I stared at my cousin but couldn’t speak, causing her to groan in exasperation and throw her hands up in the air.
I could practically feel my mother’s sense of victory, the f**king smug smile plastered on her botoxed face, but when Molly’s golden eyes fell to the floor and she caught the attention of a slowing cab, my flight-or-fight instinct kicked in.
Turning to my momma, I said, “It’s over. You won’t come near me or Mol again. If you do, you’ll regret it; that’s a promise I’ll make sure I keep.” It was the first time in my whole life I’d stood up to her and the first time I’d ever seen her taken aback, completely speechless.
Jumping over the small white fence, I took off running across the road, dodging oncoming cars, ignoring my momma’s frantic, “Rome, don’t you dare!” from behind me.
Molly jumped into the cab. I raced toward it, unable to bear the thought of her slipping away from me. The cab began to move. Pumping my legs as hard as I could, I ran beside it, pulling at the door handle, frantically begging her to stop, to listen. She looked so f**king broken sitting so small in the back seat. It made my heart ache when she turned her face from me and the cab screeched away, leaving me standing, alone in the middle of the street.
Backing onto the sidewalk, I sprinted for my truck, ignoring the shoppers gawking at me. Ally, Cass, and Lexi were still standing on the sidewalk in front of me. When Cass saw me approach, she stood straight in my path, blocking my route.
“Move, Cass,” I warned, but she ignored me, and, damn, that crazy woman swung her fist straight into my f**king stomach.
“You stupid shithead! How dare you treat Molly like this?”
Winded and bending over slightly, I argued, “It wasn’t what it looked like. I was f**kin’ protecting her. I would never cheat on Mol. For Christ’s sake! She’s all I want!”
“Well, it sure looked like something was going on, and with that skinny bitch, too!” Cass was breathing heavily, and I could see the fury in her red face as she stared me down.
“Cass, honey, leave him be.” Lexi pulled on Cass’s arm, calming her down, before looking at me, shyly. “Molly won’t take this well, Rome. She doesn’t trust people easily and I think you just about broke her heart today when she saw you with Shelly.”
“I know that, Lexi, but hear this: she’s mine and I’ll do anything to protect her. You have my word.”
Even to me, my voice sounded strangled. But Lexi must have heard my sincerity because she smiled and squeezed my arm in support.
Ally pulled me in for a quick hug, whispering, “Go get her.”
That was exactly what I intended to do.
I pulled the truck into park and ran to the backyard of the sorority house, climbing up to Molly’s balcony, only to be met by closed doors.
Shit! She never locked her balcony doors; it was obvious what she was trying to say.
Panicking, I rattled the handle repeatedly and yelled, “Mol! Open the f**k up. I know you’re in there!” I pounded on the doors, almost ripping them off their hinges, but they wouldn’t budge.
I could see a shadowed outline of Mol curled up on her bed, and I needed her to hear me out, but it was clear she wasn’t about to open the doors and let me in.
Climbing back down the balcony, I ran around the house and burst through the front doors. Some jock-looking chick ran into the hallway and began trying to push me back out of the door as I began to climb the stairs.
“What the hell? You can’t just come in here… wait!” she shouted, jumping right into my path.
“MOVE!” I yelled. She didn’t, so, picking her up by the waist, I moved her to the side, setting off running once more, the muscled brunette immediately following behind.
Catching sight of Molly’s door, I quickened my pace, the chick behind me screaming, “Molly! Molly! Watch out—”
Shouldering through the door, I found Molly sitting up on her bed, eyes red and gaping at me in shock.
“I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t leave. Do you want me to call security?”
I could see Molly was considering it. But no f**ker was making me go anywhere. She was going to hear me out whether she liked it or not.
“Don’t. Even. Think it,” I said in a stern voice, watching Mol sigh in defeat and then shake her head at her friend.
“You sure?” the chick asked again. Man, I was about to shove the damn girl out the door myself.
“Yes. Thanks, Cait,” Mol answered with a small, appreciative smile.
Almost snarling at me in disgust, Cait insisted, “Holler if you need me.” She left, and the silence that filled the room was excruciating.
“Just leave, Romeo. I have nothing to say to you,” Molly said coldly, looking so damn small in the center of her bed.
She’d given up on me; that much was obvious. My desperate fury took hold, and my hands were literally shaking with fear. I marched over to the bed and shouted, “Well, I have something to say to you!”
Her brown eyebrows drew in and she lashed out, “What? That you’ve been lying and cheating all this time, and that when you say you’re training in the gym, what you really mean is that you’re meeting up with Mommy Dearest and that tart?”
“That’s not what f**kin’ happened at all!” I tried to explain, but she put her hand up and hissed, “Whatever. I don’t care. Leave.”
I couldn’t let her do this, couldn’t let her push me away without hearing me out, so I reached out, holding her in my arms, forcing her to listen. “My momma asked me to meet her today. Some kids charity she’s on asked for a signed Tide jersey for an auction. I went to drop it off and when I got there, Shelly and Mrs. Blair were waiting with her at the restaurant.”
Her lips pursed, like they did when she was studying, and I knew I had her attention. Placing her back on the bed, I explained, “They f**king bombarded me. Shelly’d told them about you and they started going off about how irresponsible I was and all that shit. My momma laid into me and told me if I didn’t break it off, she’d make damn sure she did. I can’t let that happen to you.”
How could she understand the real meaning of what I was saying? I’d never told her about how bad my parents were. She’d seen my daddy hit me, and now my momma manipulate me, but that was just a taster of how they could be. How could I possibly tell her the extent of their cruelty?