I’d barely made it out of the shower when my phone pinged with a text from Drew. I ran my fingers through my damp hair and threw on jeans and a sweater before I followed his directions to: Meet me outside The Hut now!

I’d just made my way to the bottom of the porch steps when the wrecker skidded to a halt almost hitting the bikes parked out front. I stumbled back, my hands in a universal easy sign when Drew jumped from the cab of the truck.

“Drew, what the hell—?”

He didn’t stop, just carried on to the other side, his face twisted in rage and brows furrowed in confusion. I stepped closer as he pulled the passenger door open, but stopped the moment I saw him pull Sloane into his arms. I didn’t need to ask what was wrong. As he swung her around, I saw bruises and dirt in places that told their own story. I saw that haunted look in Drew’s eyes and swallowed my own terror and confusion.

“Take her into our room. That way no one will interrupt,” I said, circling around him as he passed, and pulled the door out of the way. Thankfully, the bar was empty other than a couple of the resident whores asleep on the couch. “What happened?”

“Not a goddamn clue,” he said, panting for breath as he lowered her as carefully as he could on top of our bed. He handled her like he cared, dropping her head to the pillow with a tenderness only I usually got to see. Drew pushed the stuck together strands of hair away from her forehead, his own scowl growing deeper, even though he tried to keep his face straight. He pulled down her skirt to cover her thighs and let her curl in on herself again. “I found her down on FM 667. I didn’t realize it was her until I got closer.” He stood taller, his eyes fixed on Sloane. “All she’s done is cry, Ayda.”

“Okay,” I said gently, my eyes flitting between the two of them. “Drew, can you grab a bottle of water from the fridge? I’m going to grab a washcloth and clean her up a little bit.”

I stood quickly, my hand wrapping around his wrist and squeezing before I rushed to our bathroom and grabbed a small hand towel and ran the material under a lukewarm stream of water, wringing it out and shoving a dry one over my shoulder. I rushed back, meeting Drew by the bed and giving him a warm smile of thanks as he handed me the bottle.

Setting everything on the nightstand, I leaned into Sloane and brushed her hair back from her face. The tracks of her tears cut through the mascara and streaks of dirt on her face, and her sad eyes were still brimming with tears. She blinked, sending another set of tears free, and the sight broke my heart.

“Okay, sweetheart, I need you to sit up for me.”

My body leaned into hers, and she latched on, her arms circling tight around my neck as she shivered around me. It felt like she was slipping slowly into the depths of shock. With Drew’s help, we sat her on the bed, but her face stayed buried in the curve where my shoulder and neck met, her heaving sobs now partnered with whispered wails that dug soul deep. I wanted to help, but I also needed to know how bad this was before I did anything else. Her dad was the chief of police, for fuck’s sake.

“Sloane, I need to you take a deep breath for me, okay? Then I need you to tell me what happened.”

“I… I don’t want to talk about it.” It was a whisper, but the words and intent were clear. I glanced up at Drew, tipped my head in Sloane’s direction and mouthed any ideas?

He scratched the back of his neck with one hand, the other planted firmly on his hip. “A few,” he muttered under his breath. I wasn’t convinced his ideas would benefit Sloane, though. There was anger in his eyes, even though neither of us knew who he should be directing it at.

I went about untangling myself from Sloane’s grip and kneeling in front of her. Taking her hands in one of mine, I tucked her hair behind her ear with the other. There was no easy way to go about this. There was no gentle way to push her about what happened, so I just had to do it.

“Sloane, we know just from looking that something really bad happened, and I need you to know that you’re safe here. It’s just us in this room and whatever you say can only help you. We just need to know what happened. Were you…?” I swallowed and looked up at Drew for strength, before I dipped my view lower to find her eyes, then changed tactics at the last moment. “Tell me what happened. Please?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.”

“A guy in school got a little… rough, that’s all. I just want to go home and forget about it all.”

Drew stepped forward a little too harshly, stopping himself and tensing his whole body when Sloane flinched and looked up at him through wide, heartbroken eyes.

I glanced at him, too, seeing the way he closed his eyes and fought to stay in control before he internally counted to ten, let out a breath and looked down at her again.

“That’s understandable,” he said as softly as he could manage, considering it was through gritted teeth. “To want to go home, I mean.” Drew cleared his throat roughly before he lowered himself and kneeled down so his eyes were level with Sloane’s. “But if that’s true, Sloane, why were you walking out of town, in the opposite direction of your home?”

