He peels me off the cold, dingy tile floor and hoists me up into his arms.
“Yes, you do. You do care,” he insists. “And you can spend the rest of the day thinking of a way to get back at me. I won’t even retaliate. Give me your best shot, Sophie. I’ll take it.”
My best shot is protesting when he lays me down in what I’m guessing is his bed. Completely naked. “Take me back to my room. I wanna be with Shannon.”
“Not right now, you don’t.” He chuckles. “Jake’s in her room, too. Besides, you’re not sleeping on the floor in a shitty pile of old blankets after what you’ve been through. You deserve to be comfortable, and if you need anything, I’ll be right here.”
“I’m not comfortable. I wanna go to my pile of gross, old blankets.” I am not competing, and I’m not lying. I am really not comfortable here. “I’m going to shit in your bed.”
That’s not competing either. It’s just an honest warning.
“That’s a pretty good clapback.” He grins at me, strokes my cheek, then pulls the blankets up over my shoulders to cover my quivering body. “But you can do better than that. Get some rest, and when you wake up, I’m sure you’ll come up with plenty of good ideas.”
I won’t, I won’t, I won’t, I chant to myself until I fall asleep again.
Chapter Sixteen
The clock on my phone reads six a.m. There’s no way anyone in the house is awake yet on a Monday morning.
As quietly as possible, I creep from my hiding place for the past twenty-four hours—my pile of blankets on Shannon’s bedroom floor. God bless her for keeping her room off-limits to anyone and everyone. She knew I couldn’t face them without me saying a word. I still don’t know how I’m going to face them, but it’s the first day of classes then we have band practice tonight. I’ve got a little more time to pull my tail from between my legs.
I silently pack all my things into my duffel bags then fold the blankets into a neat pile. Shannon can deliver my pillow to me later.
Showering is unavoidable noise. The pipes in this old house scream like a banshee even if the water pressure is only a trickle. It’s my third since the night that shall never be spoken of, and I still don’t feel clean enough. I’m not going to campus, smelling like a rabid opossum that got stuck in a trash can for days.
I crack the bathroom door open and listen. Total quiet. It’s only a very small mercy that I haven’t broken my cover. Every careful step down the two-story stairwell could make or break me. Why are old houses so loud?
I breathe a deep sigh of relief when I hit the main-floor landing. Escape is only a living room away.
Just when I think I’m in the clear, a head pops out of the kitchen doorway, wearing way too bright a smile for the early hour.
At least it’s not Jimmy.
“You’re awake! Hey, everyone,” Nate calls over his shoulder, “Sophia’s up!”
Everyone? Oh, God. Why couldn’t I have died that night? Death would have been better than this.
He tugs me into the kitchen where a flurry of activity does not jive with what is typical college student behavior so early in the morning on the first day of classes. Shannon pulls a pitcher of orange juice from the fridge, Jimbo’s frying something at the stove, Jake is manning the toaster, and Tim walks right up to me and throws his arms around my shoulders. My backpack thumps to the floor as he squeezes me so hard that my eyes feel like they’re going to pop out of the sockets.
“You’re alive. We were so worried.”
Jake pries Tim away, only to take his place. “We’re so sorry, Soph.”
Why is Jake sorry? He didn’t do anything. And why were they worried? They had to know I hadn’t died in their bathroom.
Nate leads me to the kitchen table, pulls out a chair, and gently presses me into it. “Here, sit. Relax. We’re making you breakfast. Everything you need to get your strength back up.”
If it wasn’t so utterly mortifying, and I wasn’t still probably dehydrated, I would cry. A little from gratitude, mostly from embarrassment.
“Shannon, you didn’t have to put them up to this. I’m not really hungry anyway.” Still might never eat again.
She thumps the juice on the table and raises an eyebrow at me. She’s not nearly as smiley as the guys in the room. “Oh, I tried to talk him out of it, but instead, I got blackmailed into finding out what time you set your alarm for.”
Nate seems like the ringleader of this operation.
I glance up at him. “What did you blackmail her with?”
Jake scoffs from his position at the toaster. “He said he’d tell the entire trumpet section what her orgasms sounded like.”
I never knew Nate had such a dark side. I gape at him in horror. “You wouldn’t.”
“No,” he agrees, “I wouldn’t. Jimbo would though. At least, I’m pretty sure he’s not bluffing.”
Jimbo snickers at the stove.
“It’s not funny, you asshole,” Shannon shouts at him.
He pins her with a deadpan expression. “No, it’s not. I never needed to hear that sound in my entire life. It’s like a velociraptor mating with a seagull. Why don’t you two do it in Jake’s room? You know, the one that’s on the other end of the hall?”
“No way.” Nate shakes his head. “They’re not doing it in our room.”
“We’re gonna do it in the living room,” Jake threatens them with a butter knife waving in the air. “And we’re gonna bring down the rafters when I’m through wringing her out.”
I shudder at his words. No more wringing out. None. Ever.
“No!” the rest of the guys all shout in unison, covering their ears like it’s going to happen right now.
Shannon points at Jake. “You are never getting laid again.”
“Why am I getting yelled at? Jimbo’s the biggest asshole in this room!”
I never want to hear the words asshole, shit, or anything else related to butts ever again in my life.
Jimmy squats at my side, sliding a plate of food under my nose. The smell alone curdles my stomach. “I am. I’m a complete and total asshole, but I’m gonna make it up to you. Even if you’re not very hungry, just eat what you can. We’ve got practice tonight. If you don’t want this or anything else we have in the kitchen, I’ll go get whatever you want.”
They woke up early and went to all this trouble, so I don’t want to seem like a complete jerk. “Thanks, everyone. Really. If I thought I could eat, this would be great.”
Jimmy drops his chin to his chest for a beat, takes a deep breath, then lifts his head with a smile. “You wanna throw this pile of food in my face? That’ll make you feel better.”
“I really don’t.”
“You’ve gotta eat something,” he argues. “You can’t go all day with an empty stomach.”
“I’m just going to grab a protein shake when I get to campus.”
“Soph,” he starts gently. “Our first class isn’t even ’til ten.”
“I know. I’m going to campus now.”