Page 44 of Loving Bad

He put my bag down beside the bed and then he turned to face me as he ran a hand through his hair. His tongue flicked against the one lip ring as he studied me for a moment.

The events that night had left me nervous and jittery. I knew I was safe with Sin, but I couldn't help feeling that deep-rooted fear that had been put there by the attack earlier. He walked up to me.

"How are you doing?" he asked softly as he cupped my face.

"I'm okay," I lied outright. I was anything but okay. I wasn't sure if I would ever feel safe again.

"Do you need to shower?" he asked as his hands dropped from my face to settle on my hips.

"Yes," I answered. It was hard to concentrate on my thoughts when he was so close to me.

"Get what you need together and I'll put a clean towel in the bathroom for you," he said as he released me and stepped back.

"Okay," I said as I walked over to my bag.

I heard the door open and then close. I was alone. I sat down on the bed for a moment and rubbed my hands over my face, trying to get it together. I didn't want to be an emotional mess that Sin would have to deal with.

After I got my stuff out of my bag, I went to the bathroom. There was a clean, dark blue towel neatly folded beside the sink. I stripped down and climbed into the shower. Once I'd started up the shower and adjusted the temperature, I leaned my head against the tiles.

Some bruises had started to develop where my attacker had grabbed me. A shiver of fear ran through my body at the physical evidence left by the horrifying encounter.

At the sight of the bruises, I showered quickly and got out. I dried off in record time and began to pull my clothes on. I began to feel better now that the bruises were hidden from my sight by my clothes.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I noticed the party had stopped. It was quiet except for some voices. The party was over. I went back to Sin's room expecting him to be there, but he wasn't.

I knew I had to call Connor, but I really wasn't looking forward to it. I grabbed my phone from my discarded clothes and I sat down on the bed while I tried to contemplate how I was going to tell my brother what had happened tonight. There was no use delaying it, and it didn't matter how I told Connor, he was going to freak.

"Hi," I heard Connor answer my call.

"Hi," I replied.

"What's wrong?" he asked. I could hear the nervous fear in his voice. A phone call this late at night was never for good news.

"I don't want you to freak out," I said.

"Tell me what happened," he instructed firmly, but I could hear the rising panic in his voice.

"I was attacked tonight," I revealed softly as I closed my eyes and prepared for his reaction.

"What happened? Are you okay? Have you reported it to the police?" He screeched one question after the other. He was flipping out.

"Calm down," I instructed.

"How the fuck do you expect me to calm down!" he yelled. I bit down on my lip to keep from snapping back at him. I remained silent as I let what I said sink in.

"Tell me what happened," he requested tightly once he'd managed to calm himself down enough to talk further.

"I'd just gone out to get something to eat with a friend," I began to explain. There was no way I could tell him I'd gone out with the guy I'm casually screwing.

"I was in the stairwell of the dorm building when someone came up behind me and pushed me against the wall," I said. While I was talking, I was already sifting through the finer details, deciding what to tell him and what to leave out.

"Someone scared him off when they entered the stairwell," I said, leaving out what the attacker had said to me, and the fact that it had been Sin who had scared off my attacker. He would go ballistic if he knew the guy he'd warned me off and given me a folder full of reasons to stay away from him was the guy I'd gone out with. He didn't need to know everything.

"Are you okay?" was Connor's next question.

"Yes, I'm fine." I was a little shaken, but physically I was fine.

"I'll get the first flight in the morning," he said. If it hadn't been so late I know he'd been on the first flight to get to me as soon as he could. I wasn't surprised. I knew he would come out as soon as I told him.