I stayed in the shower long after I’d finished scrubbing the slimy feel of those bastards’ hands off of me.
There came a knock at the door.
“Yes?” I called.
“The pizza’s here. Are you coming out anytime soon?” Rafe asked.
“Ah, yeah, I’ll be out in a minute,” I said and turned the water off.
I dried off and then stepped out onto the tile floor. Damn, I should have gotten clothes to put on. I wrapped the tiny bath towel around my torso and studied myself in the foggy mirror. The towel was too damn short. I don’t know why it bothered me tonight. Rafe had seen every part of me, close up and in bright light on more than one occasion. Was it because of our argument or was it because of those rapists? Damn it, I wasn’t sure which.
“Fuck it!” I said and yanked the towel back off. I threw it over the shower’s door and stomped out of the bathroom.
Rafe was sitting at the table, eating pizza and drinking a beer. He had the TV on but glanced at me as I threw the door open. He took in my nudity without comment and then turned back toward the TV. There was some nature show on. The bear cubs looked cute.
I found my oversized tee shirt with the U.S. Army logo on it and pulled it on. The black fabric hung half way to my knees and covered me a lot better than the damn towel.
Damn it! I was actually mad at the towel for being so short. Sheesh, get a grip Tess!
I joined Rafe at the table. He’d already opened another Tecate. I grabbed it and downed about half the contents. Setting the can down on the table, too hard, made a loud bang and Rafe cast his gaze sideways at me.
“Sorry, I’m still a little tense,” I said.
“No problem,” Rafe said as he slid the pizza box toward me.
I opened it, took a large slice of the supreme, and shoved the pointy end in my mouth. I chewed rapidly, swallowed, and took another hard pull on the beer.
“Do we have more beer?” I asked.
“There’s four more in the fridge. If you want something stronger, I have a bottle of bourbon.”
“Maybe later, not with the pizza.”
We ate the rest of the pizza in silence, both of us apparently watching the antics of two lost bear cubs. I don’t know about Rafe, but I might have been staring at the TV, but I was thinking over my actions and whether I could have caught the bartender doping my beer. The more I thought about it, the less I believed that I should have caught him doing it. I’d been watching him, but I’d been watching his butt more than his hands. Damn him!
When we finished the pizza, I took Rafe up on his offer of bourbon. I was on my third when I finally felt some of the tension leaving me.
“I’m done,” I said. I stood up and went back into the bathroom. I relieved myself, brushed my teeth, and then found myself staring at my reflection in the mirror.
“Is there something I can do?” Rafe asked from the bathroom door.
I shook my head. “No, I’m good.”
I pushed past him as he stepped back to clear the doorway. I pulled the covers down on the bed while Rafe went into the bath.
Lying on the bed, the light sheet my only cover, I was still having trouble getting my mind to shut down. I wasn’t as tense as earlier, and while the booze had muddled my thoughts, I still felt as if I had done everything right. I had managed to defeat the roofie; I’d been in the process of kicking some rapist ass when Rafe showed up. If he’d been there a minute later, I’d have killed both of the biker bastards, and then I’d gone looking for the bartender.
I felt the bed shift as Rafe slid into the other side. I opened my eyes and realized he’d already doused the lights.
I rolled toward him and found he was lying with his back to me. I spooned against his back and put my upper hand over his chest.
“Are you okay?” Rafe asked.
I nodded and then said, “I will be. Thanks, Rafe.”
“Thanks? For what?” he asked.
“For showing up. I’d have killed all three of them in a few more minutes. I still want to kill them, but I understand that your way has its merits. At least there aren’t any bodies left for the police.”
“Yeah, I try to not involve the police.”
“Though, it would have been nice if you had shown up a few minutes earlier. Maybe before those bastards had me down and stripped.”
“Oh? When should I have arrived?” he asked.
“Hell, anytime before I drank that roofie.”
“But then you wouldn’t have had the experience.”
“Say what?”
“You got roofied. Sure, that’s a nasty thing to happen to you, but you were more than capable of handling it. You were everything a Wanderer should be. You took an unexpected calamity and fought your way through. I’m really proud of you.”
I leaned up on one elbow and stared down at Rafe. In the dim light, I saw him turn his head to face me.
“What are you saying, Rafe?” I asked, my voice cold.
“I’m saying you did good.”
“But are you implying that you could have been there sooner?”
“Implying? No, I’m saying it outright. I was in the bar when they carried you into the back.”
“How? I didn’t see you.”
“Glamour, I was the old man sitting near the door,” he answered.
“And you sat there and watched them drag me off to be raped?” I asked. Emotion had flooded back into my addled thoughts.
“Yes, I did. You took off on your own. I had to
