Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 699(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
I was so stupid last night.
I groaned, resisting the urge to slap my forehead.
I really needed to dance. Screw my classes that day. I needed space away from everyone, especially since my last class of the day would be with both Julian and Vincent, neither of which I was ready to face yet.
What a fucking mess.
* * *
✶ ✶ ✶
* * *
I sighed as my phone pinged for the umpteenth time, once again distracting me from the dance I was trying to perfect. I was almost to the point of ripping Vincent’s head off his shoulders. I just wanted a damn moment of peace, and he wanted to talk about this stupid decision I had made the night before.
I stormed over to my phone and snatched it up from the dock, abruptly stopping the music.
But it wasn’t Vincent.
* * *
Your dancing has only gotten better. Wonder what you would feel like on my dick now.
* * *
Vomit rose in my throat as all of the blood drained from my face. My phone fell from my hands, smashing onto the floor, my hands shaking so badly I couldn’t grip it any longer. Tears instantly poured down my cheeks as my heart thumped hard against my breastbone.
“Miss me, sweetheart?”
I swung around to face the man of my nightmares. He was supposed to be in prison. He wasn’t supposed to be out.
Why was he out?
Fear made my heart pound painfully fast in my chest. That fight or flight instinct I was supposed to have? Yeah; I fucking froze.
A cruel, sick smirk twisted his lips at the sight of my fear. “Good behavior will get any man out early,” he reminded me.
I could feel my airways closing up. Breathing was becoming hard. My lungs were screaming for air, but I couldn’t suck enough in.
He grinned. “I’m not going anywhere this time, sweetheart.” He stepped further into the dance studio, his reflection popping up on just about every mirror, surrounding me. My knees gave out beneath me, and I crumpled weakly to the floor, my vision turning black at the edges.
He knelt in front of me and gripped my chin in his disgusting fingers, twisting my head to face him. I gripped at my shirt, my tears tasting salty on my lips. “You always were a beautiful crier, sweetheart,” he crooned. Darkness was ready to consume me and turn my world black. “You tell anyone I’m back, and this time, there won’t be anything left of you to save,” he warned me.
With that, he stood up and left the room.
Everything went dark.
* * *
✶ ✶ ✶
* * *
Hot tears slid down my cheeks, mixing in with the scalding hot water from the shower head, but I didn’t care. I wanted to burn my skin off.
I scrubbed harder, biting back the urge to wail. Why couldn’t I get rid of his touch? Why could I still feel him touching me?
“She’s been in here for a couple of hours now,” I heard my roommate tell someone. “She won’t talk to me. I didn’t know who else to call.”
My shower curtain was moved aside, and Desiree stood in front of me. Her eyes widened at my red, raw skin and my bloodshot eyes. I sobbed as I dropped to the floor of the shower, choking back a scream. Desiree quickly stepped in and turned the shower off, not giving a shit that she got her clothes and shoes wet. “Hey, come on,” she soothed as she gently pulled me up from the floor. “Let’s get you dressed, okay?” she coaxed.
“I can still feel him touching me,” I cried.
“Shh,” she soothed as she ran her hand over my sopping hair. “You’re okay, hun. You’re safe now.”
She wrapped my towel around me. I could feel people staring, and it just made this entire situation worse. A broken sob spilled past my lips. “Move the fuck on!” Desiree yelled, wrapping her arms around me protectively. “Come on,” she coaxed as she kept her arm wrapped around my shoulders and led me from the bathroom.
“I’ll get her stuff out of the bathroom,” my roommate told Desiree quietly.
Vincent was standing in the hallway outside of the bathroom when we stepped out. I was both surprised and horrified to see Julian standing there as well. “Fuck,” Vincent swore as he walked over to me. More tears slid down my cheeks. He halted when I flinched back. “Get her dressed,” he told Desiree, pain lingering in his eyes as he stared at me.
“I can do it,” Julian said quietly.
Vincent glared at him. “Like fuck,” Vincent snarled at him. Julian cut him a dark look. “You’re probably the reason she’s like this and why she’s been hiding all fucking day.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want Julian blamed for the mess I was at that moment. Julian ignored Vincent and came over to me. Without a word, he lifted me into his arms and carried me through the door into my dorm room. “Keep the roommate out,” he ordered.