Page 124 of Stripping Bare

Jonah tried to keep breathing, tried not to lose hisshit.

But her skin. It was showing in places it shouldn’t. Someone had ripped her pretty fluttery shirt down the middle and her bra was pushed up almost to her neck. Her jean skirt was bunched around her waist and a pair of pink panties dangled off her left ankle. She was still wearing a pair of high-heeledsandals.

If all that wasn’t horrifying enough, there was blood on her golden-brown skin and in her dark curlyhair.

The only thing that kept him from losing his ever-loving shit was the fact that her chest was moving up and down. She was in bad shape, but she wasalive.

“Whatcha think? Want some ofthat?”

Jonah turned his head—it felt like slow motion—to find Shaw grinning. Perfect teeth gleaming white. So happy withhimself.

What did he think? He thought he needed to get that girl the hell out of here. Jonah swallowed. Hard. “Ithink—”

“Rock, paper,scissors.”

“What?”

“That’s how we decide who goesnext.”

An overwhelming pressure built inside Jonah. They were playing a kid’s game to determine who got the next chance to rape a girl. Jonah’s hand curled into a fist and he leaned toward Shaw. He would kill thisdoucheface.

Shaw’s eyes narrowed and he darted a look at his buddies, who moved in. “You must be into guys,” he sneered at Jonah, “if you don’t want that prime piece ofpussy.”

She wasn’t apiece. She was a person. A pretty teenage girl.Keep it together so you can get her out of here.“She’s not moving,” he said, his voice scratchy and hoarse. “What’s the fun inthat?”

“You get between her legs and she’s plenty of fun.” Shaw fisted his hand in his other palm like a rock. “You in or not,man?”

Maybe he should run, just get himself and Micki out of here. Then they could call the police and…and it might be too late for thisgirl.

“Yeah.”

Jonah’s scissors cut Shaw’spaper.

Then Shaw won rock overscissors.

By now, Jonah was sweating like a hog in August, but he was relieved to see his hand wasn’t shaking as he faced off with Shaw the lasttime.

“One, two…three.”

Jonah’s glanced down and released a soundless breath of relief. He’d been right. Shaw wasn’t smart enough to change his strategy. “Paper covers rock,” Jonah sneered. “She’smine.”

Shaw crossed his arms and stepped back. “So doit.”

Oh, hell. They planned to stand there and watch. “You staying because you can’t wait to get a good look at mydick?”

Shaw’s mouth tightened and he hitched his chin at his friends. “Let’s give the guy a fewminutes.”

“I don’t blow as fast as your friends,” Jonah said. “I’ll need at least twenty, and I don’t want anyone hanging out in thehall.”

“Whatever.” The guys filed out of theroom.

Jonah watched them go and close the door behind them, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and look at the unconscious girl. He waited a couple of minutes and then cracked the door. No one was in thehallway.

He wanted to turn off the lights so he wouldn’t have to see how damaged, how broken, the girl was. But darkness might scareher.

He darted for the one window in the room, so fucking relieved to find it could be opened. Because there was no way he could drag this girl through thatparty.

Something rustled behind him and he swung around to find her stirring. She came to—just enough for terror to glaze her eyes. “D-don’t…” She tried to hold out a hand to ward him off, but her arm barely made it an inch off the mattress before it dropped back. “P-please…”