She laughs again.
“Actually, even that wouldn’t be a deal breaker. You’re such a sweetheart that if you did murder anyone, I’d assume they were terrible and they deserved it,” I joke.
She’s laughing harder now. She reaches out and playfully smacks my arm. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you said that.”
“It’s true.”
When she stops laughing, she looks up at me, then moves closer. I wrap my arms around her and hug her tight.
“I’m such a cliché,” she says as she nuzzles into my chest. “The shy, awkward, embarrassed virgin.”
“You’re not. Briar, I told you. There’s nothing wrong with being a virgin. There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to have sex.”
“Tell that to my ex,” she says, her voice small and weak.
I lean back to look at her. “What?”
Pain flashes in her eyes as she looks up at me. “Logan was…” She trails off and presses her eyes shut. Like she’s remembering something painful.
“Briar, what is it?”
She lets out a shaky breath before she looks at me. “It’s why we broke up. He didn’t like that I was a virgin. At first, he said it was fine. He said he was happy to wait until I was ready, but then…one night…he…”
Her voice breaks as she trails off.
Tension grips all of the muscles in my body. “What happened, Briar? What did he do?”
Chapter 14
Blake
My heart rams against my chest as I stand there, holding Briar, waiting for her to say more.
My brain goes crazy thinking of what her ex could have done to her.
If he hurt her…If he put his hands on her, I will fucking kill him.
Her eyes are watery with unshed tears as she takes a breath.
“We were at a house party,” she says. “A bunch of his teammates were there, and they were all pretty drunk. I’d seen Logan drink before, but he was wasted that night.” She sniffles. “He was being pretty handsy with me. Kissing me and touching me. Which was fine. I mean, he was my boyfriend for more than six months at that point. I liked being affectionate with him. When we first started dating, I told him I was a virgin and wasn’t ready to have sex just yet. He said he was fine with it. He said he was happy to wait until I was ready. But that night at the party…”
Her voice shakes again.
“He was acting different. He kept saying how he couldn’t wait to take me upstairs to one of the bedrooms and take my clothes off,” she says. “We had fooled around a little, but we’d never been naked with each other. We’d never done anything morethan make out. But then he grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder, then took me upstairs. I thought he was joking around at first, but then he took me to one of the bedrooms and locked the door. He wouldn’t let me leave.”
My entire body goes rigid. “That motherfucker,” I mutter.
She sniffles. “He pushed me onto the bed and started kissing me and trying to take off my shirt. I pushed him away, but he pinned me to the bed with one hand and then groped my breasts with his other hand.” She goes quiet. “He tried to shove his hand down my pants,” she says in a quiet voice. “I froze. I was so shocked at how forceful he was being. But then the shock started to fade, and I just got so mad. I shoved him off of me. I stood up and started yelling at him. I couldn’t believe he was trying to make me have sex with him. I told him I wasn’t ready and that I didn’t want to lose my virginity in a stranger’s bedroom at a frat party. He got so mad.”
Her lips tremble, and tears fall down her face. I wipe them away.
“He said he was sick of waiting for me. He said he had been patient with me and that I owed it to him to have sex with him. I refused. I told him it was over between us, and I walked out of the party.”
Adrenaline slams through my body. This unfamiliar, caged-animal energy zooms through me. I have the sudden urge to hop on the next flight to Chicago, track down Logan, and rip that fucker to shreds.
I cup Briar’s cheek in my hand. “Did he hurt you?”
“When he pushed me onto the bed and tried to pull my shirt off, it hurt a little. And when he shoved his hand down my jeans,” she says quietly. “But other than that, no.”
