Scarred

by K. Webster

  “What is it Olive?” I questioned anxiously.

  “I shot Cole. Bray, I shot someone,” she said numbly.

  “Olive, you’re not making any sense. What the fuck are you talking about?” I demanded, trying to understand what she was trying to say.

  She began sobbing, and I backed the car out of the spot so I could drive to her.

  “Are you at home?” I asked, trying to keep the panicked sound from my voice.

  “No, I’m at the hospital with everyone,” she answered sadly.

  What in the hell was going on here?

  “Okay, Olive, I’m on my way. Now tell me what happened,” I spoke soothingly. I’d already peeled out of my parking garage and was just a few blocks from the hospital.

  “Bray, some guy came after Pepper. He tried to rape her. I killed him with his gun. He was a monster,” she hissed as if she were trying to convince me why she’d done it.

  “It’s okay, honey. I believe you,” I said softly. “Even though I have no idea what you’re talking about, I’m sure you were only trying to protect her.”

  She started crying again as I pulled into the parking garage at the hospital.

  “Where are you?” I asked as I found a parking space and shut off the car.

  “I’m waiting out in the lobby of the ER,” she said, barely a whisper. Jumping from my car, I ran to the elevators and took it to the floor where she was.

  Stepping out of the elevator, I saw her sitting in a chair hunched over with her head between her knees and her phone held to her ear. When she looked up and saw me, she turned the phone off and stood up.

  Walking quickly, I went up to her and pulled her into my arms. She sobbed uncontrollably and melted into my embrace.

  “Shhh. I’m here now,” I reassured her. Eventually, she quieted down and sniffled softly.

  My mind was racing because I still had no fucking idea what had happened. After a few minutes later, Jordan came walking down the hallway. Walking right up to us, he pulled Olive away from me and hugged her tight.

  “Thank you, Olive,” he whispered into her hair. She nodded but pulled away to come back over to me.

  “What the fuck happened, man?” I asked Jordan. He looked like total shit with his eye almost completely swollen shut.

  “Elizabeth—er, ‘Pepper’ had a crazy stalker that attempted to rape and kill her. Olive shot him in the head,” he said almost in disbelief at the last part.

  I pulled her close to me and hugged her again. This was too much to take in.

  “Okay. Well, um, I think maybe I should take Olive home. She clearly has been through enough. Has she already given her statement to the police?” I asked him.

  “Yeah, we’re all done with them. We shut the door to Elizabeth’s room just avoid it ‘til we can get it cleaned up. I think she needs to go home and get some rest. Thanks, Bray, for helping us out.”

  “Jordan, is everyone okay?” I asked, worried. I was quickly figuring out that Elizabeth was Pepper. Could this night get any more fucking confusing?

  “Yeah, man. Andi has a concussion, but she’ll be fine. Elizabeth has a broken wrist and was beaten up pretty badly. She’ll be okay though,” he said, sighing in relief.

  “Good to hear. Keep me posted.” I slapped him on the back before turning and ushering Olive out to the car.

  After we had made it back to the car and I’d helped her in, I got in on my side and sat for a moment trying to figure out how she was feeling. Olive was clearly in shock. She rotated between crying and having a glazed-over look to her eyes.

  “Olive, are you going to be okay? Do you want to talk about it?” I asked her.

  She turned to me with a vacant look in her eyes. “I’ll be fine—just tired. I still can’t believe I shot him,” she said.

  Reaching over, I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. The drive home was quiet as she stared blankly out the window, clearly lost in her thoughts. We didn’t speak again until we were back in the apartment.

  “Why don’t you grab a hot shower and I’ll fix you something to eat,” I suggested. Nodding her head, she walked towards her room while I went to the kitchen.

  I rummaged in the cabinets and found a can of chicken noodle soup. Once I had heated it up and located some crackers, she resurfaced fresh-faced and smelling like soap. When she passed me to go to the table, I couldn’t help but grin when I noticed her really short red shorts that barely covered her ass.

  “Here. Hope you like this,” I told her, setting the bowl down in front of her.

