Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Now they were pushing. Janet was, anyway. I felt caught off guard. But at the same time, it was there, waiting. What had happened was never far from my thoughts. It was definitely the elephant in the room.
Or rather, the elephant on the deck.
I gulped a little, feeling suddenly exposed.
“Jan, you can’t make her tell you,” Kaylie scolded firmly. It was clear that Janet was the most brazen of the girls. But Kaylie was the one who was truly in charge. Soft spoken, sweet, and pretty. But I could tell she ruled with an iron fist.
“She looks shaken up, Kaylie. She needs to talk about it,” Janet said. She put her hand over mine. “Go ahead, honey. Let it out.”
Kaylie started to protest again but I shook my head. Janet was right. I did need to let it out. And after a couple of mimosas, I was feeling ready.
Or as ready as I was ever going to be.
“No. She’s right. It’s okay.” I took a deep breath. “I think I am okay but… What I can’t seem to stop thinking about is… I don’t know how long he was there. Or what he did. I feel… I don’t know. I just feel wrong, if that makes sense.”
“Oh, honey,” Sally said sympathetically. “Some men are monsters,” she said with meaning. “But it’s not your fault.”
“I think… I think he’s been watching me for a while.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Things have gone missing. My… underwear. From the laundry room. And sometimes when I get home in the morning my hose is on.”
“Girl,” Molly said, her eyes wide. They all exchanged glances. “That is so uncool.”
“Did anything else happen?” Janet pressed. It was almost like she knew. To be honest, she scared me a bit.
“I don’t know if he ‘did’ anything other than pulling the sheet down but…”
“You can tell us. It’s okay,” Sally offered. She put her hand on mine. I looked into her eyes and I felt it. Someone had hurt her, too. Not just a bit little, either. Someone had hurt her real bad.
I took a deep breath.
“He was… touching me. A little. My legs I think. But also… my hair.” I shuddered and closed my eyes. “That’s what woke me up.”
“Oh my God, honey,” Molly exclaimed. She reached out and put her hand on my knee. All the girls moved in to offer comfort. Suddenly I was surrounded by sweet smelling arms and hair. I was getting hugged about six ways from Sunday.
I fought back tears and failed, pretty much crying my eyes out. I felt so warm and safe that the tears had to come. There was no way to hold them back. I wiped them away quickly when the hug huddle finally came to an end.
“Does Drake know?” Janet asked pointedly. She’d already grilled me about my dating life, or lack there of, and my intentions towards Drake. I hadn’t had much to say. I could tell that she, at least in terms of Drake, was still deciding if I was good enough for him.
“No,” I said. “I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened and… this is all so new… with Drake… I’ve never had a real boyfriend.”
“Is that what he is? To you?” Janet watched me closely.
“No. Not yet. But it feels like it is heading in that direction.”
“I understand,” Kaylie said with an encouraging smile. “I think that is what he hopes for, too.”
“But you are going to have to tell him. About the creep. I say let him stew on the boyfriend part for a bit,” Janet added into my ear on a whisper. I looked at her and was rewarded with a roguish wink. I realized suddenly that she had given me her approval. That maybe she was determining if he was good enough for me, not the other way around.
“Is that what you would do?” I asked her seriously. I had no game. I knew I had no game. So far, it didn’t seem to matter.
“Hell yes, girl. Make them suffer a little bit first. That’s our policy.”
“But just a little,” Molly added.
All the girls nodded at me with serious faces. And then Christine winked at me. So did Janet.We all started giggling at once, and it was like everything was right in the world. But I was still worried about telling Drake about what had happened. I knew he would be upset. And I didn’t really want to think about what had happened, let alone talk about it.
“Do I have to tell him?”
“Yes honey, I think you do,” Sally said in her charming southern drawl. I looked around the group and saw all the girls nodding. I nearly gulped.
“Tell me what?”
I looked up at the tall handsome man. Drake was rippling with tatted muscles, and overburdened with good looks. But it was his good heart that had made me fall for him. I stared at the drink in his hand, then back at his face. And then I really did gulp.