When we stepped inside of the warm home the first thing I noticed was her father and brother sitting on the couch; my heart beat rapidly as I worried about them attacking me, before hearing the real reason we’d come to visit.

  It wasn’t surprising when Chris let go of my hand and approached her parents. I could tell she was trying to smile, but was unable to do it properly. They already knew this was bad news, and the sooner they found out that I wasn’t the bad guy, the faster I could focus all of my energy on her.

  After a few minutes of greets we all sat down facing each other at the dining room table. Noah, her brother, watched me like a hawk, as if he were ready to pounce. I folded my hands under the table to appear calm.

  Her father, Colt, cleared his throat. “Christian, I think it’s time you tell us why you’re here.”

  She placed her hands flat on the table. “I’m not pregnant. Let me just say that since I can tell you’re all freakin’ out.”

  Noah got up from the table. “Well since that’s the case I’m gettin’ back to work. I only came to make sure I didn’t have to kick some ass.”

  In a low murmur Chris spoke. “You might want to wait actually.”

  Noah looked at me as he sat back down.

  Her mother smiled. “Honey, just tell us what’s going on. Is it school? Is it your grades? Do you and Ethan want to move in together?”

  “I was raped.”

  Her words were finally clear as the people at the table gasped for air. As shocked as they were, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Chris, who’d covered her face and started to cry.

  Her mother rushed to her side, wrapping her arms around her daughter. “Oh my God. How did this happen? Who did this to you? Colt, call the lawyer.”

  Noah raised his brow, directing all of his attention toward me. “When did it happen?” He knew his sister was in no condition to go on as both of their parents now crowded over her.

  “A couple days ago. She didn’t even want to tell me, man. It took everything I had to drag her here. She thinks it will only make things worse.”

  Noah pulled out his phone, and right away I could tell he was on the phone with an attorney. He walked into another room but kept on talking.

  Chris finally calmed enough to begin explaining what had happened to her parents. All I could do was sit there and listen as the story ripped through me yet again. There came a point when I knew they needed to be alone with their daughter. I stepped outside on the porch and found her brother leaning against the railing. “Thanks for takin’ care of my sister.” He spit something out into the grass then put his head back down. “Do you know who this asshole is?”

  “Yeah, I know him. He’s on a sport’s scholarship. He’s a senior. He’s popular, and accordin’ to Chris’ roommates, he’s not capable of somethin’ so heinous.”

  He let out an air-filled laugh. “Of course he isn’t. Just tell me where to find him. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “No you won’t, Noah.” Her father walked out to keep his son from doing any further damage. “From this moment on we’re handlin’ it the right way. Uncle John’s on his way over. We’re goin’ to get a police report, and have the boy picked up for rape. Once he’s in custody we can meet with the attorney and figure out what has to be done to protect your sister. She filled us in on the roommate situation, and from here on out she’s stayin’ with us. I’ll be damned if I let a bunch of idiot kids brake my daughter’s heart. She ain’t never done nothin’ to deserve this.”

  The man was full of pain, so much that it made me think about having my own kids. Even though he seemed calm, I could tell he was determined to get justice for his child.

  “She can stay with me and remain in school. I have no contact with those people, Mr. Mitchell.”

  “Ethan, as much as Savanna and I appreciate you helping Christian, I’m going to have to ask you to head back to school. We can take care of our daughter here. If you want to come and visit I’m sure she’d appreciate it. For right now she needs to get medical attention, not just physically, but mentally.”

  “Yes, sir.” Even though I hated it, I knew I had to be mindful that this was now a family matter. I may have been her best friend, but this was definitely a private situation. “Do you mind if I see her before I go?”

  “Not at all.” He motioned for me to go back inside of the house. Right before I reached the front door he said something that made me stop in my tracks. “Thanks again for bein’ there, Ethan. I know you care a great deal about my daughter. Make sure she knows you’ll be stoppin’ by to visit. I think she needs to hear that.”

  When I walked inside I felt a part of me feeling defeated. I don’t know why I assumed they’d want me to stick around. I suppose I hadn’t thought that far ahead. The moment our eyes met I knew it was going to be hard to say goodbye to her, especially where there was so much left unsaid.

  Chapter 21

  Christian

  Ethan had pushed me to tell my parents, and even though I hated the idea, nothing could have prepared me for the emotions that I’d go through when I saw the looks on their faces.

  I’d thought it was hard telling Ethan all of the brutal details of my attack, but looking into my dad’s eyes and seeing pure pain was unimaginable. My mother broke down after only a few minutes, and though he’d said he wouldn’t leave my side, eventually Ethan had to leave the room.

  I couldn’t blame him for needing air. He hadn’t experienced what I did, but I knew after hearing other stories from victims he’d been affected. The horrors of what had occurred to other people were shocking. It made me want to lock myself away and never come out into society again.

  My uncle John was the sheriff. Since his retirement he’d been traveling all over the place with my aunt Karen. When they arrived neither knew what they were walking into. It was a Godsend when I realized I wasn’t the one who had to fill them in on all of the gory details. It was one thing to put on a strong face, but it was another to actually feel like I could conquer this large mountain of despair.

