“Nick,” I whisper turning on my heel to face him, I find he was standing directly behind me. Now our fronts were nearly touching as I meet his gaze.
“Yeah, babygirl,” he rasps.
“There’s only one bed and a TV,” I state the obvious.
“Told you when we got here, we’ll go tomorrow and pick out stuff for the house. I’ll also take you by the home and houseware store to pick out some other shit we need. One will be a coffeemaker,” Nerd grunts, his hands coming to my waist.
“Nick.” Nerd stops me yet again by lifting a hand to cover my mouth.
“Gotta get used to this, Cara. And one way to get you there is by you being in my arms at night where I can protect you from the nightmares.” How is it that Nerd can be sweet and meaningful while I’m conflicted and scared by his actions? “That being said, babygirl, we’re taking everything at your pace. I’m not going to force you into anything you’re not ready for. We’ll get you there and when we do you will get to make that choice in taking the next step.”
And that right there is the very reason he holds my heart. It’s also why I can’t let myself have him. Not really. It’s not fair to him when I won’t be able to give him what he wants. I’m ruined and he’s perfect.
Damnit, why did those monsters have to do this to me?
All I wanted to do was go to school, get my degree, come home, and finally be able to approach Nerd and show him that I’m not just a girl, but I was his girl.
“What do you mean you prefer the Chucky movies over the Jason ones? They’re corny as fuck,” Nerd chuckles.
We’d been stretched out on the bed enjoying a spread of delicious Mexican food Rachel brought by. I thought it would be weird seeing her again, but she made it easy by giving me a hug, telling me she’s happy to see me and that she’d gotten me my favorite along with my tea that I can’t survive without.
After she left, Nerd suggested that we lock up, take everything up to the room, and have a movie marathon while pigging out. Since he has a way with making me feel completely comfortable around him, I agreed without hesitation.
“Chucky is way better than Jason and even Michael Myers. Granted, the fact that Michael is always popping up when you least expect him to, Chucky comes at you head on with his knife ready to slice you up. Whereas Jason simply carries a chainsaw and walks around like a creeper,” I giggle, dipping another chip into the homemade salsa Rachel got for us. It cost extra but it’s the best.
“Babygirl, you’re a nut. There’s no way Chucky is better than Mike or Jason. He definitely isn’t better than Freddy,” Nerd grins.
“Oh whatever.” It felt good to laugh so freely with him and not worry about anything else.
We were having a great time and I was enjoying being in Nerd’s company and I hadn’t thought once about what happened to me. At least until, the roar of motorcycles slices through our bubble.
Tensing, I drop a chip I’d just picked up and begin to shake in terror. Hear one bike maybe two I’m okay. I got used to that much while being at Rage and Cleo’s house. But that was way more than two.
“Easy, Cara. It’s okay. Just take a breath. I’m going to go see what’s going on,” Nerd states as he climbs off the bed. By the time he’s through the bedroom door, the engines are cut and there’s a pounding at the front door.
“Brother, swear to fuckin’ god you don’t open this door right fuckin’ now, I’m kickin’ it in.”
Oh my God. That’s my brother yelling and beating his fist against the door.
Scurrying out of the bed, I rush through the door and down the stairs, only to stop at the foot when the door swings open and Coyote lunges for Nerd.
“I could fuckin’ kill you, asshole,” my brother snarls throwing a punch that connects with Nerd’s jaw causing him to stagger back a few steps. Nerd straightens and moves back toward my brother.
As Coyote throws another punch Nerd blocks it and lands his own to my brother’s stomach causing him to grunt.
“Brother, calm the fuck down for a moment and listen,” Nerd states calmly as if this was a normal thing for them to do.
“Fuck you. You should have come to me first. Cara’s my fuckin’ sister and you went behind my back. I should have known something was up but I trusted you.” More blows are thrown at each other as they continue to beat each other up.
The violence of seeing them attack each other sends me into a panic attack and I cover my ears as I scream, “Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.”
My screams halt all movement in the room. I hadn’t even seen the other men who’d joined the party.
Nerd’s the only one to move while everyone else stares at me.
“Easy, babygirl. It’s okay,” Nerd murmurs soothingly while pulling me into his embrace. “No one is going to hurt you. Remember, I promised you nothing would happen, and I meant it.”
“Fuck.” I hear my brother mutter.
“How about we clear out and let Coyote have some time with his sister?” Someone advises, I wanted to say it was Stoney.
“I’m not leaving my girl, Prez,” Nerd growls, holding me tighter to him.
“Didn’t expect you to, respect that but now it’s time you work it out with your brother. He’s right you should have told him.” I was right to think it was Stoney, he speaks with an authority that rolls right
