by Sara Hess
Ford and I were transported together in the back of one squad car after being read our rights. Our wrists were handcuffed to the door so we wouldn’t start anything in the backseat. The fact that we’d been read our rights gave me an idea.
“My father is not going to let them kick me out of UVA or go to jail, asshole. You’re going to be the one kicked out and sent to jail.” Ford mumbled from his bloody mouth next to me.
Figured the pussy would bring up daddy. “I’ve never known a guy to get so pissed off about a girl saying ‘no’ that he stalks her for years and recruits a bunch of pussy clones to do it too, and lie about being with her. She told me about your little problem so all I can figure is that you were trying to make her less reliable if she blabbed about it.”
I had no idea about the guy’s dick size, and while mentioning the fact that Shaw had seen his dick left a nasty taste in my mouth nothing got a guy more riled up than a girl talking negative about it.
Ford’s face turned purple under all the blood that was covering it. “That girl is a slut and gave it up to half our high school, and then she was our Houses call to for a hole to fill.”
My muscles tensed at his lie but I controlled myself and laughed darkly instead. “I happen to have proof positive that’s an outright lie, Dick Tiny. She never did you, and she never did any of your boys. She might have seen a couple cocks back in high school, if you could call them that, but ninety-nine percent of the rumors about her have been created by you.” It was damn difficult to bring up her knowledge of other cocks but some of the truth had to be revealed to get him to speak up.
He frowned at me and I raised my brow waiting for the light bulb to illuminate. It finally did. “No fucking way you’re trying to tell me she was a virgin when you got a hold of her?” He looked pissed at the idea that I’d gotten it and not him.
“Well you did know none of those rumors were true so why wouldn’t she have been. She hated all you boys until I came along and showed her what a real man was like. I find it bizarre how you got so many pansy asses to lie about her.” I shook my head with a smirk.
Ford leaned toward me as much as he could with his hands cuffed to the door. I saw the two cops who’d been listening carefully in the front seat twitch at his move. “That girl was asking for it in high school. She sucked me like a pro.” Clenching my teeth I breathed through my desire to smash his fucking face in. “But then she suddenly thought she was too good for me, too good for the whole school. She was a fucking crack baby dumped in a bathroom.” He sneered. “Guys were only too happy to bring her down a few pegs reminding her where she came from, and my Frat brothers are always bro’s before ho’s. They might have pussied out when the Chapter got a stick up its ass when you sicked a lawyer on them, but I have friends outside the house that were only too happy to keep her in line. One way or another I’m going to close that smart-ass mouth of hers.” He was nearly spitting with his crazy.
“You’re not getting near her ever again, jagoff?” I jerked towards him threateningly, wanting my hands free to strangle him.
He jolted back in fear, but it didn’t stop him from talking. “Because of some lame-ass piece of paper. Those restraining orders are a joke, and remember, I’ve got friends. They can get to her any time I can’t.”
I leaned back and cracked my neck to the right and the left to ease my tension. “Do you guys have video and audio in these vehicles or is your testimony enough to dig him a deeper hole than he was already in?”
“Video’s always on and we switched audio on soon after you guys started talking, so he dug his own grave.” The cop in the passenger seat turned and gave Ford a disgusted look and then he turned his attention to me with a nod of approval. “Pretty smart move; getting him to spill all that.”
“Smart beats stupid every time.” I muttered.
I was glad I’d gotten the ass to spill but all that shit he’d said about Shaw had my stomach twisting in anger and sorrow. I hated hearing about all the crap she’d had to put up; people like this asshole telling her she wasn’t worth anything when she was, and treating her like shit. She was worth a thousand of this guy.
Realizing he’d been recorded making threats Ford started spazing out; yelling and jerking around in his seat. Thankfully, I only had to listen to the jackass for two minutes before we pulled up to the station. Once inside I was fingerprinted and photographed, but instead of being put in a cell like Ford, the cops put me in a small interview room. They grinned and said I could wait here until my bail was set and paid. They also gave me bandages for my cut hands, a soda, and a bag of chips.
Fifteen minutes later my lawyer arrived and after some paper work I was released.
Nic, Carrie, David, Seth and Shaw were waiting for me in the lobby.
I smiled and waved. “Hey, where’s my cake with the file in the center of it?”
They all stood as one; Shaw still had a scowl on her face, Carrie was wearing a look of concern, but Seth, Nic and David laughed.
Nic slapped me on the shoulder. “I don’t bake desserts for dudes, but I did bring you smokes to exchange for favors.”
“Cool.” I grinned.
“I brought soap on a rope. It’s every criminals must have for when they go in the joint.” David waggled his brows. “Either that or lube.”
Carrie slapped his shoulder. “Ehwww, David.”
His expression went all innocent. “What! I’m just quoting Cosmo.”
“Is that magazine even around anymore?” Nic frowned.
Ignoring them Seth gave me a head jerk. “Did the accommodations improve from when I was a guest?”
Yeah, it wasn’t too long ago that Seth had been arrested for assault as well. However, the dickhead he’d pounded hadn’t walked away from that beating. He’d had to go to the hospital for multiple injuries. The guy had deserved it for what he’d tried to do to Nadia, though. Miraculously, the charges had been dropped…with a little help from his girlfriend.