  It only took my aunt and uncle a couple minutes to come rushing to my side offering some sort of condolences for my gruesome encounter. As much as I loved my family, I didn’t want this kind of treatment. I wanted to forget, albeit every time I saw them I’d be reminded that they were thinking about what happened to me. In many ways it was going to make it more difficult to forget.

  While sitting down at my parent’s large, dining room table I listened to my uncle telling them what needed to be done. Hearing him go on and on about police involvement sent me into an apprehensive state.

  “Don’t fret,” my uncle reassured me. “We’re goin’ to get this figured out.”

  He didn’t get it. In fact none of them did. I couldn’t sit back and watch my whole life be destroyed worse than it was. Didn’t they see that going to the authorities was only causing me more grief? Couldn’t they tell that I just wanted to run away and never look back, praying I’d never see any of those people again for the rest of my life?

  “Please, dad, I’m not ready to go public with this.”

  “Darlin’, this ain’t your decision any longer. I won’t allow a vicious man to do this to another woman. He needs to be punished for his crimes.”

  I shook my head. “No. You don’t understand. Punishin’ him will only hurt me more. I already can’t go back to that school. If you press charges and start this huge investigation I’ll leave town, daddy. I’ll have to, because no place will be safe for me.”

  I’d never threatened my father, and his stern gaze let me know that he wasn’t going to stand there and take it lightly.

  He looked over toward my uncle John. “Get someone to meet us at the hospital.”

  I stood up, barely able to contain my emotions. I could feel the tears running down my cheeks, but wasn’t yet in a state of weeping yet. “No. I’m not goin’!”

  I placed my shaky hands on my hips and stood my ground. “I’m a grown woman, and though I appreciate you helpin’, I won’t let you do this. Don’t you all get it? Don’t you see that I want to put this behind me? I don’t want to be poked by doctors. I don’t want to be judged by the media, and don’t think for a second that it won’t happen. Our family is too well-known for it not to. Is that the kind of publicity you want?”

  I was going after my dad with whatever I could come up with. He had to see that this was a terrible idea.

  When my brother and Ethan came back in the room, probably because of the raised voices, they could tell the shit had hit the fan. My mother was beside herself, while my father and I stood over the table in a staring match. In the midst of it all I was more thankful for the argument, because although it was regarding my attack, it had taken my mind off of the little details I couldn’t stop thinking about.

  Finally I sat down and folded my hands on the table. My sniffles let everyone know that I was crying, even if they refused to look in my direction. “Please don’t make me do this. I’m not ready, daddy.” I played the daddy card, hoping to get to his heart. My father could be strict, but he always melted for us girls.

  He covered his face with his hands and rubbed it. I turned to my mom, watching her wiping away a fresh set of tears.

  “You need to worry about Addy. I’m goin’ to recover from this. She needs your attention. All I require is a quiet place to rest, and a break from school. I don’t want to talk about what happened, and I surely don’t want the whole family findin’ out. They already think I’m weak, and this only verifies those accusations.”

  “You’re not weak,” Noah said loudly.

  “It doesn’t matter. Don’t you all see that I just want to forget?”

  My mother led my father into another room, followed by my aunt and uncle. That left Noah and Ethan in the dining room with me. Noah sat down across from me, while Ethan leaned against the door frame. “You’re not weak,” Noah repeated.

  “Thank you. I keep thinkin’ about what else I could have done. If I’d only kicked him, or poked his eyes out. I keep rehashin’ it, as if it makes a damn bit of difference.”

  “You know dad’s not goin’ to stop until that asshole is behind bars?”

  “Yeah, I know. I just hope that mom changes his mind.”

  “If you were my daughter nothin’ would make me stop fightin’ for justice. You have to look at it that way.”

  I kept quiet after my brother’s assumption. It wasn’t that I didn’t have anything else to say, I just didn’t have the energy to keep going on and on about it. I knew where he stood, and from the look on Ethan’s face I could tell he agreed. That left me the minority.

  When my parents came back in the room they didn’t sit down. My father crossed his arms as he spoke. “We’re goin’ to the hospital, Christian. We know you’re scared, but it’s for the best. As far as this ranch is concerned, I don’t care about the publicity. Nothin’s more important than my family, not even this ground we live on. You can fight me on this, but at the end of the day we’ve got your best interest at heart. I need you to get well, and this is the first step in makin’ that happen. Your mother and I will be by your side the whole time, and if you want your friend Ethan along, he’s more than welcome. This ain’t a punishment; it’s the path to resolution.”

  Knowing that I couldn’t cross this man, I looked away from him, settled on the fact there was no other way.

  Then I knew what I had to do.

  I got up and excused myself to go to the bathroom, taking my purse with me; and in a matter of seconds after closing the door, I’d text Ethan to meet me at his car. He’d fight me, but we were getting out of there before I was taken to hospital and treated like a lab rat. The idea of a stranger touching me was making me ill.