Sloane’s wild eyes darted between Drew and me before her gaze landed back into our tangled hands. I felt them try to ball and released my gentle grip to allow her to do so. Sometimes you just needed the physical representation of your emotions, and I wasn’t going to deny her that.

“I just wanted to think. To go somewhere I knew no one would be.” She lifted one of her hands and swiped away the tears that were falling more freely now. “It all happened so fast. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared, confused, and I didn’t know what to do.”

A myriad of emotions swarmed into me, fury dripping into my bloodstream as every possibility flickered across my mental screen. I still wasn’t sure what had happened, and I needed to know before we decided where to go from here. Before we told Sutton.

Shit.

“It’s okay. No one would know what to do. We just need you to start at the beginning and tell us what happened.”

The shudder that ran through her body was the only indication that she was even considering my request.

“I stayed late after practice. We have a meet coming up and I wanted to make sure everything was ready. Ana couldn’t stay because she had a date, so she asked me. It’s not difficult. I was heading out when the… the guy stepped out and blocked the hall. I didn’t think anything of it really. I didn’t think he would…” She trailed off, a vacant look passing over her eyes as the fear slipped that little bit deeper.

“It was school. I wouldn’t have thought it either,” I encouraged.

“He started flirting with me. It was really weird and made me uncomfortable, so I tried to politely excuse myself. When I tried to walk past him, he grabbed my arm and pushed me really hard against the wall. He started saying all this really pervy shit that kinda scared me, so I pushed him and tried to run. He… he grabbed my ponytail and his…” A sob broke from her throat, and her head shook from side to side as though she’d reached her limit. “His hand went between my legs, grabbing at the skin there, and I was about to scream when the door to the gym opened. He jumped back and I ran. I just ran and ran and the next thing I remember is Drew calling my name. I was so scared, Ayda. If that person hadn’t come into the gym…”

She broke down then, and I let her. I released a breath and looked up at Drew. This was bad, really fucking bad, but knowing it could have been worse terrified me.

Drew’s eyes were closed again, and his strong jaw was ticking as he tried to stay clear-minded. “Sloane,” he said as he peeled his eyes open again.

“Yeah?” she sobbed.

“Don’t lie to us, sweetheart,” he whispered tenderly.

Sloane blinked in confusion, her sniff of emotion being the only sound she made.

“That isn’t the last thing you remember, is it?” He paused, giving her chance to answer before he went on, but Sloane stayed quiet. “Everything you’ve just told us happened indoors, and that doesn’t explain the state you’re in.”

Sloane opened her mouth to say something, quickly closing it again as her trembling grew harsher.

“Your story doesn’t explain the dirt on your knees. The clothes that are ruined. The…” Drew dragged in a deep breath, filling his chest and letting the rest go unsaid as he exhaled.

Sloane curled in on herself, her fists pushing into her eyes as she started to rock. She was inconsolable. I hadn’t even thought to ask her to go on, but Drew had known. He’d seen what she wasn’t saying and leaned just a little bit harder to get that truth from her. I hated that Sloane was hurting. I loathed whoever had done this to her, but more than anything, I was terrified about what else she was hiding from us.

Rubbing her back in soothing circles, I tried to compose myself before dipping back in. Sitting back on my feet, I picked up the washcloth and started cleaning the open wounds on her knees. When she looked up again with red-rimmed eyes, I uncapped the water and pushed the bottle into her hands before continuing to clean the dirt from the bloody flesh.

“He followed me out,” she finally said. Bringing the bottle to her lips, she started to drink, and the first touch to her tongue was like a trigger. She drank half the bottle before she stopped, her breath heaving as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I was running here, taking the shortcut under the bleachers so I could hit the field that took me out to the highway. I was trying to get through one of the cross sections, and my laces got tangled in one of the big screw things. I hit the dirt. I twisted and tried to untangle myself, but he was right there, his face inches from mine as he pushed my legs…” Sloane swallowed deeply and shook her head.

I knew not a second of this would be considered easy for her, but I was proud of her for talking. Even to an audience of two. “It’s okay.”

“He held me down, his hand slipping between us, and I could feel him grabbing and pinching… you know… there. It was like he was having more fun when I was scared. I tried to get away but his fingers got inside my underwear, and he kept saying ugly, ugly things, and that’s when I screamed. I screamed as long and loud as I could, but he put his hand over my mouth, and that’s when everything became real twisted. I fought him. I fought so hard and twisted under his grip, my arms and legs kicking with everything I had. I kept thinking the worst he can do is hit me. As long as I keep moving, he can’t do anything. I have to fight. I have to fight. I have to fight.”