  She nodded and smiled for the first time tonight. “Thanks, Bray. You’re a sweet guy,” she said as she ate. Something had shifted in the air, and the tone had felt dismissive. “You can go on home. I’ll be fine,” she sighed, not looking up at me.

  Yes, definitely dismissive.

  “Olive, I’ll sleep on the couch, but I think you’ll feel better if someone stays with you tonight. Okay?”

  “Bray, I don’t need a babysitter. I’m not hurt,” she said icily as her eyes met mine with a glare. Olive was definitely in shock. This was uncharacteristic for her.

  “Well, you’ll just have to be pissed at me because I’m not leaving. End of discussion,” I said, meeting her gaze with equal intensity. There was no chance in the world I would leave her like this.

  “Whatever,” she spat as she dropped her spoon in the bowl and stood up quickly. Not looking in my direction, she strolled past me and slammed the door to her room once inside.

  “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as I cleaned up the dishes. Grabbing a blanket from the basket near the end of the couch, I settled on the sofa for the night.

  I shot someone. I freaking shot someone. My mind still reeled at the memory of raising the gun and shooting Cole in the forehead. I had a feeling a day wouldn’t go by where I wouldn’t think about that moment when I’d taken someone’s life.

  If my mother knew about this, she’d certainly disown me for good. Modeling in the Big Apple was small stuff compared to murder. Even though I’d done it to stop Cole from hurting Jordan and Pepper more than he already had, I still felt horrible about it.

  The entire night, I tossed and turned as I rehashed that scene both consciously and while asleep. During one dream, I kept seeing the blood splatter behind him in slow motion over and over as if it were on replay. I woke with a start, feeling instantly nauseated. Jumping from the bed, I bolted to my bathroom and barely made it before I emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

  Heavy footsteps came up behind me, and I shuddered when large hands gathered my hair. Realizing that Bray was still here and helping me even though I’d been completely nasty to him earlier, I felt tears sting my eyes.

  When I stopped dry heaving, he stepped away from me, and I heard the faucet turn on. Moments later, a cool rag went over the back of my neck.

  He must have located a hair tie because soon after he was pulling my hair into a ponytail. This guy was amazing. Too bad we were over before we had even begun. Without speaking, he comforted me by gently rubbing my back as I hugged the toilet seat.

  Everything had come into perspective for me today after I’d shot Cole. I’d nearly lost my two best friends tonight. Whatever it was that Bray and I had started needed to stop. I loved Andi like a sister and could never hurt her. Having been put in the position we were in, I quickly realized that our friendship needed to come first and foremost. I barely knew Bray and couldn’t jeopardize me and Andi over our fling.

  Even though I told myself it was a fling, I knew better. Had he been any other guy, besides my best friend’s ex, I knew we could have a future together. My luck with guys was just total crap. I was better off not dating anyone at all. Clearly I had the worst choice in men.

  “Come on. Let’s get you back to bed,” he said, voice still gravelly from sleep. Shakily, I stood up and swayed a bit. His hands instantly grabbed my hips to steady me and my body reacted with a shiver. I was supposed to be avoiding him, not secretly wishing he
would make love to me.

  Once we made it to the bed, he helped me get back under the covers. He looked so hot with his wrinkly shirt and messy hair. I felt like such a hateful person to push him away like I had.

  “Stay with me,” I whispered before I could stop the words from slipping out.

  Nodding, he pulled off his shirt but left on his jeans and crawled under the covers with me. His giant arm wrapped protectively around me and he pulled me close to him. In his arms, I felt safe and fell asleep quickly. The nightmares stayed away for the rest of the night.

  “Here you go,” I said, smiling at Pepper as I handed her a cup of hot tea. She looked absolutely horrible, and for some reason, I felt better about Cole’s demise yesterday after seeing her.

  “You guys are smothering me,” she teased but squeezed my hand when I sat down next to her.

  “That’s what friends are for,” Andi joked back.

  The guys were boxing up Pepper’s things while we sat on the couch and watched. Every so often, Pepper would hoarsely bark orders at them. It was good to see she was still her old self.

