Her words made sense, and sounded kind, but her tone scolded me. The fact that she was standing in the middle of the room with her hands balled up on her hips didn’t deter me from dropping my jaw at her beauty.
She was all dolled up, wearing a burgundy dress that hugged her perfect figure without looking cheap, with very discrete makeup and black suede stilettos.
“You look amazing,” I said without realizing it might seem like I was changing the subject.
“Thank you. Now, explain yourself.”
She wasn’t joking. She had crossed her arms and was tapping her foot, demanding an answer.
“Sorry. A woman went into labor as I was leaving and I had to stay and help her out. The 911 woman didn’t seem really helpful as soon as I mentioned the name of the shelter. I’m really sorry, baby...”
“Oh, my God. Is she alright? How’s the baby?”
“She’s... I don’t know, the baby is probably still on his way.”
“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to be a bitch.”
She came to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, genuinely sorry.
“I was only joking, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s alright, baby, you didn’t know. Besides, you’re right, I am late. Now, shall we go?”
She nodded and took my arm.
“Don’t you need a coat? Kinda cold outside,” I pointed out.
“Oh, sure.”
As soon as she grabbed her coat, we hurried out the door and across campus. The sorority house was decorated heavily and it made me wonder how much electricity was being used to power all those flashy lights.
“So, this is a sorority house party, eh?” I mumbled as we stepped into the noisy living room. The party seemed to be going pretty well, by the looks of it.
“You never been to a sorority party?”
I pulled Eva out of the way of a very drunk frat boy before saying that college parties had never made it on my bucket list.
“You’re such a prude,” she laughed and lead me to the queen bee; or whatever they called the boss of a sorority house.
“Hey, Gemma!”
“You made it!” the classy looking girl shouted over the music.
“Yeah. This is my boyfriend, David!”
“Nice to meet you, handsome!”
I only nodded, deciding to preserve my vocal cords in case all the electricity caused a fire and I needed to yell for help.
For the next half an hour, Eva walked me through various rooms, in her quest to present me to all her friends. Good thing they had plenty of whiskey around.
“I’m starting to feel like a trophy boyfriend or something,” I whispered in Eva’s ear. She pressed herself against me, the warmth of her body seeping through my skin and starting my blood into a rush.
“You are, pretty boy,” she whispered back, giving me the worst case of goose bumps.
“Hey, aren’t you going to present this mysterious guy to me?” a petite girl asked, tapping Eva’s shoulder. I could see her expression changing into something that looked like discomfort at the least.
“Who’s this girl, babe?” I asked, protectively pulling Eva by the wrist towards me.
“David, this is Maggie. My boyfriend, David,” Eva made the introduction. I felt like she meant for me to understand something from her words, but I couldn’t quite see it.
“Hi, Maggie,” I said, shaking her hand. My frown must’ve spoken of my lack of information.
“I’m Alex’s sister,” Maggie took it upon herself to explain. “Eva didn’t mention me?”
“Oh. Nice to meet you, Maggie. I think she must’ve told me but I forgot. My apologies.”
Eva hadn’t told me about Alex having a sister, let alone her name, but I lied nonetheless. She looked uncomfortable and my job was to make her feel better.
“Aw, that’s so mean,” Maggie pouted. She looked comical, like a little girl trying to blackmail a grown up. It made me smile. “Can I steal your girlfriend for a minute, David?”
She batted her lashes flirtatiously and I didn’t realize she was still holding my hand until she let go of it to grab Eva’s. I felt guilty instantly and looked away. Eva only threw me a disappointed glance before leaving with Maggie.
“I’m a fucking moron,” I muttered under my breath and went in search for another whiskey.
From where I was standing, I couldn’t see Eva. I panicked for a second, then I saw Maggie making her way towards me.
“Oh, my God! What are you drinking?”
“Whiskey. It seems to be the only decent drink around here.”
“Oh, no. This is crap in liquid form. Come, I have something better.”
“You do?”
I almost reached for her extended hand, then I realized Eva wasn’t with her.
“Where’s Eva?”
“She’s with friends. I’ll take you back to her once I get you sorted with some good booze.”
I squinted at her, suspicious.
“Oh, come on! She’s right there. See?”
I followed her hand and saw Eva talking to a tall girl. She seemed fairly happy and in no immediate danger. Besides, the whiskey was truly bad.
