“Anytime, Mr. Roberts,” I said. “She's a good girl. She didn't deserve any of that.”
“No, she didn't,” he said, his eyes dark as he looked at his daughter.
There was so much sadness and anger in that one look. Whatever had happened to Hailey reverberated through everyone close to her as well.
“We have to run down to the police station to file a report,” he said. “Mind staying with her until we get back?”
“Of course,” I said. “We'll take good care of her, Mr. Roberts.”
Her parents left, shutting the door behind them and leaving us alone again.
“For a minute there,” Ben said with a rueful laugh, “it felt like high school all over again. Parents walking in and us trying to act all innocent.”
“I've never experienced anything like that before,” Hailey said.
Ben and I both laughed, but it was obvious she was serious.
“I never had boys in my room in high school,” she said, shrugging.
“Well now you do,” Ben said, scooting closer to her. “Two of them, in fact.”
“And none of us are in high school anymore,” I added.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - HAILEY
Before all the excitement with Leo, I'd been enjoying my time with Quinn. He was reading a blog post I wrote, giving me feedback on it. And as we talked, I found myself leaning ever so close to him. I could smell his clean, musky scent and it had smelled so good.
I looked over at him now, his hair falling over his face, hiding him away. I'd long had a theory that Quinn kept his hair long to hide his true self from the world. Coming from a family of football players – and being the best in his family – he'd always been pressured to be the tough guy. The rough and tumble jock. But even back in high school, I got a sense that wasn't who he really was. Not deep down.
His poems had more depth and emotion to them than most of the other kids in class, and he always spoke softly around me. There was never any of that crass talk I'd overheard from time-to-time when he was with his friends or brothers. No, he seemed like a completely different person in that creative writing class all those years ago.
Even now, I could see that he carried that facade. Still, I saw through his tough exterior to something gentler.
As much as I wanted to kiss him, we were no longer alone. Ben was sitting closer to me now, and while I always found him incredibly attractive, I truthfully knew very little about him compared to his brothers. I had classes with both of them, but Ben was older than us. He'd graduated when I was in my sophomore year.
My only real conversations with him happened in his pickup truck when he picked me up off the side of the road after homecoming after my date, Jeremy Nolan, ditched me. Apparently, he didn't want to take me in the first place. I found out later that Jenn had asked him to ask me. When it was clear I wasn't going to put out, he ran off with another girl who would, leaving me to walk home alone.
Ben and Rebekah had left the dance early too. They had been fighting and Rebekah had been a bitch the entire time. Ben tried to make small talk, as his girlfriend bitched at him for everything. She scowled at me, as if she knew I was merely a distraction from whatever they were fighting about, but Ben was friendly to me, nicer than I thought he'd be honestly.
Now, I had both of these men on my bed with me. We were older, wiser and more mature, but it still felt weird to be sitting here with both of them. Two of the most popular jocks in school sitting with the awkward nerd girl.
“So what happened with Leo?” Quinn asked me.
“Didn't you see it?” I laughed, avoiding the real question he was asking.
“No, I meant in the past,” he said. “What happened that led up to all of this.”
I looked out my window, focusing my attention on the tree outside. I was there, in my happy place, away from the dangers of Leo and everything that had happened in California. And part of me didn't really want to speak about it.
But another part of me felt like I could, finally, tell someone about all that I'd experienced. Because I found myself comforted by Ben and Quinn's presence. I felt as if they could keep me safe from Leo. I felt like I could trust them.
“We started dating shortly after I moved out to California,” I started. “I was young, naive, and stupid. He was older, handsome, and filthy rich. He promised me that he knew some people in the industry and could help get my career going. Like an idiot, I fell for it. Months went by, I moved in with him to save money since I couldn't afford rent on a waitress's salary. And then I finally saw the real him –”
I stopped speaking for a moment as tears welled up in my eyes. I wiped them away angrily. Frustrated at myself for being so emotional. For being so weak.
“At first, he was just a dick,” I said. “He yelled a lot, bossed me around. Told me what I could and couldn't wear. Where I could and couldn't go. And who I could and couldn't see. But, he wasn't violent. Not at first, anyway.”
Quinn reached out and pulled me close, holding me to him. Comforted by his presence, I leaned my head against his chest and melted into his embrace.