Panicking, I rattled the handle repeatedly and yelled, “Mol! Open the f**k up. I know you’re in there!” I pounded on the doors, almost ripping them off their hinges, but they wouldn’t budge.

I could see a shadowed outline of Mol curled up on her bed, and I needed her to hear me out, but it was clear she wasn’t about to open the doors and let me in.

Climbing back down the balcony, I ran around the house and burst through the front doors. Some jock-looking chick ran into the hallway and began trying to push me back out of the door as I began to climb the stairs.

“What the hell? You can’t just come in here… wait!” she shouted, jumping right into my path.

“MOVE!” I yelled. She didn’t, so, picking her up by the waist, I moved her to the side, setting off running once more, the muscled brunette immediately following behind.

Catching sight of Molly’s door, I quickened my pace, the chick behind me screaming, “Molly! Molly! Watch out—”

Shouldering through the door, I found Molly sitting up on her bed, eyes red and gaping at me in shock.

“I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t leave. Do you want me to call security?”

I could see Molly was considering it. But no f**ker was making me go anywhere. She was going to hear me out whether she liked it or not.

“Don’t. Even. Think it,” I said in a stern voice, watching Mol sigh in defeat and then shake her head at her friend.

“You sure?” the chick asked again. Man, I was about to shove the damn girl out the door myself.

“Yes. Thanks, Cait,” Mol answered with a small, appreciative smile.

Almost snarling at me in disgust, Cait insisted, “Holler if you need me.” She left, and the silence that filled the room was excruciating.

“Just leave, Romeo. I have nothing to say to you,” Molly said coldly, looking so damn small in the center of her bed.

She’d given up on me; that much was obvious. My desperate fury took hold, and my hands were literally shaking with fear. I marched over to the bed and shouted, “Well, I have something to say to you!”

Her brown eyebrows drew in and she lashed out, “What? That you’ve been lying and cheating all this time, and that when you say you’re training in the gym, what you really mean is that you’re meeting up with Mommy Dearest and that tart?”

“That’s not what f**kin’ happened at all!” I tried to explain, but she put her hand up and hissed, “Whatever. I don’t care. Leave.”

I couldn’t let her do this, couldn’t let her push me away without hearing me out, so I reached out, holding her in my arms, forcing her to listen. “My momma asked me to meet her today. Some kids charity she’s on asked for a signed Tide jersey for an auction. I went to drop it off and when I got there, Shelly and Mrs. Blair were waiting with her at the restaurant.”

Her lips pursed, like they did when she was studying, and I knew I had her attention. Placing her back on the bed, I explained, “They f**king bombarded me. Shelly’d told them about you and they started going off about how irresponsible I was and all that shit. My momma laid into me and told me if I didn’t break it off, she’d make damn sure she did. I can’t let that happen to you.”

How could she understand the real meaning of what I was saying? I’d never told her about how bad my parents were. She’d seen my daddy hit me, and now my momma manipulate me, but that was just a taster of how they could be. How could I possibly tell her the extent of their cruelty?

Seeing nothing but understanding in my girl’s eyes, I confessed, “My folks… they… Look, baby. They treat me real bad. Not going into it, but they do, and I’m their f**kin’ son! I couldn’t let her upset you in the same way, so I made up some bullshit about you being just a fling, a friend. Shelly’s too stupid to even realize I was lying. I stayed for the lunch to appease my momma. No way will anything happen to you. They’d have to get through me first.”

Titling her head, she asked, “Why did you lie and say you were going to the gym? Why not just be honest with me?”

“I was honest, I swear. She called when I was finishing up. The plan was to just drop off the jersey and leave.”

“But Shelly was touching you. She kissed you and you let her! How could you do that?”

God, how could I make her understand? “Because I don’t want my parents to come after you! I had to play along… to protect you. You don’t understand what they’re like! Powerhouses, Mol. Around here they’re f**kin’ powerhouses.”