Page 18 of Save Me

“So now you do whatever he asks?”

“I do when he holds the dirt he’s got on me over my head,” he responds simply.

I nod, playing with the almost empty bottle in my hands.

“And what does your sister have to do with any of this?”

“He’s dating her… has been since he met her when he was helping me six months ago.”

I blanche, confusion sweeping over me as I look at him.

“They’ve been dating for six months? But we only stopped seeing each other…” I try to do the math in my head but it’s not adding up.

“He was never seeing you exclusively, Evi,” he says softly.

Oh.

“But I saw him every day for ages…” And then it hits me. After the first few weeks of us being together we never went anywhere where people from his social circle would see us. It was always my apartment, his penthouse, or Heat—which didn’t exactly scream ‘yacht club vibes.’

“So, the only people who knew about Rhett and I were…”

“Us guys,” he confirms.

“And how is him dating your sister impacting this situation at all?” I rub my eyes, too tired, too drained, and too drunk for this conversation.

“You know what he can be like, Evi, so just imagine for a second what will happen if I help you. Imagine all the ways Rhett could—would—get back at me. He could put me behind bars, he could use her to get to me…”

“And yet you’re letting him date your sister. You’re friends with him…” I trail off, shaking my head. “Why?Howcould you still be friends with someone like him?”

“Our parents are in business together, and our grandparents before that. We’ve been in the same social circle since we got into university together. We were in the same frat, attended the same classes, and worked at the same law firm. Trust me when I say I’m not happy about him dating my sister. But there’s no room for a fallout in our world, Evi.”

I know exactly what he’s talking about, the complexities that come with how we were raised, of the expectations we were meant to uphold and the family partnerships we were destined to strengthen.

“And now he’s got dirt on you… and is dating your sister.”

He nods before taking a deep breath, picking up his coffee, and taking a few sips.

“He’s not as aggressive as Tanner, but I saw what you were like around him.”

“You met me like one time,” I cut him off.

“I met you a few times at Heat,” he says, breaking eye contact with me. I freeze, the sound of my heart beating in my chest drowning out the TV in the background.

He keeps talking, his eyes searching mine. “We never talked much, if that’s what you’re wondering, but I saw how he can be.”

I nod, his unspoken words saying more than needed.

“So, you can’t help me.”

He has the decency to at least look ashamed as he continues talking. “He has way too much leverage against me to risk upsetting him now. Between the power his family has and the way he deals with being wronged”—he gestures to me—“I can’t risk him throwing me in jail or taking out his anger on my sister if I piss him off.”

I pick up the bottle, downing the rest of the liquor despite the nausea rising inside of me as I force the liquid down.

I don’t say anything in response, I don’t even know what there is left to say, how to respond to such a blatant refusal to help me. Surprisingly, I don’t feel disappointed in his response, and I can’t help but wonder if the alcohol has finished numbing me in ways that I couldn’t on my own, or if I had given up any hope of leaving before I asked him to help.

I turn my attention away from him and back onto the TV in front of me.

I don’t know how much time passes before I’m suddenly aware of being lifted off the couch. The alcohol has finally made me blissfully emotionless and I’m too drunk to protest being carried like a child.

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