Page 27 of Freestyle (Boys of Frampton U #2)

I tear off the paper, revealing a wooden box underneath. When I open the lid, I gasp. Inside is a row of small ponies, each with a different colored mane and tail. They are beautiful.

“Do you like them?” Alberto asks, a grin spreading across his face.

I nod, a smile breaking through my tears.

“I’m glad.” He leans forward and kisses me on the forehead, his lips lingering. “We can play with them now if you want?” He has a weird smile on his face again, but I want to play with them badly, so I agree .

Albie’s smile gets bigger, and his eyes light up. He looks... happy.

But then, things take a turn. Alberto’s laughter fades, and I see something shift in his expression. He steps closer, his demeanor suddenly intense.

“I’ve decided you have to earn the right to be my friend now.

You have to make sure we’re alone before we play.

We can’t be friends at school or where anyone can see us, or they’ll be jealous.

We can only be friends at this house. Do you understand, Rowboat?

If you don’t follow these rules, we can’t be friends anymore. ”

My little heart squeezes. “But... why?”

“Because it’s the rules. My mom doesn’t think I should play with you anymore.” His expression changes again, his voice low and angry. “Don’t ask me any more questions about it, Rowyn. Just do as I say. If you don’t, we can’t be friends anymore.”

“Okay, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Perfect. We’re gonna have a lot more fun, and you’re going to see that we are best friends forever. I’m the only one who truly loves you, just like Pinkie. But if you don’t do what I say, I can’t love you.”

“What do I have to do?”

“Come with me.” He grasps my hand tightly and yanks me around to the entrance of the basement. “We’re going to play doctor again. ”

“I don’t like that game, Albie.”

“Well, too bad, because that’s the game we’re going to play. Come on.” He pulls me through the door and down the stairs.

He sits on a couch and pulls me down beside him.

Panic rises within me as I try to pull away, but he doesn’t let go.

I can feel the warmth of his breath on my face, and it sends chills down my spine.

“You’re mine, Rowyn. No one can take you away from me,” he whispers, and in that moment, I realize the darkness that lurks inside him.

“I don’t want this, Alberto!” I cry, my voice breaking.

“You think you can escape me?” he says, his voice low and dangerous. I jump up, confusion and fear swirling in my stomach. He rises from the couch and pushes me against the brick wall, clutching my throat tightly in his hands. “It’s going to hurt worse standing up, but if that’s what you want…”

“Alberto, stop,” I wheeze, my voice trembling, but he doesn’t listen. He grabs Pinkie from my grip. “You need to understand, Rowyn. This is how the world works.”

He pulls my skirt up with his other hand and presses the pony against my panties.

“What are you doing, Albie?” I cough.

“Shh, don’t talk.” He pushes her inside me and I whimper. “Does that feel good, Rowyn?”

“No” I whisper, embarrassed and confused. I hate this game so much .

He puts his hand between my legs and moves his fingers. I cry out, a wave of feelings washing over me.

“I told you, you’d like it.”

“No, I don’t! Please can we play something else?”

“This is the game, Rowyn. The only game we can play. You need to accept that.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you, Rowboat.”

“Please, stop touching me there,” I whimper as tears roll down my cheeks.

“But you like it,” he insists.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t. You love me.”

“Stop! You’re hurting me!”

“I can’t help it. You’re mine, and no one else can have you.”

“Please stop. It hurts.”

“That’s not what your body is telling me.”

“You’re a monster!”

“If I’m a monster, then so are you.”

Before I can say anything else, the door creaks open and his mom walks in. She pauses, taking in the scene before her. Horror is written across her face when she sees the game we are playing.

“What the hell is going on here ?

“This isn’t what it looks like. I was just trying to help her learn to ride her pony,” he says, giving me a look that tells me not to say a word.

She yanks her son away from me. “You will never touch her again, Albert Mitchell! I’m calling the police.”

“Please, Mom, don’t!” he pleads. “I didn’t mean anything by it. We were just playing.”

“You know exactly what you were doing to that poor child. You’re thirteen years old, for fuck’s sake.” She drops her arm from Albie and rushes to me, a crumpled mess on the cold concrete floor.

“Sweetie, I’m going to take care of this.

Are you hurt?” All I can do is nod as I look up to Albie’s angered face.

“You’ve got marks on your neck!” His mother pulls me into her arms, my body shaking.

She takes out her phone and a flurry of questions are asked, and I answer them the best I can.

Some I don’t understand, and others make me extremely uncomfortable.