“They didn’t stick me in a cell. I got the VIP treatment and got to hang out in the interrogation room. If there would have been champagne available I think I would have been offered a glass along with a toast.” On closer inspection I could see that the guys were hiding the apprehension they were feeling under some good-humored joking.
Walking up to Shaw I wrapped my arms around her rigid frame and kissed her on the lips. “Did you miss me, Red?”
Her eyes narrowed and she gave me a small shove. “This isn’t funny. You’ve been arrested for aggravated assault. That’s a felony. You’re going to have this on your record for life…go to jail.”
Under her anger I could see dismay and concern. I squeezed her waist. “It’s not going to stick, Shaw. The guy has been harassing you for years. Did they take a picture of your arm?” I smoothed my hand over the area gently.
“Yes.” She rubbed at it absently.
“Good.” I turned my head towards the other four. “Did you guys give statements?”
“David and Carrie had more to tell them than I did. I wish I could have given more but I only saw him bother her one time.” Nic said with a small resigned shrug.
“Same here.” Seth stated.
“Something’s better than nothing. On the way to the station Ford confessed to what he’d been doing to Shaw, so he basically nailed his own coffin.”
Everyone’s eyebrows shot up and Shaw jolted in my arms staring at me with startled eyes. “Are you serious; he really confessed?”
I gave her a smile. “He thought he was spouting his evil monologue but the squad car had audio and video recording.”
Shaw examined my expression with narrowed eyes. “You tricked him into confessing, didn’t you?”
“My genius at work.” I smirked. “Everyone from the cops to the lawyers are certain the charges will be kicked.”
She inhaled and then exhaled heavily and I could actually feel the years of harassment being released in that breath. Even if I did end up with a record it was worth it just for that.
My lip twitched.
“What’s a donkey buffet?” Carrie asked.
“It’s another way of saying ‘ass chewing’.” David informed her with a snicker.
“I’m ready to get out of here and get a real meal besides the slop they serve in this joint.” I pulled Shaw with me towards the exit.
“You’ve only been here for forty-five minutes; did you even eat anything during that time?” Shaw snorted from behind me.
Pushing the doors open to the outside I spun her back into the circle of my arms. “They gave me some off-brand soda and a bag of vending machine chips. I need real food and a real live woman.”
Lip’s pursing, Shaw shook her head. “You need your head examined.” She buried her face in my chest and hugged me tightly. “You’re so stupid.”
The ‘you’re so stupid’ was whispered so quietly I almost didn’t hear it, and I translated it for what it truly meant. I tightened my arms to let her know she was welcome.
“Anyone interested in getting a bite to eat?” I asked. Hours had passed since my fight with Ford and it was now past dinner time.
Seth shook his head. “I’ve got plans with Nadia, but I hear were all getting together at David’s tomorrow so we’ll all see you there.” He slapped me on the back. “Good job taking care of your girl.” He patted Shaw on the head. “Don’t ream him too badly for wanting to protect you.”
Shaw batted his hand away from her head. “I’m not a freaking dog.”
“You sure you’re not part poodle, because your hair shows some genetic markers.” Seth strode away with a chuckle.
“You sure you’re not part tree?” Shaw grouched.
Seth didn’t turn around but his chuckling did get louder.
Everyone else was in agreement on going out to eat. After deciding on Flannigan’s, a restaurant-bar that served pretty awesome food, we split off to our separate vehicles. Once Shaw and I were in the car and on the road silence hung heavy in the air for a moment. Shaw shifted restlessly and I knew she felt it. A slow simmer had been building in my gut since hearing the assholes words to Shaw this afternoon and I couldn’t tap it down any longer.
“Shaw, I’m going to ask you something and I want to hear the truth from your lips this time.”
She frowned.
I cracked my neck for a second time as tension began building in me again. “Have guys continued to harass you these past weeks?”
A stillness went over her frame and my tension mounted when she didn’t answer right away. Son of a bitch…the woman was going to drive me into the mad house. I’d been asking her if guys were still bothering her and she’d told me ‘no’.
Well, that wasn’t quite correct; she’d told me things were good, or kosher, or my favorite—‘I don’t know what to do with the surplus of derisive riposte sitting on my tongue with no one to unload them on’.
The damn woman had been snowing me this whole time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SHAW
Huh. Evan was starting to look pissed, and his knuckles were going white as they tightened on the steering wheel. Not as angry as when he’d been pummeling Ford, but he certainly wasn’t happy. Ford’s big-ass mouth must have been on vomit setting.
“Uhhmm…just a few. A drop in the bucket compared to how many were doing it before. I barely even noticed them.” I confessed…a little too late maybe?
“Dammit, Shaw. Why didn’t you say anything?” Evan snarled.
My hackles rose at being yelled at. “Because you had done enough and I was handling the leftover douche-bags just fine. These guys weren’t part of the Fraternity and there wasn’t anything you could threaten them with to make them stop being assholes. The right to be an asshole is written in the constitution under free speech. What were you going to do; go beat them all up and have several counts of assault against you instead of one. That would be the cherry on my freaking cake.” I was yelling at the end of my spiel.
