I was in the shower belting out song lyrics like I didn’t have any care in the world. I got my stitches out yesterday after the interview. I hadn’t heard anything from William since it aired, which was surprising, because I was kind of expecting him to retaliate.
“Maybe he is too scared to show his face,” I muttered hopefully, though I knew that wasn’t the case.
I was going to have to be a bit careful because he could choose to strike at any time, and I had a gut feeling he would, and soon. Shaking my head, I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body. I exited the bathroom and started drying my hair, humming and swaying my hips to my own beat.
Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed my waist and pulled me backward into something hard. I opened my mouth to scream, but a hand muffled my attempt. I spun around and stared, wide-eyed, into a pair of angry forest-green eyes.
William.
Oh snap. He just had to show up now. I must have jinxed myself.
He had his arms wrapped around my waist, holding me to his chest tightly.
“How did you get in here?” I asked him, still shocked. I tried to pull away. There was nobody home except me, and I knew the guards would have called to tell me he was here.
He smirked. “Through the window.”
“What?” I looked at my window and mentally slapped myself for leaving it open.
“Great, now what do you want?” I asked, still trying to push him, but the asshole wouldn’t budge.
His face turned concerned. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
I gave him a look of disbelief. Was I okay? Was he okay? Who was he talking about? William seemed to be running a fever. Where was a thermometer when you needed one?
He glanced downward, and I realized I was still in my towel.
Crap.
I quickly stepped back into the bathroom and slammed the door in his face.
“What the…? What was that for?” he asked, knocking on the door.
“Don’t you ‘what’ me. I should be asking you that. First you insult me, then you come back and act like everything’s okay!” I snapped.
“I was trying to protect you!”
“What the hell do you even mean?”
He banged the door again. “Please, Heather, just come out. I need to talk to you.”
I bit my lip and contemplated my choices. I could either try jumping out the window or just take my blow dryer as defense and face William.
I looked out the window and frowned. There was no way I could make the jump without flashing someone or breaking a bone.
I heaved a sigh and grabbed my blow dryer before hesitantly opening the door.
William’s head snapped up and he smiled amusedly. “A blow dryer? Really? What would you do if someone attacked you? Blow hot air in their face?”
“Shut up. It’s not like a hairbrush would do much damage either. At least this is metal.”
“You could have just grabbed a baseball bat or something.”
“Right, because everyone keeps baseball bats in their bathroom.”
“I do.”
“Of course you do,” I muttered sarcastically, rolling my eyes and waving the blow dryer in his face.
“You’re cute.”
I glared at him. There was something seriously wrong with his moods. “I won’t be cute when I break your nose with this. Now turn around so I can get dressed.”
He sighed and turned around. I quickly grabbed a baggy t-shirt and shorts and slipped them on while keeping an eye on him.
“Now what did you have to say?” I asked, tying my hair up.
“Kelly has pictures of a man sleeping beside you in bed.”
“What? I hardly understood a word you said.”
He turned around and gave me a pained look. “Kelly has pictures of a man sleeping beside you in bed. I know that you wouldn’t willingly let any man hop into your bed, so I came here to check on you.”
“What pictures?” I asked, getting angrier by the second.
He whipped his phone out. “Here, look at these.”
I looked at the pictures and gasped. This guy was naked and spooning me from behind while I was asleep. The only reason you could tell he was naked was because you could see his butt sticking out from under the blanket.
“When did you get these?” I asked him, feeling bile rising up my throat.
He put his hands in his pockets. “This morning.”
So this psychopath must have broken into the house last night. Oh God, I took a sleeping pill last night because I had a bad headache, so I was pretty much knocked out. No wonder I didn’t hear him or feel him.
I felt very violated.
I handed him his phone and raced back into the bathroom, falling to my knees and vomiting into the toilet. A pair of hands started to rub my back comfortingly as I emptied my stomach.
Once I finished, I flushed the toilet and stood up shakily. My thoughts were all over the place. A man was in my bed, naked, touching me, spooning me! Who knew where he could have touched me.
“Heather?” William asked softly.
I looked up at him and felt myself shaking, trying not to panic. I began rocking back and forth, trying to calm myself down. Maybe I should move to the South Pole with the penguins and away from civilization.
I felt a pair of arms gently pick me up and my body curled up into the warmth involuntarily.
“Breathe, Heather. Calm down,” William whispered.
Clearly, I wasn’t thinking properly if I was letting William, of all people, comfort me.
“He was here, William! He was in my bed, naked! He could have hurt my family or me, and it’s all my fault. I put them in danger,” I whispered hoarsely.
He shushed me. “How the fuck is it your fault? You’re being unreasonable. You need to calm down and think this through properly.”
William kissed the top of my head and kept rubbing my back slowly. Surprisingly, I felt safe in his arms.
“How about we get you to bed? You should rest a bit,” he said softly, rubbing my cheek.
I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck as he stood, carrying me bridal style to my bed. I realized I needed to change all my sheets and covers. William must have read my mind because he put me down and quickly removed everything from my bed. While he went to discard them, I spread the new ones and hopped into bed, feeling exhausted and terrified.
***
William
I watched Heather as she slept and ran a hand through her hair.
It angered me to think that disgusting man came in here and was hugging Heather in bed, naked! When Kelly sent me those pictures, I was really angry. How could she do that? I was trying to stop her, but it wasn’t working. It had gotten to the point that Heather was close to being physically hurt. Maybe it was time for me to stop trying to do everything myself, because obviously that wasn’t working. It was time for me to get help from a few friends.
I went through my contacts list and found the number I was looking for. However, before I could dial, there was a loud bang.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
I lifted my head and saw Alex and Andrew standing in the doorway. They looked like they wanted to strangle me, and I didn’t blame them.
“Shhh, Heather’s sleeping.” I pointed at the figure in the bed.
Heather groaned softly and turned around, mumbling something about penguins. I smiled and played with the ends of her hair. When I looked up again, they were right next to the bed, staring at their sister.
“What happened?” Andrew whispered, reaching over and wiping one of Heather’s wet cheeks.
“Did you say something to her?” Alex asked me angrily.
I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head. “It’s a long story, and no, I didn’t hurt her.”
They narrowed their eyes and I mentally sighed.
What was I supposed to tell them?