Tick. Tick. Tick.
The same sound from Mom’s nightstand back in the trailer, counting down the seconds until the door creaks open and the newest Todd comes looking for me.
His fingers fumble with the button on my jeans. The zipper sounds like a gunshot in the quiet between ticks.
Please, I think, and I don’t even know who I’m talking to. God. Dad. The universe.Anyone.Please. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for every wretched thing I ever did. I’m sorry for being fuckingalive, just please?—!
And then?—
BANG.
The door slams open so hard the wall shakes.
EIGHTEEN
CALEB
I hit the switch,and light floods the room.
“Get off her!”
I checked thirty-nine rooms before this one. And now to find her like this, glassy-eyed and limp, with this asshole lurking over her?—
“Hey, man,” he says, like I’m the one being weird. “She’s into it.”
She’s into it.
I see red. My brain short-circuits.
Her cheeks are streaked with tears. Her hands aren’t even moving. She’s not kissing him back. She’s just—still. Stiff. Like she’s frozen inside her own body.
“She’s into it,” he says again, like her passivity and silence are consent.
“Harper!” I snap, louder this time, desperate to drag herback from wherever she’s gone. “Hey, fucker, I said get off her.”
He turns, finally, and has the audacity to roll his eyes. “Get your own, man.”
Your own. Like she’s a product on a shelf. Or worse, just a hole to be fucked.
I don’t even think. My body acts before my brain can catch up.
No calculation. No risk assessment. No counting to four before acting.
Just—
I tackle him, driving all my weight into his chest and knocking him clean off the bed.
He scrambles and throws a punch.
I’ve never been in a single fight before, but I’m not about to fucking lose this one. I can’t afford to be the first one hit. It’s a millisecond of a thought, but I manage to duck and land the first punch.
Hard.All my fury at this bastard landing in the follow-through of my fist. There’s a satisfying crunch when my knuckles connect with his cheekbone.
He curses and tries to grab me again.
No rules. No mercy.
I’m already landing another punch. And another. And another.