“Kathleen, what have I told you time again and again? You will never be good at skating, leave that pathetic dream behind. Leave. The. Skates. Here,” he says as he strides over to me and plucks the skates from my numb fingertips.
He sends the tumbler in his hand flying across the room, the glass shattering into a million pieces, and I’m hardly breathing.
“Why must you try to be your mother?! You won’t ever be her! You are nothing. Nothing!” he roars in my face as a tear, the traitor, slides down my face, and I hate the satisfaction I see in his gaze as I cower away from him.
He stops my retreat, gripping my forearm in his fist and squeezing painfully until my arm starts to burn. A whimper escapes me before I can stop it.
“What are you, Kathleen?” he says in a deadly whisper, digging his fingers in deeper until I meet his gaze and answer him.
“I am nothing,” I repeat after the monster, like it's an ordinary day, my voice croaking on a gasp. He finally releases me, and blood starts flowing back into my arm, but it still feels like it’s going to fall off.
He carefully takes my skates and places them on the round table before walking away like nothing happened. Everything happened—the bruises forming on my arm, the cutting words that bleed me dry, and the feeling of being alone hit me right in the heart.
“Leave the skates and go fix your face. You look like a whore.” His last words echo around the room as he shuts himself back into his office to no doubt stare at her picture for hours.
I have some memories of Father before everything went downhill, most of them blurry, but he was there for Mom and me at one point. He’s always been a businessman first and loved my mom in his own way, I think. But looking back, it was a loveless household except for Mom. I felt even at a young age, he wasn’t made to have children. He never invested his time with me, I was just an object for showing off to his clients at dinner functions. My mom was the one who took care of me, taught me to bake, sang to me at night, and glided me across the ice for the first time. She was my rock…my whole world.
I suppress a sob by covering my mouth with my fist and quickly grab my skates. I’m running to get out of the house that isn’t home, and I know he won’t notice me missing for a couple of days. At least until I need to make an appearance so he doesn’t take my college education away or the small inheritance I have left from Mom. I sometimes hate my life.
Hailing a taxi, I watch the flashing lights of the street lamps go by in a blur, counting each one until I’m somewhat in control of my emotions again. I don’t want to show up at Mary’s dorm a hot mess and see the pity in her gaze as she looks at my tear-stained cheeks or the bruises forming on my arm. I can spend the night and go to the party tomorrow, just to pretend to have a normal college night for once. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a drink?
Arriving at the campus, I pay the driver and run into the building. Bypassing security with a nod, I make it to her dorm room in record time, only to see a sock on her door and hear loud moaning coming from the other side. I drop my head back on the wall, bouncing it a few times for all the luck I seem to have. Sliding down the wall, I plant my butt on the ground and wait what I’m thinking won’t be much longer. The moans are really getting louder and increasing, so the grand finale is almost to an end. Thank fuck.
7
Granger
With loose fingers, I swing the bottle up and take one big, deep swallow. The bitter taste of beer fills my mouth, and I keep drinking just to drown out the over-eager giggling girls stroking my biceps. I know these bad boys are all rippling muscles and hard as a rock, but damn, get the fuck off of me. What is it with these women that think I’m a bag of man meat?
“Granger! Granger! You the man!” howls one of my teammates from somewhere within the group of drunk bodies on the other side of the room.
I roll my eyes and flash a smile when I look down, which sets off Barbie one and two all over again. The moment they look away, my smile drops and I glare at Beast, who is standing by my side. He shakes his head, throws his hands up in the air, and grumbles, “What the fuck am I going to do with you, man?” as he stomps away to the kitchen to get another beer as people rush to get out of his way.
“Why don’t we go somewhere quieter? My sorority sister and I would love to get to know you better…” She trails off with a high pitched giggle and bats her fake lashes while making her intentions very clear as she toys with her friends hair.
My dick a year ago would have been harder than a rock at the thought of a threesome if I was single, but now I can only think about the trap it could bring. Speaking of traps, in walks Victoria on the arm of Jeff… Fuck my life. She easily spots me the moment she steps through the doors, glaring at the two girls petting me as if she has some sort of claim on me. Jeff is high fiving the student body with his arm draped around her, but I notice him checking out every girl who’s
