Before Read Free

some sicko sex fantasy? I shook my head. “No, I don’t.”
    “Bet I can change your mind.”
    And that’s the moment I knew I was in serious trouble.
    Because I’d just said no. And Dave didn’t believe me.
    “Let. Me. Go.” I annunciated each word clearly.
    Yeah, like that would help the message sink into his thick skull. “This isn’t going to happen, Dave. I said no.”
    “Fucking cockteasing bitch,” he said, a second before his mouth slammed onto mine.
    I screamed. Useless. His tongue stuck in my mouth and I tried to bite it, which only served to make him angrier.
    He grabbed my ponytail and pulled. Hard. My neck snapped back. Pain ricocheted down my spine. This was bad. Really bad.
    I fought, desperate to escape. But the more I writhed and bucked to get away, the stronger he seemed to get. The windowsill dug into my back as he pinned me easily with his body weight and one arm, the other arm insinuating its way between our bodies. Sliding lower. Unzipping.
    I would not let this happen.
    Mustering every ounce of strength I could, I wrenched my mouth free for a moment and that’s all I needed to let out an ear-shattering scream.
    “For fuck’s sake.” He released me, shoving me away so hard I stumbled and fell onto the bed.
    Like that was helping my situation. I scrambled up fast and ran for the door, half expecting him to come at me again.
    “Frigid bitch.” His tone was so cold, so derisive, I wondered how I could’ve been fooled into thinking this guy was mild-mannered. “Here’s a tip for you. Don’t enter a bedroom at a party unless you want to get laid.”
    I opened the door and paused, incredulous. In what alternate reality did a girl trusting a friend equate with her expecting sex just because they entered a bedroom?
    “And here’s a tip for you, dickwad.” I stared at his groin and wrinkled my nose. “No means no.” I held up my hand and let my pinkie droop. “So keep your tiny wiener in your pants. And if you ever come near me again, I’ll have you up on sexual assault charges so fast your head will spin.”
    Brave fighting words, while I was a quivering mess inside.
    To my amazement, Dave deflated before my eyes. Slumped shoulders. Red face. And he started to shake. “I’m sorry, Jess. Been a long time and—”
    “Save it, asshole. Just because you’ve got a severe case of blue balls doesn’t mean you get to force a girl into having sex with you.”
    That’s when I started to shake too, when the enormity of what I’d just escaped hit me. “Stay the hell away from me. Or better yet, when I get back after summer, I want you gone. Transfer out.”
    His hangdog expression did little to soothe my rampant sense of injustice. I had to get in a parting shot.
    “And for the record? I’ll be telling every girl in my dorm what just happened here, and they’ll tell their boyfriends who’ll beat you to a pulp if you don’t leave. So don’t think I’ll stay silent because I’m embarrassed or ashamed.” I flipped him the bird. “Because you’re the one who should be ashamed, you stupid prick.”
    I made a run for it then, half slipping, half sliding down the stairs. I pushed through the crowd, made it to the door and out. Freedom.
    I ran on pure adrenalin all the way to Chantal’s apartment, where I banged on the door until my fists ached.
    Thankfully, it was her night off and when my cousin opened the door, I stumbled inside and burst into tears.

 
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    JACK
     
     
    I hated cooking Mrs. Gee’s hearty beef stew. Dicing onions would have to be my least favorite task in the kitchen and she’d assigned me a kilo’s worth.
    “How was the B&S ball?” she said, rinsing and drying her hands while eyeing me with curiosity.
    I paused mid-chop and blinked against the constant sting. “Same old.”
    Mrs. Gee tut-tutted. “Wild women and monstrous hangovers?”
    “Something like that.” I resumed dicing, preferring not to think about that night two weeks