Page 25 of The Catcher

Surely he wasbluffing? What could Tanner possibly know about me? I ran over my list of sins I had committed in my life.

I was thoroughly blameless. I had always been agoodgirl. Too good. Boring, even.

There wasonething. . . one time. . . I had been so anxious and nervous Ihaddone something wrong. . .

But he couldn’t possibly know about that. My teachers had never guessed. Not a good girl like me. Sibyl was the only one who knew. And we had sworn never to tell anyone.

Still, I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as I threw on leggings and a T-shirt. The last thing I wanted was to be around Tanner again but. . .what if? And surely the stadium crew would be arriving soon, so it wasn’t like I’d be totally alone with him.

I tried to comfort myself, but I was only partially successful as I got in my car and headed over to the stadium. For the thousandth time I bitterly regretted ever taking this job.

When I got out of my car at the stadium, the parking lot was dark and quiet. The stadium crew wasn’t there yet, but I could hear the distant crack of a bat. Tanner was in there doing batting practice at 3 am.

I forced myself to walk toward him, sure to keep far enough away that I could see him coming if I needed to run.

He saw me coming horribly early, turning and leaning on his bat to watch me. He was half in and half out of the shadows, but I saw the malicious smirk on his face as I drew closer. “Afraid I’ll chase after you, baby girl?”

“No,” I lied. “What do you want, Tanner?”

“I want to not have to chase after youall the fucking time,” he said coldly. “I want your mouth open for me because I say so. Not because I have to chase you down.”

“Well, you arenevergetting that,” I said.

This close, I could see the sheen of sweat on his chest and neck, his shirt sticking to the corded muscles. He put the bat behind his head, resting his hands on it and keeping his eyes fixed on me.

Fuck, but he was big. I felt myself flushing as I remembered how he had pinned me down last night and fucked me. But I was still far enough from him that I could sprint away if I had to.

“I know you cheated on your exam,” he said.

“I-I-I,” I was horrified to hear myself stutter.

He waited.

“I-I did not,” I got out, my face flaming.

“I have proof,” Tanner said. “Your friend Sibyl.”

Sibyl! Why the fuck would she do this? How the fuck did Tanner even know to look her up?

“It took a while,” Tanner went on, his uncanny eyes holding me frozen in place. “Calling all of your friends to find one with a dirty secret. Luckily your friend Sibyl is such a starfucker she was happy to give me proof of your secret in exchange for some money and the numbers of some of the guys on the team.”

“Are you g-going to report me to the art therapy board?” I asked, my heart in my throat.

I’d never work again. I’d be humiliated if my coworkers knew what I had done.

His smile was slow and cruel.

“I’m not going to report you, Em. As long as you do what I want, whenever I want it. And I fucking meanwhenever I want. Late at night, early in the morning, no matter where you are or what you’re doing. When I text you, you will comethat fucking second, your mouth and cunt open for me. No more having to run across the fucking town to chase you down and fuck you. You’ll fuck me when I want you to. Got it?”

I felt ice-cold fear down my spine. My heart began to pound in my chest. I wanted to open my mouth, plead with him, but I knew he was waiting for me to beg. I thought he’d enjoy watching me beg. So I didn’t. We stood there, looking at each other. City noises echoed outside the stadium, but it was silent in here.

I felt rooted to the spot.

The stadium was dark now, but I could see flickers of light flash over Tanner’s face and what I saw made my heart sink. My mind was racing, but I couldn’t think of any way out.

“And we’re going to start right now,” he said. “Get the fuck over here in front of me so I can see you.”

I walked toward him, looking at his face, trying to see if there was any mercy there, but I knew even as I did it that it was pointless. When I stood in front of him, he took a second and looked me up and down.

---