“Don’t waste the money. I’m not getting out of this one. I snapped, Rich. I lost fucking control. Doesn’t matter why. It doesn’t matter if it was for her or not. In their eyes, I’m no better than the caged animals already in here.”
The truth settles heavy in my chest.
But there’s one thing that matters more than any of it.
My eyes drift to Eddie. “Is Poppy okay?”
He nods.
“Physically, yeah, she’s fine. She’s a bit shaken up, though.”
Relief washes over me.
“I don’t blame her,” I mutter. “Even if she never looks at me again... I just didn’t want her to feel helpless. I couldn’t let that guy touch her like that.”
Rich studies me carefully.
“What the fuck happened? What made you snap like that?”
My jaw tightens.
“She clearly told him no. Then his grubby paws were all over her, trying to force her to dance with him. You know how I feel about that shit. After what happened to my sister, I’ll never let another woman get taken advantage of like that. The second I saw him touch her; the guy’s fate was sealed.”
Tears prick my eyes as my little sister’s face flashes in my mind. She was sixteen when it happened. She came to my door begging me for help, her dress shredded to pieces, precious parts of her exposed to the cold, unforgiving air. She had a bloody lip, and scrapes and bruises forming up and down her bare arms and legs. Her dark brown hair was haphazardly pulled out of her usually perfect braid, and she could barely speak or stand up straight. The second she collapsed into my arms, she told me she was raped but refused to give me the guy’s name. She wouldn’t even tell me where to find him. Ashleigh just stood there, tears falling down her cheeks, clutching onto my shirt as she beggedme not to tell our dad. I didn’t, out of respect for her. But the urge to seek out the bastard who did it to her, and erase him from existence was hard to ignore. I’d be doing life if I ever found out who he was. Nobody harms someone I care about and gets away with it. Nobody.
“You don’t deserve this.” Eddie’s grip tightens around the phone as he meets my gaze through the screen.
“I do.”
Both seem surprised. They shouldn’t be.
“My rage continuously simmers beneath the surface. You may not see it, but I can feel it. It sears my bones, making me hollow and empty. The only time I feel worth something is when I’m around her. I just wish she could see how much I actually fucking love her.”
“You’re not alone,” Eddie growls. “We’re gonna do everything we can to get you out of here.”
“No,” I say sternly. “You’ve got a wedding coming up. You need to focus on Amber. Don’t let this drag you under.”
Eddie tenses. “You think I can walk down the aisle like none of this happened?”
“I think you’re gonna marry the love of your life,” I order, even though I’m acting stronger than I feel. “Let me have one good thing to believe in while in here. I’ll get out eventually, and when I do…”
“There’ll be a job waiting for you, and a bike ready for you to ride.”
“Seriously?”
“Fuck yeah, I’m serious. We’re doing this shit, Wesley. There’s a million miles of road waiting for us when you get out of here.”
Smiling, I settle back in my seat, liking the idea of riding down the road with the wind ripping through my hair, with my two best friends riding beside me. “Fuck, that sounds nice. Keepa beer cracked open for me too. I’m gonna suck that thing down so fucking hard when I’m out of here.”
Rich and Eddie lose it.
“What? What I say?”
“It’s just funny you worded it that way. Dad called you a fucking cocksucker for getting locked up.”
“Damn, your old man’s cold, Eddie. Tell him I love him too.”
Neither of them speaks.