People begin swarming the place looking for Albie because he ran from the garage when his mother turned her back.

A whirlwind of chaos ensues, and I’m thrust into the middle of it.

“I’ll take her out and you can deal with him,” the social worker says.

“No, “ I cry out.

“It’s okay. It will only take a minute. Why don’t you show me your room?” the social worker asks, ushering me away.

“Where are you taking him?” I ask, a sob caught in my throat.

“He’s going to a special place, sweetie. A place where they’ll take good care of him and help him get better. It’s going to be okay.”

I watch through the window as they load him into the car, his arms and legs restrained.

That’s the last time I ever saw him. I was put in a new house the next day.

He was so angry when he was taken away. Is that what all of this is about? Does he blame me for what happened? Fear claws at my stomach, thinking of what this could mean.

I swore I would never be the victim again, but it’s that exactly where I’ve landed myself?

“Row, are you home?” Lynds calls from the door, softly knocking. My fear jumps into my throat until I realize it’s my roommate and not the nightmare that’s following me.

“Y-yeah, come in.” I take a shuddering breath, trying to reign in my fear so she doesn’t see it.

The door opens and Lynds steps inside, a bright burst of normalcy against the storm still lashing through my thoughts .

She has a half-eaten granola bar in one hand and a tote bag sliding off her shoulder. Her brows furrow the second she sees me.

“You okay?” she asks, voice gentler now. “You look like you’ve seen—” She stops herself. Smart girl. She’s learned not to finish that sentence around me. Lyndsy knows some of the scars from my past that still linger in my chest.

I force a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes. “Just tired.”

She doesn’t buy it, but she doesn’t push either. Instead, she crosses the room and drops her bag on my bed with a soft thud. The quiet stretches, just long enough to let my heartbeat slow, just long enough for the panic to shrink back into its corner.

But it doesn’t leave.

Because even with her here, even with the safety of familiar walls, the words won’t stop circling my head.

He was so angry when they took him.

He blames you.

You made him angry, and now he’s back.

“Oh, by the way,” she says casually, “I had a visit from Gray and Nix. You forgot to mention the part where you slept with them!”

My whole body locks up.

The room, which had just started to feel safe again, shrinks two sizes too small .

She glances up when I don’t answer. “Seriously, Row? You usually at least warn me when testosterone overload is going to invade our hallway.”

“I-I don’t know what to say,” I admit, feeling my cheeks flush. “I was going to tell you. I’m so sorry.”

Lynds sighs, running a hand through her hair. “Look, I’m not judging you, Row. I just don’t want you getting hurt, especially not by two guys who’ve turned heartbreak into a sport.”

I flinch. “They’re not like that anymore.”

“Oh? So the campus legends who made their way through half the track team last year suddenly caught feelings?” She laughs once, humorless. “Forgive me if I don’t throw confetti.”

Lynds seems to consider her words for a moment. “You know Gray is bi, right? That opens up the entire school for him to pick from. He’s never slept with the same person twice.” Well, they have with me. Does that mean I’m different? Or just a cruel game?

“They seem different with me,” I admit.

She pauses, watching me carefully now. “And what happens when they’re not? When it stops being protection and starts feeling like possession?”

I don’t have an answer.

I wish I did .

“I just need you to promise me one thing,” Lynds says, voice soft but firm. “Don’t fall so hard into the idea of being safe that you forget who you’re letting hold the keys.”

I shut the door behind her and lean against it, the silence in the room humming around me like it’s trying to fill the space where her voice just was.

“Don’t fall so hard into the idea of being safe that you forget who you’re letting hold the keys.”

She meant it to protect me. To make me think.

But all it does is split me open.

Because the truth is I don’t know who I trust anymore. Gray and Nix look at me like I’m fire and ruin and salvation all wrapped into one fragile body. They protect me, yes. Guard me like I’m sacred.

But I also remember how they used to look through me.

How easy it was for them to break what they didn’t bother to understand.

People say obsession feels like devotion when you’re the one being watched. But I’ve learned the hard way—it can also feel like a cage with velvet walls.

I curl onto the edge of my bed, stare up at the ceiling, and let the memories crawl under my skin. I never know if I’m nervous because I want them close…

Or because I’m afraid of what I’ll let them take next.

If I give in fully, completely, what’s left of me that’s just mine?

Lynds isn’t wrong, but she’s not right either.

Because it’s not about whether they’ll hurt me.

It’s about whether I’ll let them.