I pushed up on my knees as she went on like a broken record, and I held her to me. Rage was now a ball in the center of my gut, the flame blue and white-hot. “It’s okay, just breathe, honey.”

Glancing up at Drew, I knew what the next question had to be, even though I was sure it would earn someone the beating of a lifetime.

“Sloane, who did this?”

“I don’t know him.”

“Sloane…”

“I really don’t. He must have been a senior or something. I don’t know him.”

“Would you know him if you saw him again?” I asked, leaning back so I could see her face.

“I’m not going to go looking for him. For all I know he could have been there fixing the plumbing. I’ve never seen him before.”

She was lying. I knew that by the way her eyes darted away from mine and stayed in the corner of the room. There was a wince of pain on her face as though it went against her better judgment to keep quiet, but her chin came up in resolve, and I knew we’d gotten as much from her as we were going to get. I glanced up at Drew, wondering if he had another stroke of genius to get her to open up again.

“Sloane,” he began cautiously, leaning closer. “I’ve seen a lot of bad things in my life. I’ve lived a lot of them, too. I may not know what you’re feeling right now, but I know the thoughts going through your head. Who will get hurt if I talk? What will my loved ones think? Will I be seen differently? Can I just forget it happened and go back to how things were yesterday? Believe me, I know the answers, too. Who will get hurt if you talk? Only the person who hurt you. What will your loved ones think? Absolutely nothing but relief that you’re okay and that you’re not letting evil assholes get away with evil acts. Will you be seen differently? Yes. As strong. As defiant. As someone who refuses to let this shit happen. Can you just forget it happened and go back to how things were yesterday?” He let out a weighty exhale and shook his head. “No, darlin’. No. Nothing can ever go back. I ain’t gonna lie to you and let you pretend it can. You’ve been treated with disrespect. Now it’s about how we can heal you moving forward. But trust me, if you keep this hidden… if you keep this tucked away like a poisonous secret that only you know, that only you remember, that only you think about… it will destroy you. Maybe not now. Maybe not tomorrow. But it will happen… and, sweetheart, you’ll wish you’d talked.”

I glanced up at Drew and watched him as we waited. He wasn’t a man of many words. In fact, he wasn’t a man who let people in very often. I’d always thought it would be hard to love someone who kept so many walls in place, but the longer I was with him, the more I realized that those walls weren’t just to keep people out. Once you were allowed to climb them, they kept you inside, too. They kept you close enough to see the parts he was striving to hide from his enemies, but those walls were starting to expand, and all four of the Sutton family were now included in the safety of those walls. All I could think as I looked at him was: I love you. It was on repeat over and over again, even when I looked back to the girl leaning on me for strength.

“Sloane?” I nudged gently.

“I… You don’t understand. You don’t know—”

We never found out what she was about to say. Our bedroom door practically imploded only seconds before half the MC flowed in through the opening and closed in around Drew like a rockslide. The words asshole, fucker, and worried, were the most overused as they all talked at once, not one of them seeing the anger burning in Drew’s eyes.

It was only when Kenny pushed through the group and fell to his knees next to me that the room fell into a temporary silence.

“What’s happened?” he asked, looking manically between Drew and me.

“I’ll tell you what hasn’t happened,” Slater growled from the door. “No one has answered their fucking phone when we’ve been fucking ringing it after expecting our fucking president to be on a fucking job, leaving us to imagine all sorts of fucking nightmares all over again.”

“Jesus, Slate!” Drew snapped, his head snapping up to him and his frown deep. “Sense the tone, you fucking dipshit.”

“Listen,” Slater snapped back. I’d never seen him looking so angry. His finger pointed straight at Drew, all his muscles tensed and the veins in his neck stretched. “I don’t have a clue what’s gone on here, and I know it ain’t good, but don’t you ever, ever, do that to me again. I thought it was the Emps attack, part two. Only this time I thought you were already dead.” And with that, he marched away, leaving Jedd and Harry in the doorway while I looked back at Kenny with concerned eyes.

With the new interruption, we weren’t going to get anything more from Sloane. I could see the way she and Kenny looked at one another. “Can you take her into my room? I think she needs some company, but just don’t push too hard, okay?”

Kenny nodded, and it didn’t take much for Sloane to fall into his arms almost naturally. If those two hadn’t already formed some kind of a relationship, I would eat my own foot. This complicated things on a hundred different levels, but the biggest one was who was going to need retribution the most. Howard or Kenny?

I pushed up to my feet, unsurprised when Kenny lifted her into his arms and slipped past the others standing at the door. Once they were gone, all eyes turned on Drew.