Pierce My Heart (Women of Willowbrook Book 1) (5 page)

When I finished I lifted my gaze and looked around.

Evan had rivers of tears flowing down her face. The death grip she had on my hand expressed her feelings of anger and sadness for me. Nate had gone back to looking like he was ready to kill someone, and cry, and Robby was still.

Statue still.

No one said anything for a while, until Nate spoke up.

“Robby, man, we need to go teach this asshole a lesson. No way. No.
Fucking
. Way he’s going to lay a hand on Anna and not get it back. Let’s go, now,” he said through clenched teeth, his body shaking with anger.

I froze, unable to talk through the crushing emotions coming off Nate and the fear I felt for them.

Nate and Robby were both strong guys, they had inches on Xavier, but Xavier had muscle on both of them. I didn’t think he could take them at the same time, but a man who wasn’t afraid to hit a woman wasn’t afraid to fight dirty.

I tried to scramble off the bed to stand in front of Nate, but Evan held me back. I looked at her desperately, but she just shook her head.

I opened my mouth to protest, threaten,
something
, but Robby got there first.

“Don’t worry, Nate. We’ll handle it,” Robby promised.

Promised in a way I knew he meant business.

I fought through the fear I felt and pleaded, “Guys, no.
Please
. This is why I didn’t want you to know. I knew you’d do something like this, but you can’t. It’s over and done with. I’m never going back. Can’t we just go home? Forget this all happened?”

Neither one said a thing, just stared at me. Their eyes zeroing in on the bruises around my eye and I knew.

I knew
.

They would not let it lie.

I felt myself deflate as the fear started to creep back over me, but Evan’s squeeze had me fighting it back again.

“Babe, you need to let them do what they need to do. Their girl is sitting here crying her eyes out and shaking with a fucking black eye done to her by a man she loved and trusted. No way they’ll let it lie. You know it and you know protesting it is pointless. Besides, someone needs to go to your place and get all your shit, which is sure as shit not going to be you, and unless you want your folks seeing you this way, you’re gonna need to stay here for a few more days. At least till the bruise has faded enough it can be covered. We love you, Anna. We’re taking care of you now.”

I was speechless.

Not because I didn’t have words
—
I had plenty
—
but because of them.

Because I wasn’t alone anymore.

The boys were able to get all my stuff, plus some that wasn’t mine but what they determined I deserved as “compensation for putting up with that fuckwad”, as Nate so eloquently put it.

I couldn’t say I disagreed.

They also seemed a little calmer, but that may have had something to do with their busted knuckles.

I decided to ignore it and instead figure out what to do.

I’d luckily already done the shit I needed and got my associates degree, but had been thinking of continuing on to go for my BA—even if I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Since there was no way I was staying there, I decided I’d just tell my parents that I wanted to wait and figure out my options, then I’d slip in that Xavier and I had broken up. They’d think the two went hand in hand and I was okay with that.

As long as they didn’t know the real reason why, I’d be okay with whatever they thought.

Robby and Nate were going to head back home that night since no one knew where they were.

While they had come to visit me from time-to-time, Nate was almost always with Mom, Dad, or both, and Robby wouldn’t be without Maddy. People would wonder.

Evan, though, was not leaving my side.

She’d decided, without caring or asking what I wanted (not that I wanted anything less), that she’d stay. She called her mom and told her she surprised me with a visit, but found out my choice to leave and decided to stay and help me get organized, but to also keep on the down low since my parents hadn’t been told yet.

Tiffany might’ve been a bit more prim and proper than the rest of us, but the woman was golden when it came to being understanding. Even if it had to do with keeping a secret from her best friend.

After making sure I was okay, promising
—
begrudgingly, I might add
—
that they wouldn’t mention anything to Mom or Dad, big hugs and cheek kisses were given out (by me) followed by tight holds with forehead kisses (by them), and a promise to text when they made it home safe, they left.

To say I was exhausted would’ve been a major understatement.

Evan, sensing my crashing, grabbed the towel of ice from me and went to the bathroom to drop it in the sink while she instructed me to get changed. I had no energy to argue (not that I would), so I shrugged on some pajamas from my stuff and crawled into bed.

Wrapping myself around a pillow, I closed my eyes to try to sleep, but was immediately assaulted by images from that day. I started to shake, tears leaking from the corner of my eyes as I tried to keep quiet. Evan had already done so much for me that day; I didn’t want to ask for more.

I should’ve known better.

I felt the bed dip behind me as Evan wrapped her arms around me tight.

“Hold on, Anna. I’m here, you’re safe. Just hold on, honey,” she whispered to me.

It took a long, long time before I found sleep, and even when I did I knew it took Evan longer. She didn’t leave my side once and when I woke up in the middle of the night with a nightmare, screaming and crying, she held me until I was okay.

Never saying a word, just being there like I needed her to be.

Remembering that, her absolute love for me, I dismiss the mess.

Kind of.

“Love you, Evan,” I tell her, though it’s something she already knows.

She turns her head to look over her shoulder at me.

