I grab the girl’s arm, unwilling to leave her here to face Parker’s wrath alone. Not when she defended me. She doesn’t even know who I am. Why would she put herself at risk like that? Parker is pledged to the Zeta Pi fraternity. If one of those guys has it out for you, they all do.
This is bad. Really bad.
“Come on,” I say, all but dragging her from the room by her forearm.
“What? Where are we?—”
“Hurry!” I hiss and increase my steps.
Parker gets held up when some of the other swim team girls rush over, fawning over him and asking if they can help get him out of his wet clothes. One goes so far as to push the sopping wet material of his sweater up to his neck, exposing the hard lines of his abdomen.
Gag. But I don’t stop to warm them away. Not when they’re making it possible for the two of us to get out of here. I don’t understand why women fall all over themselves for guys like him.
There is no amount of good genetics that will ever make Parker look like anything less than what he is.
A monster.
Quickening her steps, the girl follows me toward the exit. We’re close. The door that will lead us outside is right there. I chance a quick look over my shoulder and our gazes collide.
“Cecilia!” Parker roars. “We’re not done!”
The hell we aren’t. If I never have to see Parker Benson again, it’ll be too soon.
Ignoring his demand to stop, I break into a run.
“Come on!” My wet feet slap against the pavement. Quickly grabbing my things from the chair I’d dropped them on, I shove open the door and exhale a breath of relief as soon as I taste the crisp fall air. But we’re not out of the woods yet.
“We need to put some distance between us and Benson,” I tell the girl. “You can come back to grab your things from the locker room later.”
Her brows furrow, but she nods, so I drop my hold on her arm, praying she’ll continue following me.
We run between buildings, turning left when a small walkway between the commons and the library appears. Pressing myself to the rough stone wall, I strain my ears for any sign of Parker’s pursuit.
I don’t hear heavy footfalls on the pavement, and his furious voice never reaches my ears.
My chest heaves. I don’t think he followed us. Which just means I’ll need to be on the lookout for him whenever I’m on campus. I don’t want him catching me off guard like that again.
I’m pissed at myself for just standing there like a frozen freaking fish. What would have happened if she didn’t intervene? Yelledat me for sure, but what if he did more than that? What if he touched me or did something worse?
A shiver travels down my spine, and bile rises in my throat thinking about how Austin pressed himself into me. Would Parker have done something like that? Would he have tried to corner me? Maybe drag me off somewhere private? Would I have stayed so frozen in my fear that I would’ve allowed him to get me alone?
There’s a chance I might have. But I don’t let myself dwell on it right now.
“I think we’re safe,” I tell her, not believing my own words, but I need to say something. Bracing my hands on my knees, I force myself to slow my breathing. In through my nose. Out through my mouth.
The adrenaline is wearing off, and I’m beginning to feel lightheaded. I need to get somewhere quiet. Somewhere safe. I can’t afford to break down and have a panic attack out here where I’m exposed. Parker or anyone else can stumble upon me.
If Parker is looking for me, there’s a decent chance that Gregory or Austin are, too.
Birds of a feather …
I shake my head. I’ve stayed quiet. I ended things with Gabriel. What more do they want from me?
“I’m Adriana,” the girl says, sticking her hand out toward me.
I straighten, swallowing hard. “Cecilia.” We shake hands, and I chew my bottom lip, trying to come up with some sort of explanation. I know she’s going to want one. Any sane person would.
“You want to tell me what all that was about back there? Not sure what I walked into, but that guy—Benson, that’s what you called him, right?”
