Page 312 of Faking the Goal

I never make it to the door.

Something hard and cold slams into the side of my head.

For one blinding second, the whole world flashes white. Pain explodes through my skull, stealing the strength from my legs, and the pavement rushes up to meet me. I hit my knees first, then catch myself with one hand while the other flies instinctively to my temple.

Warm blood slips between my fingers.

I stare at it, dazed, unable to understand where it came from.

Then a shadow moves beside me.

A man towers over me in dark clothes, his face hidden behind a ski mask. His chest rises and falls with harsh, frantic breaths, and both hands are wrapped around the handle of a metal bat.

Fear clears the fog from my mind all at once.

I scramble backward, but the movement sends a sickening wave of dizziness through me. "What—"

"You bitch. You let him fucking touch you," he snarls. "You think you can make a fucking fool out of me?"

His voice is muffled beneath the ski mask, warped by rage until it barely sounds human. But I'd know that possessiveness anywhere. My stomach drops as recognition crashes into me with far more force than the bat ever could.

Charlie.

My foster brother.

My stalker.

"Char...lie?"

"I knew you'd remember eventually." His gloved thumb wipes a streak of blood from my cheek almost tenderly. "I told you I would come back for you."

I try to crawl away.

He catches my ankle and drags me back effortlessly.

His boot drives into my stomach.

Pain tears through me, sharp enough to make me gag. I curl into myself, instinctively protecting my head as the pavement bites into my knees and palms.

"You were supposed to leave him!" He shouts. "I told you what would happen if you didn't."

The bat crashes into my ribs before I can say anything else.

The air is torn from my lungs. I fold around the pain, a scream trapped soundlessly in my throat as I collapse onto my side. For several horrible seconds, I cannot breathe. My body keeps trying, my mouth opening and closing, but nothing comes.

"Stop," I manage, the word barely more than a breath. "Please—"

"I warned you!" His voice cracks beneath the force of his fury. "I warned you over and over, but you never fucking listen."

The bat strikes my thigh, and agony shoots down my leg. My vision swims, the shadows around me stretching and folding until I can no longer tell where the parking lot ends.

"I love you," he spits, as if the words are an accusation. "I have always loved you, and this is how you repay me? By spreading your legs for him?"

Another blow catches my shoulder.

A broken cry tears from me as pain jolts through my entire arm. I try to crawl away, dragging one useless leg behind me, but Charlie catches a fistful of my hair and yanks me backward.

Fire rips across my scalp.