Page 118 of Ruled Out

Rage builds inside me, impossible to push down. I can’t ignore it, and I don’twantto anymore.

My heart aches for the man I love because, today, he lost his mom, and I know deep down in my gut that it was to the same monster he fights every day of his life—alcohol.

As I bite my cheek, I know this is a mistake. But somehow, an error in judgment has never felt so good.

My lips curl into an involuntary snarl. “Because I can’t stand the sight of you.”

I don’t know how I expected him to react, but it’s not the hysterics he breaks into, practically doubling over.

He holds up a hand, his other arm wrapped around his waist. “Sorry … just give me a second. That was way too funny.”

I’m confused and intimidated, but the sight of my phone ringing silently on the couch catches my attention.Dadlights up the screen.

Maybe I should’ve listened to him and Jessie. Why didn’t it click that his mom would be in the hospital? Why am I so goddamn stupid?

“Okay, I’m good now.”

I’ve only ever felt like I couldn’t breathe twice before in my life. The first time was when I fell off a pony as a young girl, and the second was when my dad told me my mom had passed away.

This time, it’s when my back hits the wall so hard that all the air is knocked out of me.

His fingers wrap around my throat, giving me zero chance of catching my breath as he holds me against the wall, my feet dangling above the floor.

This is it. Where I die.

At the hands of a man Jessie repeatedly told me was dangerous.

At the hands that have repeatedly beaten down my boyfriend.

“Please,” I beg, my voice strangled and barely a whisper, the tears flowing freely from my eyes. “You don’t want t-to?—”

“Don’t want to what, Sweetheart?” He brings his face to my neck, inhaling my hair. “Why are you all the same? Alice used to beg and plead too. It’s not attractive.”

Thrashing my body from side to side, I try to kick him in the shin, but he jumps back, and laughter spills out of him once again. This is all a game to him.

“Oh, now, maybe I get it. Why my boy likes this pussy. It’s got fight. Does he make you fight him, Mia? Does he like that his posh little rich bitch is feisty?”

My attempts to fight back slow as my energy reserves dwindle, and the room around me starts to dim.

“Get your fucking hands off her!”

I fall to the floor, but the thud I hear is way louder than the noise my petite frame should make.

“I should’ve done this way before now!”

On my hands and knees and still gasping for air, I lift my head, trying to find the voices.

When my vision slowly recovers, I see Jessie over his dad as he lies flat on his back, his hands shielding his face.

“You killed her, didn’t you? You let her fucking die on the floor,” he shouts between sobs and punches. “You could’ve called for help earlier, but didn’t.”

He continues to beat down on his dad, his fists connecting with whatever part of Wayne’s body he can find.

“Jessie,” I whisper.

The sobs he releases ricochet through my own body, and my tears tumble to the matted carpet beneath me.

“Jessie,” I repeat, a little louder this time, but it still doesn’t register.