Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
All right. Fuck it. I’m out of here.
As I reach the threshold, there’s another sound, a thump. Maybe I’m not thinking clearly, but considering the fact that Parker is missing, my gut tells me to check it out.
“Hold on,” I tell Reece, who’s been standing at the front door waiting for me.
“You go ahead. I’m walking home,” he says, then heads out.
“Fine.”
I take the staircase two steps at a time. I’m not sure why I’m doing this. Could be the beer. Could be that freshman at the beginning of the semester.
At the top landing, I stop and listen, but all I hear are the sounds of rap music from Parker’s room.
A Kappa appears next to me, frowning. “Hey. Parker says he’s busy. No visitors.”
I size him up. “I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to stop me from doing whatever I want.”
He puffs up his chest, thinks for a moment as he assesses me, then steps aside.
The door isn’t locked and I shove it open to a dim room.
Parker stands at the foot of his bed, staring down at a girl handcuffed to the headboard.
A roaring sound echoes in my head. Anger rushes in so fast, I get dizzy.
“Julia?” I breathe, the air sucked from my lungs.
Parker turns to me, his mouth gaping, incredulity on his face. His shirt is off as he weaves on his feet. “What the hell? What are you doing in my room?”
My entire body tightens, every muscle ready to pounce. To destroy.
He holds his hands up. “Whoa, simmer down. It’s not what it looks like. I just wanted to talk. She never lets me talk. Nothing happened.”
“Eric,” Julia croaks. Her voice sounds raw as tears stream down her face. “Help me. Please.”
Parker glances down at her, then back to me. “Hey. I’d never hurt her. I care about her.”
His version of caring for her is sick.
I lunge for him without warning, my fist connecting, twice, rapid fire, square on his jaw. He stumbles back against his desk, books and papers flying.
He slides down to the floor, curses falling out of his mouth.
“Get up!” I loom over him.
Last time I laid Parker out like this, we were freshmen. His older Kappa friends stuck up for him (and not me). It was the perfect reason to ditch Kappa.
“This place is fucked up,” I say as I bend and get in his face. “And you’re the reason.”
He struggles to his feet and clings to the edge of his desk to steady himself.
Footsteps pound up the stairs as brothers call to each other, asking what’s going on.
Hands grab me from behind, trying to pull me back. “Hey!” a guy says. “You can’t do that—”
“That was nothing,” I growl as I shake him off, then stalk to Julia.
“Are you okay?”
She nudges her head at the end table, a small whimper coming from her. “He put the keys in there.”
I unlock the cuffs, and she jumps off the bed and weaves on her feet, her face ashen. She rubs the red marks around her wrists. “Eric . . .” Her throat bobs.
“I’ve got you,” I say in a gentle tone as I reach in to pull her into a brief hug. Staring down at her, I search her face. “Did he rape you?” I rub my thumb over one of her tears.
She shakes her head. “H-he dragged me up here and locked the cuffs on me. I screamed, but no one heard me.”
“I heard you.”
“Hansen, get out of this house,” Parker mutters, climbing to his feet. He moves forward, making a play for Julia. “This is none of your business.”
Jesus. I can’t believe he wants more.
I shove him back to the floor. “Don’t come near her,” I say, then lace her fingers with mine.
Parker gazes at our hands, his nose flaring. His lips open and close. “Wait? Are you and her . . .”
“What if we are?” Julia yells at him, regaining some of her equilibrium—and anger. “You can’t do anything about who I’m with, Parker!”
“Come on, we’re walking out of here,” I say to her.
She leans into me, nodding. “Okay, okay.”
“Do you want to die tonight? Because I will end you,” I tell another Kappa who appears at the door. I shove our way between all of them.
I maneuver Julia in front of me, my hands around her waist to keep her steady. The stairs are full of brothers as we walk down. They shoot eye-daggers at us, but no one moves.
I catch sight of the photograph of Kurt in the composite from his senior class before he went to Harvard, and my lips twist. The fraternity was good then; it had people like him to lead by example. If Kurt were here, he’d do the same thing I’m doing right now.
We reach the main floor and walk out the door. The porch is mostly deserted as we descend and head to the back alley that leads to my house.