Page 81 of Fireworks

Katie: WHAT?

Katie: What happened?

Ryder: not sure, people said they saw him go to his room with some girl and heard a bunch of yelling. A while later, he was in a fistfight with someone.

Not wanting to air any more dirty laundry in front of her, I texted back the only thing I could think that wouldn’t raise red flags.

Katie: wow. That’s just crazy.

She told me more details as she heard them, but I didn’t let on that I was the girl they heard him yelling at. I would rather keep that to myself. I found it hard to believe that she would tell Paul all about my spring break. That wasn’t like her. We had just spent the last nine months together, and I thought I knew her better than that.

Flipping through social media, I tried to keep my mind off what had happened. Asher had posted a few photos of Bridget and the sunset with the words ‘happily ever after’ under it. I laughed, knowing that there was no way he came up with that and she must have done it for him.

A knock on the door caused me to jump and drop my phone out of my hands. My feet appreciated the soft fluff of carpet under my toes, yet my body still tensed as I reached out for the handle, unsure who would be on the other side. A second knock had my heart beating out of my chest as the handle turned in slow motion, pulling my door open. My entire body relaxed as my eyes met Nate’s, washing away the worry that was consuming me for the last hour and a half.

“Oh, I didn’t think you were here. I was just going to text you.”

He looked up, shoving his phone back into his pocket, slightly taken back that I had opened the door.

“You okay?”

His eyes trailed up and down my body as I spoke.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Darlin’ you’re a damn terrible liar, you know that? Talk.”

Kissing me on the forehead, I moved to the side to let him into the room.

“It’s nothing. I handled it.”

Raising an eyebrow, his shoulders squared off.

“Handled what?”

Rubbing my hands over my arm where Brandon’s fingers had dug into me, I could feel it bruising.

“It was nothing.”

Pulling the hem of my dress down, the thought of his hands on me crossed my mind, making me nauseous.

“Katie...” His eyes rested on my arm. “What the hell happened to your arm? Tell me right now or so help me. I’ll call your brother and then you can explain it to him instead. Trust me, he’s not as level-headed as I am.”

His hands clenched into fists. I knew I would not walk away from this conversation. In one giant breath, I spoke quickly.

“I went to that party with Ryder and bumped into Brandon. He was out of control. I tried to get away from him, but he grabbed my arm. I kicked him in the junk and came back here. He apparently got into a fight and campus police took him in. I’m going to text my uncle tomorrow. He’s laid into him once already, so he’ll just need to remind him to stay away from me. It’s fine. I told you I handled it.”

The pulse on his jawline gave way as he unclenched his teeth to speak. Stepping closer to me, my breathing hitched. I knew the anger he felt wasn’t directed at me, but Nate rarely lost his cool.

“Did he touch you?”

Against my better judgment, I retold him exactly what had happened, knowing the details would not be what he wanted to hear.

“I’m going to fucking kill that prick when he gets released.”

Nate was pacing the floor huffing loudly, wringing his hands together when they weren’t in tight fists. Crossing the room, I placed my hands on his shoulders, halting him.

“Look at me Nate. You will do nothing. He did nothing but make himself look like a drunken asshole and remind me why I left his sorry, pathetic ass. Please. I’ll tell my uncle and they will handle it. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”