“I broke the door down,” Matt confirms.
“And Aaron and I took Jason outside,” I add.
“To kick his ass,” Aaron clarifies.
Renee is still looking between the three of us as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and begins to chew anxiously. It was something she had always done, but fuck if my dick didn’t start to harden against my pants, wanting her.
We all wanted her, though. That’s precisely the problem.
“So, he didn’t ...?” Renee hesitates, choking on her next question.
“He tried,” Matt said again. “He failed.”
“And you guys didn’t ...?”
“Do you really think we would do that to you, Ren?” Aaron asked with a frown. “We care about you.”
“We would never take advantage of you,” added Matt. “That’s for scum like Jason.”
Renee nodded like she knew that all along, but I couldn't blame her for being scared. She’d almost been raped and couldn't even remember it all.
Fuck Jason.
“How long have I been out?”
“Over an hour,” I told her. “Which is pretty good considering he slipped you roofies.”
“That would explain the migraine.” Renee leaned forward, reaching for the water again, and Aaron offered her the aspirin I took from the medicine cabinet. Renee nodded thanks at him and took it, coughing, but she didn’t try to rise from the couch.
“Why were you at that party alone?” asked Matt, and Aaron and I leaned forward to hear her answer. We wanted to know what she was thinking, too.
“I wasn’t alone,” Renee insisted. “I was with Jason.”
“Where’s Jami? Shouldn’t you women always have a buddy in case of something like this?”
“Do you guys have a buddy when you go to the bar?” asked Renee, shaking her head, and I almost laughed.
“We’re men. No one is going to fuck with us.”
“I didn’t think anyone was going to fuck with me, either,” admitted Renee. “But I also didn’t expect to be drugged by someone I liked.”
“You didn’t like him,” Matt said from his place on the chair. “You were angry at us, so you went out with him.”
“Are you saying this was my fault?”
“No, baby, that’s not what he’s saying,” Aaron soothed her, and Renee didn’t even bother punching him in the face for calling her baby.
“We just didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if we hadn’t been there,” I added. “He could have really hurt you.”
Silence settled over the living room, enveloping us in a thick blanket of anxiety, fear, and worry. Renee didn’t look at any of us now. She just stared at the floor, her expression neutral, and I wish we knew what she was thinking ... feeling.
“I guess ... I guess I owe you guys a thank you,” she said after a moment of silence, breaking the tension in the air. She looks up from the floor and glances between all three of us, and my chest tightens with pain when I see the tears fighting to escape from her eyes. I want to hold her, to reach out and hold her close and tell her that I’ll protect her—-we’ll protect her—-for the rest of her life, given a chance.
But I can’t. Not yet.
“You don’t have to thank us,” Aaron said, forcing a smile. He had a friendly smile that immediately put Renee at ease. Aaron has always been the more sensitive of the three of us, and I guess it isn’t so bad in a situation like this. I didn’t even have the urge to reach out and tap him for being such a sissy.
“I have to thank you, though,” Renee insisted gently. “All of you.” She sighed, shook her head, and then wiped a tear that slid down her face. “I have done nothing to deserve your help, not from any of you. I betrayed you guys, I betrayed my roommate, and I trusted the wrong people. Honestly, I wouldn’t blame you for a second if you guys hate me forever.”
