Page 40 of The Dance
He grabbed my hand, stopping me. “I know what you’re doing, but why?”
“What do you mean, why?” I hadn’t told him what had happened to me. He didn’t know I was raped, slapped, punched, hair pulled. He could see the bruises on my face, so he knew something had happened, but all he had were his assumptions.
“I know you were attacked, so why the fuck are you trying to fuck me now?”
“Because I need you,” I admitted.
“Yeah, well, I need you to tell me what the fuck happened first.”
“No.” I shook my head.
“Then let me put you—”
“Fine!” I shouted and tried to climb off him, but he held my hips so I couldn’t get up. I took another deep breath. “A sugar daddy raped me. Happy now?”
“No.” Blake wrapped the blanket around me. He kept me on his lap as he laid back. “I will never be happy that you were raped, Toot—Stacey. Let me take you to the police. Let me take care of you.”
Tears stung my eyes again. “It’s no use.”
“And why the fuck not?”
“He vanished.”
“What do you mean ‘he vanished’?”
“I went to look at his profile a minute ago, and it was gone. Everything was gone, even our chats.”
“How can that be?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know.”
“I’m sure the company can trace him,” Blake suggested.
“Doesn’t matter. I took a shower, but there was no evidence or DNA. He used a condom and tied my hands, so I couldn’t fight back. Plus, they’ll probably think I’m a whore and asked for it.”
He cupped my cheek. “You need to report it. You never know. There has to be some evidence of his existence on the app. A backup server or their records. His profile can’t just disappear.”
I closed my eyes and took another breath. “You’re probably right, but if I report it, everyone will find out. My parents, my friends, everyone. I’ll have to stop being a sugar baby—”
“Yeah,” Blake spat. “You can’t go back to that shit.”
“It’s the only way I make money,” I argued.
“Fuck that. It’s dangerous. I’ll teach you how to be a bartender and get you a job at The Wild Pony.”
I shook my head. “It was one guy that was dangerous.”
“One guy too many.”
“I’ve already made up my mind.” I stood with the blanket still wrapped around me. “Can you just take me home?”
“No, I’m not taking you home.”
“Blake!”
He stood. “Look, Toots—”
“Don’t call me that!” My hands clenched at my sides.
