Page 84 of Hard Rock Muse
“I wasn’t abused,” I said. “He never hit me.”
“Abuse isn’t always physical,” Julian said. “It can be emotional. It can be mental. And it can be just as bad.” Julian averted his eyes, looking down at the bed and murmuring. “Sometimes it can even be worse.”
“I—”
I cut myself off. Those tears threatened to fall. Abused. I’d never thought about that word before. Never thought it applied to me. I’d just been weak. Hadn’t I?
“Keith was a controlling, abusive asshole,” Julian said adamantly. “He preyed on you when you were vulnerable. And none of that is on you.”
He held out his arms. I hesitated for only a moment before falling into them.
“It could have happened to anyone,” Julian said. “Itdoeshappen to people. A lot of people. It doesn’t make you, or them, weak.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks, wetting his chest where I’d pressed my face against him.
“It’s not your fault, Everly,” Julian whispered into my ear. “You’re not weak. You’re just human.”
And for the first time in years, I started to believe it.