  I darted for the front door a few seconds later, seeing Ethan in the driver’s seat. I could hear someone calling my name, but ran as fast I could. “Floor it. I’ll tell you how to get out of here without using the front gates.” My dad was probably already on the phone getting them to lock down the main entrance to the ranch. It was a good thing I knew my way around. My mom’s parents had built a little house on the outskirts of the property, and they had their own entrance from an adjacent road. We made it down the dirt entrance in no time, arriving on a country highway where I knew we were in the clear.

  “Do you mind tellin’ me why I feel like a damn criminal?”

  “Goin’ there was a mistake, Ethan. I can’t let them take me to a hospital. I won’t be like the girl we met last night. I can’t let myself.”

  “Chris, you need help.”

  “No. I just need some time to get over it. My attack was nothin’ like those other women. They had it so much worse. I can handle this on my own. As much as I appreciate your two-cents, I’d appreciate it if you let me make the decisions from now on.” I was adamant to be in charge, because no one knew me better than I knew myself.

  After a few minutes of driving I finally answer my phone. My mother was on the other end begging me to reconsider.

  “Honey, we’re just worried about you. You need help.”

  “Mom, I have to do this on my own. I feel terrible for involvin’ you. I never wanted you and dad to look at me as the victim. I couldn’t sit there anymore.”

  “Come home, Christian. We can talk about all of this after we know you’re safe.”

  “I am safe. Ethan will protect me. I’m stayin’ with him for a while until I can figure out everything.” That was a lie. I knew I wasn’t returning to school. Hiding out at Ethan’s was only temporary. There was a lot more than dropping out of school that I needed to worry about.

  “I hope you change your mind, sweetie. We’re here, and you know you’re welcome to come home. If you don’t want to stay with us, Gram has plenty of room. You can recover on the ranch, where we know you’ll be safe.”

  “I need time, mom. I’ll call you soon, I promise.”

  When we hung up I clenched the phone in my hand, staring down at it, as if it somehow held answers I desperately needed. I’d walked away from my family, leaving me pretty much alone to fend for myself. I longed for resolution; my dad was right about that. Only I wasn’t sure how to go about getting it without making it a media frenzy. I refused to be the talk of the town.

  I already knew I was the laughing stock at my old house. When the whole campus found out the news they’d come after me for attacking their beloved popular role model. It made me cringe.

  There had to be another way out of this mess, and I just needed time to figure it all out.

  Chapter 22

  Ethan

  I thought that going to her parents was the best decision. They could help guide their daughter to the healing that she needed.

  Chris had other plans.

  As much as I wanted to keep my promise to her, I knew that being her safety net wasn’t without regret. Her parents were going to hate me for sneaking her out of their house. It was only a matter of time before they were knocking at my door. It didn’t take a genius to guess that they’d already contacted my parents to obtain my address on campus.

  I didn’t say much in the car on the ride back to my place. Chris wouldn’t have liked to hear my opinion. As much as I understood that this was her problem, I also knew that she had the best family I’d ever known. She had to know that.

  Once we were inside of my apartment she headed back to my bedroom, closing the door behind her. I don’t think she meant for it to be rude, but I took offense since it was my neck I was sticking out for her. Still, I let her have some time to herself, to maybe realize she’d made a mistake.

  I sat down at my computer to get some school-work done while everything was quiet. I headed to my email, hoping to have a response from some of my classmates about assignments I’d missed. I didn’t expect to have a message in my inbox from Seth. Any student could obtain addresses for other classmates. The directory was out there on the main website. I clenched my jaws as I opened the message, not really knowing what to expect.

  First there was a written message.

  Ethan,

  We don’t know each other well, but we do share a common friend. Christian Mitchell and I hooked up last Friday night and then again on Saturday. To be honest she was an easy lay. She came on to me in a strip club, and then later on after she’d invited me back to her house. We’re both guys, so you can imagine how she was easy on the eyes. I didn’t hesitate when she asked me to follow her to her room.

  I won’t go into details about how she was all over my dick. I think you see where this is going. I’m reaching out to you because she’s all of a sudden gone psycho. The bitch is accusing me of rape. I’ve got a ton of people who can back my story of her being all over me. I’m not looking for another witness. I’m writing to ask that you convince your friend to back off. She doesn’t know who she’s messing with. My friends are pissed this is happening, and I’m afraid they’re going to make sure this story gets buried.

  Please pass this on to your friend. Make sure she knows that I want this shit to be forgotten about. I get that women change their minds, but I never attacked your friend. We slept together on three different occasions, all of which she was a willing participant. For Christ sakes, she blew me in the movie theater. Does that sound like someone who was forced to have sex?

  Think about it, man. I’m not the bad guy. Your friend needs help, but not from being attacked. She needs mental assistance.

  Thanks for your time,

  Seth

  If I didn’t need the computer for school I would have thrown it across the room at that very moment. Just before closing out the message I saw the attachment. A ten second video sat waiting to be played. Against better judgment I clicked on the link. It was dark, but light enough to see what was going on. Chris was on her knees with a cock in her mouth. I could hear the sound coming from the person recording it, and how his voice changed when she took his load. As much as I wanted to stop watching I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. When the video ended, I played it again, somehow in denial that it was my Christian on her knees.