“Sure. But make is fast, I don’t want to get lost in this jungle.”
“Don’t worry, pretty boy.”
Seeing that I was reluctant to take her hand, she resigned to just walking ahead of me. I followed her up some stairs and into what looked like a dorm room.
Judging by the multitude of framed pictures of her and various tiny dogs, I concluded that this must’ve been her room.
“Are you even allowed to have alcohol in this place?”
“Please,” she said, rolling her eyes. She managed to be childishly pretty even doing that. I suspected she was the sort of woman men would kill for and that the moment she batted her lashes at someone, they’d be under her spell.
While she fiddled with the bottle, I paced around the room, admiring how she had managed to gather more shades of pink than I knew existed and combined them into an appealing girly mosaic. She knew her stuff.
“Here. You like my room?”
I took my first sip and thanked God she was a nice person.
“This thing is amazing!” was all I could say before I enjoyed two more sips. “Must’ve been expensive.”
“Meh. Daddy paid for it.”
“Of course.”
She giggled, never breaking eye contact. She had a way of hypnotizing with a glance. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she was a witch.
“So, who are you?” she asked. “David Morris.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to have this conversation elsewhere? Eva must be looking for me.”
“Oh, she knows you’re here. I told her I would get you the good whiskey.”
“Really?”
“Umhm.”
She sat down on her bed, obviously in no mood to get back to the party. She wanted me to talk.
“I’m a doctor. Well, a resident for now.”
“Wow. And you still have time for college parties.”
“I’m on sabbatical.”
“Oh?”
Out of habit, I sat next to her. The alcohol must’ve gotten to me, as I was starting to feel dizzy.
“I reported someone for abusing their kid and they hit me with their car. Nothing glamorous.”
Her perfectly arched eyebrows rose for a second and there was something in her eyes that looked a lot like regret. Or guilt, perhaps? I couldn’t be sure, I was more preoccupied with fighting off my sudden drunkenness.
“I’m sorry, do you have a case of water? A glass. A glass of whiskey. Water.”
“What?” she said, giggling. Her face stretched weirdly. I shook my head to regain some composure, but it only made me nauseous. “Are you alright, David?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should lay down for a minute. I think you had a few too many tonight.”
Her voice sounded like it c
ame from far away. I was having trouble recognizing her, she looked so different.
Then, it came the headache. It felt like my head was about to explode. The struggle to stay in control was too much so I let her lay me down. She said something, but I didn’t understand what.
I was trying hard to remember where I was by focusing on the most obvious points I could still distinguish.
There was the light, in the middle of the room. I remembered it had a bouquet of pink roses around it. I could almost see them. Then, there was Maggie, in her pale green dress. Was she laying next to me? It couldn’t be.
I must’ve been hallucinating, as I was now starting to see Eva. She seemed to be in the door. She said something, or Maggie did, then I fell asleep.
***
It must’ve been right before dawn when I woke up. I didn’t know for sure, I only had a feeling.
“5:43,” I read aloud off the clock directly facing the bed.
Then, there was the dreadful feeling that kept nagging me even before I fully awoke. I felt the strangest way. My limbs were heavy, and the headache from last night was still lingering at my temples.
“Last night!” it dawned on me and I sprung up. Immediately after getting to my feet, I thought I would collapse, but I recovered quickly and wobbled over to the table where I remembered there was a bottle of water.
I drank the whole thing in one gulp and, as I was wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, my eyes fell on the two glasses Maggie and I had drunk last night. One of them seemed to have some white residue at the bottom. It didn’t take me long to figure which one was mine.
“You bitch! You drugged me,” I growled at Maggie’s tiny frame cuddled up in bed.
“What?” she mumbled, still sleepy.
“Wake up!”
“What is it? David, you’re scaring me!”
“Stop acting. Why did you drug me? Where is Eva?”
“I didn’t...”
“Woman, don’t lie to me!”
She cowered between the pillows. I was pretty certain it wasn’t an act when I raised my hand to run it through my hair and she flinched.
“The fucking bastard.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He hit you just the same, didn’t he?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she tried to lie, and looked away.
I shook my head, starting to pace the room.
“Your brother is a bastard. That has been established. But why did you drug me? Was it him?”
She didn’t answer.
“Maggie! Was it him?”
