Page 3 of Beneath the Scars
She turns toward me with the biggest smile. “Hi, Michael.”
“It’s time to go.”
“Oh, but I was just getting to know my friends.”
“Yeah, what’s the rush? Let her stay,” some puffed-up frat boy interjects.
I step in close to Addie and throw my voice low so only she can hear me. “I swear to god, Adalaide, I will throw you over my shoulder if you don’t walk out of here with me right now.”
She shivers at my tone, but I can’t decide in what capacity—that is, until I lean back and note that her eyes have gone glassy with desire. With every ounce of self-control I have, I grip her biceps and pull her with me. Those assholes didn’t even put up a fight. I could’ve been anyone, yet they let her go with me without a fuss. Fucking idiots. It’s a good thing I got here when I did.
“You can let me go now.” Addie huffs, but I don’t release her until we get to the passenger door of my truck. I open it for her and then grip her hips to lift her inside. I ignore her gasp as well as my own body’s reaction to having my hands on her. The slinky little black dress she’s wearing feels like silk under my hands, and the hemline slides up high on her thighs. Ripping my gaze away from her tan skin is as difficult as telling my body to stop breathing. I jump into my truck and leave the bar behind us like a bad smell.
Words rumble like gravel in my throat after not speaking for half an hour. “What the fuck was that all about, Adalaide?” We’re almost home, and I need to know what’s going on with her before we get there.
“I don’t know.” Her voice is small, as if she’s about to get in trouble.
I sigh and soften my tone. “This isn’t like you. You’ve never gotten drunk like this before.”
“I’ve been drunk plenty of times.”
“Maybe, but never like this. Never to the point where you feel like you have to call me.”
“I didn’t ask you to come get me. I was fine.”
“So, what, you just wanted to see how my day was? You never call me.” I try to keep the hurt out of my voice. We were close before she went to college. Now we’re practically strangers to each other. Her calling me was exactly what I thought. She wanted me to come pick her up.
“No, I just…”
“You just what?”
“I-don’t-want-to-be-a-virgin-anymore.”
My brain shuts down for half a second while her rushed words compute. In the time it takes me to formulate a proper response—not that “what” is much of one—she’s spewing out words so fast I’m worried she can’t breathe.
“I went to that bar hoping to find someone tofinallytake my virginity, but I got nervous, so I started to drink, and then the more I drank, the more I thought about you and how I didn’t want some random guy to take my virginity. I wanted you to do it, so I called you. But then I chickened out again, except my drunk self just called you sexy, which is true, but beside the point, and?—”
“Adalaide, breathe. Take a deep breath, baby.”
She sucks in air as if she’s drowning. I have no idea what to say in response to her admission. How are you supposed to respond when your best friend’s little sister tells you she wants you to take her virginity?
Silence hangs heavy in my truck cab as I pull into her parents’ driveway.
I grab her arm, stopping her from running away from me. As usual, I wait for my body to revolt at the feeling of her skin against mine, but it never comes.
Before I can think too hard about it, words tumble from my mouth. “You will not allow some random fucking asshole to take your virginity. Do you understand me, Adalaide?”
She looks at me with those wide chocolate-brown eyes and nods her head.
“No one is allowed to touch you but me.”
Chapter 2
Addie
Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.
I sprint to the front door as if my ass is on fire.
