Brad places his hand at the small of my back and I allow him to usher me through the thicket of people near the kegs and toward the back of the yard where a relatively dilapidated garage sat covered in peeling blue paint. It's quite the contrast from the well-kept house, but maybe it's not worth the trouble for them.
I see three standard-issue-frat-guys™ standing there and Brad brings me up to their circle.
"Hey guys, this is Vale. She'll help ya out."
I smile at them. "You guys need some molly?"
The guy standing in the front makes a show of letting his eyes travel down my body in the most uncomfortable way, but I brush it off. It's nothing, surely.
"Hey, I'm here on a baseball scholarship, and I can't let anyone see me buying. Do you care if we go into the garage?" He nods his head in a gesture toward the garage. It's actually perfect. I don't want to be seen, either.
I walk toward the garage and spin the old worn brass knob that jiggles in its housing as I pull the door back before stepping inside the relatively dark space. One of the guys makes his way to the center of the room and turns on the light using a pull string. It flickers to life bathing the unkempt space in a dull orange glow.
"How much do you need?"
The first guy shrugs and looks at the guys to his left. "Just three, one for each of us."
"Cool." I reach in my bra and pull out the small bag of pills before opening a smaller bag to give him his goods. He places his hand over mine and casts an eye toward Brad with a menacing grin.
"Hey, I heard you have a special delivery method. I'd like to pay extra for that." He settles his heated glare over me, and I didn't realize until this moment that I had failed to see this predatory situation for what it could become. I chew the inside of my lip nervously a beat.
"Sorry. That was a one-time deal. These ones come in a bag, so take it or leave it." I put a confidence and swagger into the statement that's not authentic, but I pull back on the sexy. True, what I do is an artful tease, but I want them to chase. I never intend on letting them catch, and today is no different.
I roll the bag up and hold it upright between my fingers. The looks on the men's faces grow hard, but I do my best to remain unphased. The first guy pulls out the cash, and when I go to take the funds he grabs a hold of wrist, pulling me tightly against his chest. His smile returns this time, carrying a look of danger and foreboding it was lacking before.
"Oh, I'm gonna take it, don't you worry, baby."
He spins me forward, pulling my hands tightly behind my back. My shoulders are stretched and strained uncomfortably and I find myself wincing against the pressure.
"You're going to fucking regret this," I spit between clenched teeth as I struggle against his firm hold.
One of the other two comes around the front of me and his eyes go straight to my tits before he dips his hands into my bra, pulling out my stash and my cash. They all look at it and their faces stretch into excited grins as high fives are passed around. Then he comes back and reaches back into my bra, pulling it down and exposing my breasts.
This is when I lose my cool. When he leans in to press his mouth to one of my nipples I draw my foot up and kick him right in the balls with all the force I could put behind the motion, and relished the scrunched look of pain on his face as he squeaked out the air in his lungs and crumpled to the floor.
The guy that has me in his hands, spins me back around, pushes me back just far enough, and delivers a backhand across my face hard enough that I see stars and taste the blood in my mouth. I fell to the floor immediately, crushing my head against the cold pavement - then he was on me.
I screamed out for help, managing to get one good yell out before his enormous hands stretched over my mouth, pushing down roughly until I could taste more blood from my teeth digging into my lips. I can already feel my face swelling from the hit he delivered and I don't want to earn a second one.
"Shut. Up."
His wild eyes bore into mine and I can see malicious pleasure flicking through his eyes. He's enjoying my struggle and the thought makes me ill. I've never felt this helpless, not even those frightening nights at home when I was only a child.
I heard the door swing open, followed by the sound of scuffling and grunting. The man on top of me glanced behind him.
"Oh, fuck," is all he says before he jumps off of me, but he wasn't even able to make it all the way upright before Kaden landed a right cross and sent him tumbling to the floor, out cold.
"Oh my God, Vale." Kaden dipped immediately, pulling my top back up over my exposed breasts, and picking me up like an injured ragdoll before carrying me out.