“Yes, I’m sorry,” she mumbled between silent burst of crying.
“For fuck’s sake. Why?”
“He needed you away. And he needed Eva to see you with me.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted her alone. I’m sorry, he made me do it. I’m sorry, David.”
“He wanted her alone,” I repeated, my mind racing to find the reason behind all this. “Why would he... What did he want with her, Maggie?”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, OK?”
“What. Did. He. Want?”
“He wanted to take her away from here.”
“What? Where?”
“Our family has a cabin in the woods.”
“Show me. Now!”
“But...”
“Now!”
“He’ll kill me!”
I grabbed her wrist, despite feeling bad for terrorizing her like this, and pulled her out of bed.
“Take me to that cabin. Now!”
Maggie didn’t say anything. She just grabbed her keys and a fleece from a chair and left the room. I followed her into the sorority house parking lot and got into the passenger seat.
“How long was I out?” I asked her as she started the engine of her Mini Cooper. It must’ve been at least a few hours, because I remembered not staying too long at the party.
“You were out when Eva came to see you, so about five hours.”
“Eva saw me like this?”
I frowned, trying to remember. “So that wasn’t a dream. She really was at the door,” I thought out loud.
“Yes.”
I couldn’t bear to hear her speak anymore, it scratched my eardrums like sandpaper, so I kept quiet for a while.
“Drive faster!”
“I can’t, it’s illegal.” She was crying again.
“Stop the car.”
She obeyed without a word and we switched places. Despite my lingering grogginess, I managed to drive faster than her. She only directed me here and there, as she was the only one who knew where that cabin was.
“On the other side of the lake. Cross the bridge and make a right. The cabin is right at the edge of the water.”
I followed her instructions, then stopped the car behind a dark blue truck. I didn’t even stop the engine, I just jumped out of the car and towards the wooden cabin.
“Eva!”
The door was locked. “Do you have a key?” I asked Maggie, who was at my side. She shook her head.
“Step away,” I told her and took a step back myself. Then I leaned onto my left heel and plunged my right foot right next to the door lock. After several tries, I managed to splinter the wood enough so I could open it with my hands.
A searing pain went up my shin as I ran inside.
“The bedroom is down the hallway,” Maggie pointed. I left her crying in the living room and went in search for the bedroom.
Easy enough to find, as it was one door of only two down that hallway. I kicked in both and finally found Alex on top of Eva.
“Bastard!”
She looked weak, like she was drugged or drunk, barely fighting him off. He had the upper hand and had already ripped her dress open. When I pulled him off her, he had just hiked her skirt above her hips and was working on getting rid of her panties.
“Fucking prick!” I growled before punching him in the face. He stumbled a few feet towards the door but I wasn’t going to let him escape so I went for his shirt but missed by inches. Out of nowhere, I felt the air being sucked out of my lungs. He had sucker punched me.
“You stupid cow!” he yelled. I heard the slap and Maggie’s small scream as he ran out.
“Oh, no.”
I forced myself to a standing position and followed him.
“Call an ambulance for Eva. Stay with her!” I shouted at Maggie before bolting out the front door.
EVA
“David...” I managed to whisper coherently. “David.”
“Eva, you’re gonna be alright. I called an ambulance. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
At first, I didn’t recognize the voice, but then I saw Maggie. A wave of nausea hit me full force as I sat up.
“Lay down. The ambulance is on the way,” she said. I fought her off and stood.
“David.” I kept saying as I stumbled out of the room.
“Eva, wait! You’re not well. Come back!”
I hugged the walls all the way out. The cold seeped into my bones the minute I opened the door. It helped with the dizziness.
I half crawled a few steps, more and more disoriented.
“David! Baby, where are you?” It took me almost superhuman strength to shout, but once I started, I kept going. “David!”
I thought I heard something. “The lake!”
The dizziness and nausea held me back, but I fought it with everything I had. The noise was becoming clearer; grunts.
“David? David!”
The splash came before I saw the water swallow them. My scream pierced the night but it felt foreign to me, like somebody else’s voice.
“David!”
I tried to run towards the water, but only managed to stumble and fall on my knees at it’s edge.
“David!”
Someone turned the outside lights on, but it didn’t reach too far. I could barely see over the surface of the lake.
Touch Me: A Bad Boy MC Romance Page 22