  “I can’t believe you’re leaving us,” I said sadly, looking over at her.

  “Oh, come on. I’ll see you guys all the time,” she confirmed, voice raspy.

  Andi asked her a question, and I took that moment to look over at Bray as he walked by with a box. His eyes were on mine the entire time as he strode past.

  Things last night had been strange and even weirder this morning. I’d let him comfort me, but we hadn’t kissed or touched other than hugging. This morning, he had run out to grab us some coffee and donuts. He’d come back with everyone else. Thankfully, Andi and Pepper still hadn’t realized what had happened with us.

  “What do you think?” Andi asked, dragging me from my thoughts. I hadn’t really been listening, so I looked at her dumbly. She looked sad, probably assuming I was still in shock over Cole when in actuality I was thinking about her ex-fiancé. My stomach churned with guilt.

  “Um, what were you guys saying?” I questioned, having been caught not paying attention.

  “We were thinking of ordering a couple of pizzas. Does that sound okay?”

  “Oh, yes, sure. I’m sure Bray will be fine with that too,” I said quickly.

  The confused look on her face made me cringe at my words. Crap!

  “I mean, uh, all of the guys probably would like some pizza,” I stuttered, trying to backtrack over my previous words.

  Pepper and Andi studied me for a moment. I could see the wheels turning in both of their heads and I wanted to run from the room.

  “I’ll eat whatever,” I declared briefly and stood up. “I’m going to go see if Jackson and Jordan need any help.” The girls exchanged glances before Andi grabbed her phone to order the pizza. I was failing miserably at keeping this from them. It was a good thing I’d decided to stop my rendezvous with Bray before it progressed any further.

  When Bray walked back into Pepper’s bedroom, where I was now tossing the contents of her sock drawer into a basket, he glanced over at me. Our eyes met and I could see the questions in them but I looked away. I was sure he was hurt but we had to stop. I hoped I could talk to him about my decision later today.

  Bray continued to try and meet my gaze for the rest of the afternoon while we worked. As we ate pizza, he practically stared at me the entire time. Finally, I looked at him with a ‘what do you want’ glare. He frowned and shook his head at me.

  “Okay, guys. I think I’m going to head home for the night since we’re about finished here. If you need help tomorrow, just give me a call,” he said and stalked out of the kitchen.

  Everyone waved their goodbyes while I just stared at him as he walked out. Tears welled in my eyes and I excused myself, running to my room, where I barely made it before I started sobbing.

  I’d thought Olive was just in shock yesterday, but it was clear by her behavior today that she didn’t have any desire to want to be with me anymore. Looked like Mom had gotten her wish. Instead of going home, I went straight to the gym.

  After several hours of pouring my anger into my workout, I finally went home, mentally and physically exhausted. Once home, I took a quick shower. Later, I realized I had a missed call from Olive, who had left a voicemail. Pressing the play button, I tensed at what she was going to say.

  “Bray, look, I’m sorry if I led you on but we can’t be together anymore. I can’t hurt Andi like that. Take care.”

  Take fucking care? Slamming down the phone on the bed, I pulled my laptop from the bedside table. After it powered on, I searched for photographers in the modeling scene in New York. There were thousands. I narrowed my search, looking for Drake. Even though Olive was blowing me off, I still wanted to know more about that asshole.

  Coming across only one named Drake, I pulled up the webpage. A grinning, dark-skinned man in an expensive shirt filled my screen. His smile couldn’t mask the evil that was so clearly painted in his eyes. To most people, he would seem like a normal guy. Since I knew what he had done to Olive, I saw right past his façade.

  I took a screenshot of the page and emailed it to myself at work. Olive might not want to see me anymore, but I would still do what I could to look out for her. Her fear of running into him was real, and there was no way I could sit back and ignore that.

  Thinking about her stomach, I felt furious once again. The night she’d showed me her scars, I’d wanted to punch a hole through the fucking headboard. That asshole had carved “Property of Drake” across her entire abdomen. He’d mutilated her, and I wanted to kill him for it. Briefly, I wondered how many other women he’d hurt, and it took everything in me not to throw my laptop across the room. Needing to cool off, I texted Olive.