"Did you get the cash back?" I say. It's the only cohesive thought I can muster. He looks to his side, meeting eyes with Brandt who nods. I didn't even realize he was with him, I'm suddenly so out of it. "Yeah, babe, we got the cash. We're leaving."
Heads turned at the sight of Kaden carrying me out of the party. I'm sure some people might have just assumed I was a drunk girl or something to that effect, and I didn't want anyone to know what had almost just happened there. I don't even want to know what almost just happened in that dimly lit garage.
Once we get to the car, he puts me in the front seat, buckling me in before Brandt climbs in the back. Kaden immediately flicks on the overhead light and grabs my chin, pulling my face into the white glow. His eyes immediately track to the side of my face, which is throbbing at this point. His eyes immediately go cold.
Stepping out of the car, Kaden leaves his door ajar and rounds to the rear, opening the trunk. I'm not sure what he's doing but Brandt is eyeing him warily. When the trunk closes and I see Kaden walking back toward the party with a tire iron in tow I immediately look to Brandt. "Do something!"
I didn't need to tell him twice. He had the back door open and was in front of Kaden before he even stepped foot back on the property. I could hear Kaden yelling in Brandt's face, but Brandt held firm.
"I'm going to fucking kill him, Brandt!"
Brandt pushed Kaden back gently. "And that's the problem, dude! I'm not saving his ass, I'm saving yours. How do you think Vale would feel if you ended up in prison for her?"
I see as his head falls and the tension in his body leaves him on a deep exhale. Without words he came back, got in the car, put his key in the ignition, and drove.
Brandt sat in the back seat quietly while I stared straight ahead. Aside from the pain in my face, my head was pounding, I was nauseous and dizzy. I probably have a concussion, but I don't want to go to the hospital. I don't want to report this to anyone. I just want to feel better.
"Vale, are you going to be okay? Do I need to take you in to get checked out?" Kaden finally said next to me, breaking the silence that was becoming unbearable in the small space of what I had learned is Brandt's car.
"I don't want to go in anywhere. Just take me home, please." I looked out the passenger side window and watched the lights as they blurred by in a rush of color. It was late. Maybe two in the morning or so. Gabby would be in bed by now.
Kaden rests his hand gently on my thigh. "Vale, I can't take you home tonight. You hit your head pretty damn hard and you probably have a concussion. Unless you want to wake up your roommate when you get home, it's best you just come back to our place."
Huh. It just made sense to me now that they lived together, which explains a lot, actually. I don't know why I didn't think to ask that earlier. It's a huge house for only one man, no matter how big his head is.
I exhale deeply, stopping my mind from running away with me and forcing it back to the subject at hand. "I don't think that's a good idea, Kaden."
"Ok. I'll give you two choices then, and you choose which one you want. Choice the first: I take you to the hospital and have someone take a look at you. Choice the second: Come stay the night in my bed so I can watch you. I probably won't be sleeping for a while anyway. Not when I'm this wound up."
I didn't answer, but I didn't have to. Kaden knows what my choice would be and my lack of argument on the topic let him know that I folded.
When we pulled up to his house, he insisted on carrying me in, as though my legs were what was damaged and not my entire face. Everything south of my neck was just fine, though I did have to admit that a certain stiffness was settling into some muscles that felt fine only moments ago.
Kaden laid me down on his bed, carefully, before digging through his drawers and pulling out an oversized Queensryche t-shirt, and tossing it to me.
"I'm going to go downstairs and grab a couple of things. Go ahead and change, but try not to stand up if you can avoid it. I don't want you taking another tumble."
Without waiting for my assent, he turned around and headed down the small set of stairs and out his door. I gave him an overexaggerated eye roll even though he couldn't see it. I know he's just being nice, and he's also right, but I don't like being in situations like this. Getting mad at Kaden is easier than dealing with the larger problem that's creeping just beneath the surface.
Maybe tomorrow I'll feel better. This will all feel just like a really bad dream.