“Down, please,” he groaned, the brushfire of his shoulders slamming against the numbness of his forearms in an electric show along all his nerves so spectacular, it could have lit up Downtown Disney.
“Oh, my God, yes!” she exclaimed, dragging the chair over to him and working the ropes quickly. “This is easier with a visual.”
The tension, nearly cutting off his circulation released, flooding his hands and fingers for the second time in a day. “Me tied up,” he said, rubbing his bruised and rope burned wrists, finally allowing his shoulders to drop. “Sorry about—I didn’t know how.”
Once again, Topaz’s arms were around him, this time holding on for dear life as she sobbed into his shirt. Her fingers fisting the fabric as what he could only assume were years of pain fell from her eyes. “I’ve dealt with shit like this my entire life. Small minded people don’t matter to me.”
Onyx cradled her head to his chest. Every movement of his bruised and beaten body ached, but it was nothing compared to the shit she seemed to be going through. “The bruises will heal and I blocked out their voices about a half second after they spoke.”
“You did not,” she said with a pound to his chest.
Her small fist normally wouldn’t hurt, but at this point, there were few things that didn’t. “Well, maybe two minutes, but still. The rhetoric formulaic to the point I wonder is it art imitating life or the other way around.” He cupped her head, her cheek snuggling into his palm as he leaned her head back and her eyes widened at the sight of him. “Either way, I’ve heard it, and sadly, I assume so will Braxton and Maddox and any kids I have.”
With a gentle stroke of her hand to his face, Topaz eked out in a small whisper, “People get hurt or worse because of fucking ignorance. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way. I couldn’t do it again. Not with you, not when we’ve…”
Onyx moved her over to the chair and he sat on the twin bed. The smell of dust and mildew peppered the air when he sat making him glad his ass was there and not hers. “What do you mean?” Onyx was curious to hear more about Topaz and whatever she wanted to share. It could be the cause of the tension between them and if this could be the way it was broken the situation might be worth it if they survived. Even though he felt like shit, it was something he could do for her, he needed a partner right now. And even if he didn’t, he wasn’t going to abandon her.
“My parents had made me invite my boyfriend over for dinner. We had been dating since summer and they had never met him. Hell, no one really did. Not as my boyfriend. I’d been under no delusion about us, we’d even hidden from everyone until we got reckless. I knew better, see I’d grown up in New Bend, he hadn’t.” A sob escaped her.
Now, he knew this story was about to turn ugly.
“They didn’t know and I was afraid to tell them, but my cousin was on the team with him. Been bitching about him all season. How he was over hyped and shit.”
“He found out?”
“Yeah, Byron, that was his name, had a signing day. Like big time signing day with cameras and the local papers. Even one in from Little Rock because he’d signed with the University of Arkansas. We hadn’t had anyone that big from our school.”
“So, he was a five-star recruit.”
“Four, three to some, zero to my cousin because he never threw him the ball.” Topaz swallowed away some pain before continuing, “All the cheerleaders had to be there, lined up, as he made his announcement and signed. Well afterward we snuck off, down by the locker rooms because he was getting his stuff and we were caught kissing.”
“And your cousin told your parents?”
“So fast my head spun,” she said. “I’d wanted to get caught. I realize that now because Byron was the best man I’d ever known. He used to give me his letter jacket for after games. Like an ‘I’m coming back for it and you’ type deal and at first, I kept it in my car, then I started wearing it when I waited.” Topaz let out a long groan as she ran her fingers through her hair, curling into a ball before him as she sat on the chair.
He rubbed her back, hoping to clear away what was holding her here. They needed to leave, but he could spare a few minutes to regroup himself. “You invited Byron to dinner,” he prodded.
“I deluded myself. My dad making comments about the kid gonna be a Razorback, so I thought, maybe they’d make an exception.”
“Look past to see who he was, not what,” he said knowing by her reaction what happened to the kid set to go on to college and more.
She nodded. “Byron and I talked about what we’d do at school. How our world would be ours. He was so respectful, it was nearly Christmas when he signed and we…we weren’t in a rush about anything.”
“Really?” Onyx said. “Not sure I could pass you up if you were mine for too long.”
“Well, we hadn’t totally, but yeah, we had a few times. Enough that when it happened, I prayed for weeks I’d gotten pregnant somehow. Anything to still have a piece of him to hold on to.”
“Damn that sex-ed class and you using protection,” he said.
She nodded wiping away a tear. “Finally, I gave in and invited him over. He was on his way to college, had a full scholarship he was going places and taking me with him.” The last few words caught in her throat. Making her gag a bit and she held her now