  Me: I got your message. Even though I don’t like it, I get what you’re saying. Let’s at least be friends. We’ve confided so much in each other already. Please don’t shut me out completely.

  I hoped she would at least let us be friends. As hard as it would be to not kiss and touch her, it would be better than not seeing her at all. Moments later, my phone chimed.

  Olive: Friends sounds good but promise me you won’t try to take things further. I have a hard time telling you no. If you care about me, you won’t push it.

  Groaning, I typed out my response, knowing it would be difficult to do what she’d asked.

  Me: I will try my hardest. How are you doing tonight?

  Olive: Fine. It feels weird without Pepper’s things here. Since Andi is with Jackson and Pepper is gone now, it feels incredibly lonely here.

  Me: Do you want me to come over?

  Olive: No.

  Me: Okay, okay. What about breakfast in the morning? I could bring bagels and coffee.

  Olive: Is this a “friendly” breakfast?

  Me: The friendliest. See you in the morning.

  For someone who’d suggested we remain friends, she was killing me in those tiny white shorts with the word “pink” scrawled across her cute little ass. I followed her into the kitchen and set down our breakfast.

  “How are you doing this morning?” I asked, looking up at her.

  She smiled genuinely at me. “I’m doing just fine, Bray. You don’t have to babysit me,” she teased. It was hard to not pull her to me and kiss her plump lips. When she caught me staring at them, she chewed on the bottom one.

  “Shit. Sorry, Olive. How are Andi and Pepper doing?” I questioned.

  “I texted Andi earlier and she’s back to her normal self. Pepper called me right before you came over. Her wrist still hurts but she’s got good pain medicine so she’ll be all right.”

  “When’s your next modeling job?” I asked, wondering about her work schedule.

  She frowned and sipped her coffee. “Things are slow right now. I have a couple in the coming few weeks, but nothing this week or next.”

  “So you’ll be in this apartment alone for two weeks?” I asked incredulously.

  Her bottom lip pouted out as she slowl
y nodded her head.

  “Fuck that. I’ll come over every day. You’re not sitting here by yourself,” I said sternly. She sighed but didn’t argue, which told me she really was lonely.

  “Fine, Bray, but we should go to the market today. We can’t have takeout every day, and you eat a lot,” she joked, poking me in the side.

  I jumped away, laughing. “Do that again and I’ll hold you down like the other night. I won’t have mercy on you on this time,” I chuckled.

  She attempted to glare evilly at me, but when I reached for her, she squealed, jerking away from me.

  “That’s what I thought,” I said smugly as I spread some cream cheese on my bagel. Taking a bite, I looked over at her. The way she was watching me as I ate wasn’t innocent in the least bit. But a promise was a promise. “What?” I questioned.

  Her tongue darted out, licking her bottom lip. My eyes fell to her mouth, and it took quite an effort to bring them back to her eyes again.

  “You have, uh, some cream cheese on your mouth,” she said softly.

  I licked my lips, and she made a soft whimpering noise as she watched me hungrily. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d said it was hard for her as well to resist me.

  “Now?” I asked. Her gaze was transfixed on my lips, and she just shook her head.

  “Here, I’ll get it,” she whispered, stepping towards me.

  When her body neared mine, the space between us crackled with electricity. It took everything in me not to pull her to me. Raising her hand to my face, she used her thumb to wipe away the cream cheese. Before she could pull away, I clutched her hand at the wrist and sucked her thumb into my mouth, sucking away the remnants. Her eyes fluttered closed and I studied her face while I softly sucked her thumb.

  Finally, her eyes blinked open and she reluctantly pulled her thumb from my mouth but made no moves to step away. We stared at each other, each begging the other with our eyes to make the first move. I wanted her so fucking badly. Her eyes were sad but hungry for me. The light brown color of her skin reddened on her cheeks as I regarded her. My gaze eventually fell back to her mouth, and I quickly had to look away before I broke my promise to keep things at a friendly level.