Grazing my tongue over my top teeth, I refrain from lunging at him. “Don’t worry about it. Nice cut by the way.” I tip my head with my eyes to the gash on his forehead.
He kicks one foot off the other and steps toward me. “Oh, I’m gonna worry about it, because she’s my pawn. Has been for a while now. You were just my stepping stone to her.” He laughs and it’s loaded with sarcasm. “Come on now, you got her first. Let me have her second.”
Unable to refrain any longer, I barrel toward him. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I swing one leg behind his and push, taking him straight down to the floor. He’s intentionally trying to get under my skin, and it’s working. My fingers wrap around his throat and I squeeze like hell. Zed’s strong, but I’m much stronger.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” I shout. His eyes bug out and it fills me with a sense of relief when I imagine him dying beneath me. I’ve never killed anyone, but I’m all about making this world a better place by eliminating this asshole.
An arm locks around my neck and pulls me backwards. I lose my hold on Zed’s throat but shove my thumb into the wound on his forehead before I’m completely pulled off of him.
“Fuck,” he bellows. “I just super glued that bitch shut last night. Thanks a lot, douchebag.”
Talon holds my arms tightly behind my back as I try to break free. “You’re lucky I didn’t give it a twin.”
“Seriously, this shit again,” Tommy says as he walks in with a bag of chips.
“Really, Tommy? You’re fucking eating?” Talon says from behind me.
“What? I didn’t have dinner. What’s going on here?” He looks over at Zed who is sitting with his back pressed against the refrigerator. “Dude, what happened to your head?” Blood drips down his face and across his lips. Zed darts his tongue out and licks it from his lips.
“I fell.” His voice rises. “What do you think happened? Your rabid friend attacked me. Again.”
Tommy looks at me like he’s my fucking father. “Why’d you do that?”
Drawing in a deep breath, I once again question my own sanity when I chose these guys as my friends.
Zed speaks up. “Because he’s protecting Willa.”
“I’m not protecting her,” I shout. Though, I am protecting her. I didn’t realize it until I was on those steps, but I have to protect her. The thought of any of these guys, or any guy for that matter, touching Willa stirs something dark inside of me. It’s this indescribable feeling that makes me lightheaded and nauseous. My heart races. My palms sweat. I can’t wrap my head around it. She’s having a baby. Even if it wasn’t mine, we don’t fuck with a pregnant girl.
Talon chimes in. “You sort of are.”
“Mmhmm.” Tommy retorts as he stuffs a handful of chips in his mouth.
“Damn straight he is. And we wanna know why,” Zed says.
Fuck. I’ve gotta get the hell out of here.
“You all figure this shit out. I’ve gotta go.” I head to the door, grabbing my leather jacket off the back of the couch on my way out. I have to leave this house. I can’t be here.
As soon as I step outside and close the door behind me, I fill my lungs to the point of pain. Exhaling quickly, I keep moving to my car.
Without any idea where I’m going, I get in and drive.
11
“Oh Willa Jean,” Rick, my stepdad, singsongs as he inches closer and closer to my locked door. “I know you’re in there.”
I don’t respond. I never do. I sit quietly with my arms cradled around my legs while I rock back and forth on the bed.
The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? I repeat the verse in my head. The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
“Willa Jean?” he says again with a gentle knock to the door. “Daddy needs to talk to you.” The whooshing sound of his belt ripping through the loops of his pants has me holding my breath, while my heart beats at an unprecedented rate.
Hugging my legs tighter, I bury my face into the tops of my knees. The Lord is my light..
“Willa Jean!” he shouts louder. My entire body jumps so quickly that I knee myself in the mouth. Sucking in my bottom lip, there’s a metallic taste on my tongue. “Open the damn door or I’ll break it down.” I suck harder, feeling the blood seep into my mouth.
Swallowing hard, my throat aches as a lump lodges in my esophagus. I eyeball the window, but quickly remember what happened last time I escaped it. He was waiting for me on the other side. Like a villain in a horror movie, he stood there ever so casually while I dangled from the sill. Then his arms wrapped around my legs and he pulled me to the ground. The rest is a blur because I prefer it that way.
Holding my breath again, I listen.
Nothing. No sound of his heavy breathing. No footsteps.
Leaning forward, I try to look through the gap between the door and the old hardwood floor for a shadow or any sign that he left. Coming up on my knees, I shudder when the springs of the mattress squeak. My body freezes, the air still in my lungs from my last inhale.
Once I hear the clanking of metal on metal at the door, I jolt up. Fleeing to the window.
He’s coming in.
I have to get out.
He’s coming in.
Fidgeting with the lock, I finally get it unlatched. I slide open the window and punch out the screen. But I’m too late.
“Now, where
