He shoots to his feet, swaying slightly, tosses a handful of crumpled hundred-dollar bills onto the table, and walks out, bumping into three other tables in the process.
“Shit,” she mumbles, chasing after him. “Hey, you took such great care of me, why don’t you let me drive us back.” Liz holds out her hand, looking at him with big doe eyes.
He smiles, digging into his pocket, leaning in for what seems like a kiss, when she sidesteps him and marches right to his car.
The walk through the housing building is, somehow, the longest of her life. Carefully dodging his wandering hand, Liz attempts to herd Matt back to his room. A few short steps and she will be able to wash her hands of this night.
With her mind focused on getting him to his apartment, she doesn’t see the danger until it’s too late. Her head cracks against the wooden door so hard she nearly goes unconscious. A hand grips her throat, squeezing until she is fighting for air while another one slips under her dress, caressing her bare leg. Every thought drains from her mind, nothing but sheer panic taking over the moment a warm, slimy tongue is forced into her mouth. Her split lip rips back open, dripping fresh blood down her chin. She tries to scream, to push him off, but she is tipsy, and he is drunk enough to not care about hurting her.
She reaches with one hand, fumbling with the straps on her leg, her other hand pinned helplessly above her head. Tears stream down her face when she hears the faint snap of a button release. Tearing the gun out, she shoves it under his chin, pressing it tight. Matt eases off, removing his hand, then his mouth, smiling like he just gave her everything she could ever want. The door behind her pulls open, sending her stumbling into an unfamiliar room.
She needs to get out. She can see the anger simmering in Matt’s eyes, aimed at whoever opened the door. Using the distraction, she wretches her arm free of his other hand and takes off sprinting down the hall. Liz darts down the stairs while trying not to break an ankle, only slowing when she hits the landing of her floor. The only sound that follows is her heart pounding inher ears.
She presses her back to the wall, sliding down to sit on the dirty floor of the stairwell. Resting her head on her knees, she lets the tears flow freely, allowing herself a moment of weakness. All she can think about is what would have happened if his roommate didn’t open the door when he did. And what is Riley going to think? He is going to be furious with her for getting herself into that situation. How can she go home, look him in the eye, and tell him she had another man’s tongue in her mouth. Just the thought has her gagging.
Liz lets out a breath as she forces herself back onto her feet. She knows she will need to face him sooner or later, so crying about it won’t change anything.
Liz walks with purpose back to their room, smoothing her dress as she does, trying to hold her head high no matter what happens next. The door handle trembles under her grip, nerves getting the better of her.
“Fuck,” she whispers to herself in the empty hall. She lets out a breath, reaching for the door again. “You can do this. Youhaveto do this, no matter how mad he gets.”
She pushes the door open, stepping in before she loses the courage she grapples with, praying they are asleep and not waiting for her to return.
The moment her eyes land on Riley, she wishes she had never come back. It is going to be hard enough to talk to him without him looking the way he does now. He stands with his bare back to her, muscles and fresh pink scars glistening with sweat. A baseball cap is turned backward on his head, and his sweatpants are hanging dangerously low on his waist. Disgust and arousal is a crazy mix of emotions she never thought she would experience. And she hates herself for being aroused immediately after being assaulted.
“How was your date?” he asks, tone sharp enough to cut.Warm tears slide down her cheeks, unable to form the words she needs to confess. She can’t stand it, the anger and disappointment already lacing his voice. Not mentally equipped to handle talking, she heads right to their room.
“Liz?” he calls after her. His heart drops into his stomach when she doesn’t answer. He runs after her, spotting the gun still in her hand. “Hey, what happened?” His hand wraps around her arm, stopping her from taking another step. He releases her the instant she turns back, looking up at him with pained eyes rimmed with tears and smeared make up.
He’s softer then, reaching up to wipe the blood from her mouth with his thumb, holding her face in his hand for only a moment before letting her go. A storm of emotions rages inside his mind. Seeing the woman he loves hurt has him storming into their room, returning with his own gun.
“He did this to you?” he asks, trying to be gentle when he speaks to her despite what is going on in his own head when she nods.
“Please, don’t,” she begs when he storms to the door, his hand left hovering on the handle. The whimper in her voice, asking him to go against his nature, nearly breaks him. “It will ruin everything.”
His hand drops to his side, forced to make an impossible choice. That choice is made for him when he looks into her eyes. Riley goes back, plucks the gun from her hand, and places it on the table alongside his, rushing back to her side. He holds his arms open for her, not sure if she is comfortable with being touched or not. He lets it be her choice, breathing a sigh of relief when she steps into him.
“Talk to me, love. I need to know what happened,” he urges, stroking his hand down the length of her hair.
“He got drunk and told me everything,” shesays, sniffling.
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“I don’t want to talk about it right now, Ry. I haven’t even had time to process what just happened,” she says, hands trembling, wiping her tears from his chest.
“Hejustdid—whatever he did to you?” he growls.
She nods again. “We got back a few minutes ago. Matt was really drunk, so I walked him to his room. I am so fucking stupid.”
He is gone as soon as the words fall from her lips. The sharp smack of his hand slamming into the door echoes through the hall, sounding too much like the way her head sounded moments ago. She turns to find a groggy Tyler pulling his door open, glancing around with wild eyes when he sees the state Riley is in.
“Can you get access to the hall cameras?” Riley asks.
“Uh, yeah? Why? What’s going on?” Tyler responds, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Don’t worry about it. Find when Liz and Matt make it back. Should only be a few minutes ago. Come get me when you do,” he orders, turning back around and slamming the door shut.
He goes to her and drops to his knees at her feet. He loosens the ties behind her legs, letting the thick ribbons of her heels fall around her ankles before carefully slipping each foot free. He starts to drag his hand up her leg, stopping at the base of her thigh. “Did he—” Riley starts, unable to get the rest of the words out for fear of what she will say.
