Deciding I no longer want to be friends with the mean man behind the bar, I wander toward the dance floor.
“Dance with me, sexy mama,” someone slurs near my ear.
Sober Abby wouldneverdance with a stranger in a bar.
But sober Abby is a lonely old hag, and I don’t like her very much right now.
The man grabs my hand and pulls me toward him. I stumble, crashing lightly into his chest.
He’s big. Warm. Solid.
“You’re fucking sexy,” he purrs, pressing a drink into my hand. “Got you that extra one you wanted. Drink up.”
I giggle because in my head, he looks like a giant cat with a man-dick.
I take a swallow of the drink and nearly purr myself when it burns all the way down.
“Wanna go back to my place?” he asks, breath hot against my ear.
“Are you gonna take my virginity?” I ask, dead serious.
He laughs. “All I understood wasvirginity,” he says. “I’ll take that as a yes. Finish your drink and let’s go.”
Woohoo.
I’m not gonna die a virgin.
I toss back the rest of the drink and let him lead me through the bar, my feet unsteady, my thoughts fuzzy, clinging to the strange cat-man like he’s a very bad idea I’ve already decided to make.
***
I wake up to the wrong ceiling.
It’s stained and cracked, the light above me buzzing softly, and for a moment, I can’t figure out where I am or why my body feels so heavy.
My head throbs.
My mouth is dry.
When I try to move, pain blooms everywhere at once.
Slowly, reality sinks in.
I’m naked.
The sheets are twisted around my legs, damp and cold against my skin. My body aches in a way I’ve never felt before…deep, sore, unfamiliar. I draw in a shaky breath, and my chest tightens as I become aware of the sharp sting along my arms and thighs.
I look down and can’t believe my eyes.
Cuts.
Small ones that didn’t bleed very much. But too many of them.
I sit up too fast and immediately regret it, nausea rolling through me. My lower body throbs, and when I look down, my breath catches painfully in my chest.
There’s blood.
Not enough to panic…but enough to make my hands start shaking.