Evan’s mouth thinned. “If you’d told me that asshole was still hassling you using other people it would have given me a heads up on his crazy meter. That guy is obsessed with you.”
I snorted. “Ford hates my guts.”
“Yes he does, but he lusts after you too, and that’s a really bad mix for a bully. He’s been a fucking time-bomb for years. Your rejection and smart-ass comments have been burning down his fuse little by little, and finding out how you’ve been messing with his life didn’t help. Today he almost exploded all over you. Luckily, it was a public setting and I was there or it could have been bad. Has he ever grabbed you before like he did today?” His gaze left the road to narrow on me with a warning not to lie.
After a small pause I decided to answer truthfully, but not because he was all but demanding me to. “He’s touched me before but not that aggressively.” And because I didn’t like feeling cornered I snapped. “Are you telling me I shouldn’t have stuck up for myself around him? Maybe I should have been a doormat and let him say all his crap to me, and about me?”
Evan sighed and cracked his neck. He’d been doing that a lot today. “Hell no, I’m not saying that, but you need to enlighten people on what you’re dealing with…let me know what you’re dealing with.” His bandaged hand settled on my leg. “That way we can get it taken care of together. You don’t have to do it all by yourself, Shaw.”
I turned my gaze out the window. “I’m actually really good at doing it by myself with all the practice I’ve had.” I’d found out a long time ago I could only depend on myself, and what was the use of dumping my problems on him when he wasn’t going to be in my life all that long.
His hand constricted on my leg. “But now you have more than a handful of people in your life who want to be there for you to lean on, and I’m one of them.”
“It’s not safe to lean on temporary posts.” I mumbled softly before I could stop myself. I prayed that he didn’t hear me but his hand squeezed my leg again telling me he did.
There was a small tension filled moment before Evan spoke. “I don’t want to be a temporary post, Shaw.”
It took everything in me to not spin and gape at him. What did he mean by that? Did he see this dating thing turning into a real relationship; something that lasted months…years? Then I remembered a long ago discussion where he’d mentioned something about remaining friends no matter what happened between us.
My rapidly beating heart compressed in pain. There was no way I could be friends with Evan after this was over. It would be too hard to be around him. I know I’d end up turning into a raging bitter bitch in his presence; especially if he was with another girl.
I slapped myself internally; this line of thought wasn’t getting me anywhere but depressed, and Evan had just done something significant for me. I didn’t want him to think I was a bitch who didn’t appreciate it. No one had ever done anything like he did for me, and while I was upset that he’d put himself in jeopardy, I wasn’t going to not show my gratitude.
Turning to face him I asked. “Am I finally reaching that bitch stage?”
Blowing out a breath he shook his head and the look he threw my way was fierce. “No, you just need to recognize that there are people in your life that care about you and aren’t going to stand for others messing with you.”
My chest swelled and warmed at his intensity. I set my hand on top of his, caressing lightly over the white bandage. “I do appreciate what you did; it’s just mixed with feelings of apprehension for you. I’m sorry if I came across as non-appreciative.”
The corner of his lip twitched and his hand stroked up and down my leg. “Was that difficult it say?”
A current of heat shot up my leg to my core. “What…that you’re a sad sack?”
He snorted and his hand massaged closer to the junction of my legs. “That’s not what you said.”
“It’s
what I heard come out of my mouth.” I retorted breathlessly.
He chuckled as I squirmed. Mercifully, we pulled into the parking lot of Flannigan’s and Evan had to let loose my leg. It didn’t matter; he’d already turned me into a hot mess with just that brief touch. He parked and we walked up to the restaurant with his arm around my waist.
“Evan, are you certain that you’re going to beat the charges?” I asked as we approached the entrance.
He stared down at me with that ever-present smirk but his gaze was serious. “As the sunrise, and if I don’t you have permission to kick my ass.”
I sighed with relief. “Now you have me hoping the morning never comes.”
His fingers attacked and I was almost screaming as he opened the door. Several people were standing in the foyer and turned to stare at us curiously as we walked in. Jabbing my elbow into Evan’s side I jerked away and straightened, assuming a sober stance. Evan wasn’t having it; he hauled me back into his side and walked us up to the hostess desk.
“Can we have a table for five in the bar?”
Of course we’d beaten the others here with Evan’s mad driving skills.
The girl at the podium smiled at him in that manner all women did causing me to grit my teeth in annoyance. My grinding didn’t ease when she looked me up and down in a way that said; “What are you doing with him?’ Yeah, he was a hot guy in a suit and I was in yoga pants and a sweat shirt with my hair in a haphazard bun, but she was in black work pants and a polo work shirt so it’s not like she had a right to judge my ensemble. And now that she’d been so nice as to point it out self-consciousness washed over me at how un-put-together I was. Looking around I could see that everyone else was dressed to rock Friday night except for me.
Ms. Brunette, with too much make-up, smiled her slut lips at Evan. “Right this way.” Grabbing a stack of menus she directed us to a high top table near the dart boards and after telling us the waitress would be with us shortly she walked away, but not without ogling Evan’s ass as she did.
Skank!