt crossing over his features. Kiera had seen the photos, and it was hard to think they were anything but true, but the time she spent with Reese had her wanting to her believe anything he said. She loved him, but her rational thinking told her what could he possibly say to make everything like the way it was?
“I know what you think you saw me doing in those pictures, but I swear it isn’t what they seem.” He took another step, and she took one back.
“Please, Reese, just stop.”
His nostrils flared, and he ground his teeth before nodding. “I know it looked like I fucked up, but I swear on everything, Kiera, I did not cheat on you. She came up to me, and before I even knew what she was doing she was in my lap and kissing me. I tried to push her away, and that’s why it looks like I was holding onto her.”
Kiera dropped her gaze to the ground and closed her eyes. He sounded so sincere, and she couldn’t help but believe him. How could she not when he made her feel so good about herself, well, aside from right now.
“Baby, you have to believe me.” He sounded closer, and she lifted her eyes and looked at him. His emotions were out in the open for all to see. The vile thoughts that what they had couldn’t possibly last grew inside of her. She would be leaving to OSU in the fall, and it wasn’t like they talked about any kind of plans concerning their relationship.
“Reese, what are we doing?” They might have gone to the same school for the past four years, and he might have been the guy she gave her virginity to, but they didn’t really know each other. They had only known each other for a couple of weeks, but it felt like she had known him her entire life. Did she regret being with Reese sexually? What she really wanted to do was fall into his arms and forget all of this drama, but she knew that wouldn’t solve anything.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Kiera.” He moved closer, and she didn’t retreat. “You believe me, so let’s just move past this, baby.”
If things could only be that simple, but she knew it would only be a Band-Aid on the bigger picture. “Reese, have you thought about what will happen when I leave for school in the fall?”
A look of confusion passed over his face. He probably thought there was something wrong with her since she had changed topics so quickly. “I swear to you, Kiera. Please, you have to believe me.”
A fresh wave of sorrow filled her. He still thought she was talking about the photos, when in reality she wasn’t.
“I believe you, Reese, I truly do.” The relief that washed over his face had her heart breaking.
“That’s so good, baby.” His voice was sincere, and a joy-filled expression covered his face.
Her chest clenched tighter. She saw a tear slip out of the corner of his eye. He stopped right in front of her, but didn’t make a move to touch her. She didn’t think she could have handled it if he touched her, not with her tremulous emotions.
“I thought I lost you, Kiera. God, I don’t want to even think about that.” He closed his eyes, and his tears fell harder. “I can’t explain why people do the things they do, but the fact you believe me—” He covered his face with his hands, and his big chest heaved.
Kiera started crying harder, which had him dropping his hands and staring at her with concern. “Kiera, baby, I swear that everything will be okay. We are stronger than this, than everyone who wants to bring us down.”
“Reese, I’m not talking about the pictures, I’m talking about us.” She turned her back to him and stared at the closed front door. Was Alex right behind it, able to hear everything that was going down?
“I don’t understand.” His voice was strained, but she couldn’t bring herself to face him.
“I just need some time to think, to figure out what I am doing.”
Forcing herself to face him again was harder than she thought it would be, but it wasn’t until she looked in his eyes that she felt real pain. His stare was void of any kind of emotion, like he was staring right through her. “Maybe all of this was a sign or something? Even though it wasn’t true, how could I ever think a guy like you and a girl like me would last?” She had been no one special for so long, the chubby girl that nobody paid attention to, until Reese Trenton noticed her. She didn’t want time, didn’t want any space between them, but all of this drama made her realize that they didn’t really know each other.
You just need to go to him, embrace him and have him tell you everything will be okay. Yes, that was exactly what she needed to do, because her thoughts were wild from her emotions and she couldn’t possibly be thinking clearly. Things will be good, right? Before she could make a move he was speaking.
“Time apart…” He looked away, and for several long, agonizing minutes he didn’t move. He turned and looked at her again. “You believe me, but still need time? Basically you’re just giving up on us?”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. Everything was unraveling right before her eyes, and it was like someone had stolen her voice.
“You’re giving up on us?” he asked again, his voice stronger from his clear pain.
“That isn’t true, Reese.” His chest rose and fell harshly. “I care about you, I—” Before she could tell him she made a mistake doubting them, and before she could confess that she loved him, he held up his hand, stopping her words.
“I don’t want to hurt you or stop you from thinking things through. Just know that I would do anything for you, Kiera.” He stepped closer. “I would do fucking anything.” She was speechless by his admission. He cleared his throat several times. “You know, I’ve always felt like a bastard. I’ve used girls for nothing more than a night, gotten drunk to numb my demons, and fought my way through the pain I felt. You came along, and I felt something more than anger. You brought light into my life, and I don’t want to give that up.”