“Duh. You couldn’t not love me,” she teases, throwing sass like always, but searching my face to make sure everything was alright. When she sees all is well, she smiles. “You know I love you too, girl, and while you may look hot in that towel, we need to find something hot as Hades for tonight.”

I blink, confused.

“Um, why? It’s dinner with my family.”

She holds out a top that’s slim-fitting, dark, and seriously cleavage-baring.

I stare at her.

“Evan, I do not need my tits hanging out for dinner with my family. What’s going on with you?” I ask while walking towards my bed, ignoring the mess as much as possible (which is to say I didn’t outwardly cringe at all the clothes I’d have to put away) before tossing the towel I’d been drying my hair with on the bed and turning towards my dresser to dig through my underwear drawer.

When I get no response, I look over my shoulder at her.

She’s holding up shirts, looking between me and them like that would somehow solve the dilemma she’s obviously facing.

Abandoning my mission for panties and a bra, I turn fully her way and wave my hand.

“Hello? Earth to Evangeline.”

She slices her eyes my way.

Safe to say Evan was not the biggest fan of her full name.

Her mom had a thing for long, unique names, and while Evan herself was unique, she didn’t think the name was the best fit for her. Her way of rebelling against it was to demand to be called Evan, a boy’s name by her mother’s standards.

Her dad, Marcus, got a kick out of this, but Tiffany was not amused. She also was not winning.

So, they met halfway.

Tiffany was the only one to call Evan ‘Evangeline’ or ‘Lina’, and since Evan loved her mother to pieces, she put up with it.

Barely.  

If you ever wanted to make a point of being serious or to get her attention, that was the way to go.

“I’ll let that little bit slide since you’re obviously off your rocker today. Have you not talked to Maddy?” she asks.

“No, I talked to Robby earlier. He said that she was going to call me later, but I just assumed it was about something like helping out at the daycare, or coming up with some decorating treats thing for the kids. Why?” I ask, narrowing my eyes in suspicion.

“Well, Maddy was in the store the other day picking up a lamp, I swear she needs a new one every week. Either those kids don’t know how to stay away or her and your brother get crazy wild while they’re going at it.”

My face scrunches with a look.

“Seriously, Evan, I love them, but I do not want to talk about them having sex. That’s my brother.”

“You should be happy your brother has an active and healthy sex life,” she says, like she’s telling me I should be happy that the sun’s shining and not that my brother gets it regularly.

“Can we not, please?” I ask, holding up my hand. “What did Maddy talk to you about?”

“I’m just saying,” she mutters on a shrug, looking at me like
I’m
the one with the screw loose. “Anyway, apparently your brother’s got this friend from college, I can’t remember his name, but from what Maddy said he’s a total babe and seriously sweet. Since your brother’s taking more control of the business, he talked your dad into letting him bring someone in, help split the load. And he’s coming to dinner tonight.”

She’s finished talking, but I’m still stuck on the fact that Evan knows more about the goings on of my own family than I do.

Then again, with how close our families are, I’m not that surprised.

Moving on.

“Okay. So, what does that have to do with me?" I ask her.

Evan just looks at me like I’m dumb.

Then it hits me.

My head moves back and forth in a negative.

“No.
Hell
no. Forget it. You two are
not
setting me up.”

“Oh, Anna, come on. It’s been like a year since Dick. Time to get out there,” she argues.

“I’m out there, but just because I choose not to do anything about being out there doesn’t mean I want, or need, you guys setting me up.
You
don’t even know the guy,” I shoot back.

“No, I don’t, but Maddy and your brother do. You don’t have to marry the guy or even go out with him. I’m just saying, why not look your best in case your drought meets the rainmaker tonight,” she giggles.

I groan.

“Seriously, Evan? Rainmaker?”

Knowing her, there’s no way she was going to give up, which was precisely the reason Maddy mentioned it to her and procrastinated on telling me. So, like normal, I give in.

“Whatever. I’m not making any promises,” I grumble, fully aware I’ve just agreed to a night full of two girls, whom I love, doing their damnedest to get me loved up.

There’d be pushing, pointing, prodding, nudges, bug eyes, and the like. I already feel like I need to call Robby back and tell him to forget the wine and bring a bottle of tequila instead.

Evan squeals with joy, places her hands on my arms and shoves me out the door towards the bathroom.

“Get your booty in that bathroom, gunk your hair up and blow it out like never before. Don’t bother with the curling iron after, you kind of suck at it. Just use that big round brush you got last week and give a curl to all the ends; easier to touch up that way. And skip the makeup. We’ll handle that when we come back later.”

I move against my will (the girl is freakishly strong for her size) towards the bathroom, and apparently I haven’t moved fast enough because I get a, “Hop to it, bitch”, before I can close the door behind me, cutting off her ability to toss more demands my way.

Grabbing my hair dryer and the round brush that is sitting on the vanity, I look in the mirror and get to work on my hair—a style and color I’ve finally found that suits me.

A miracle.

If you were to go back through our family pictures over the years, it’d be next to impossible to find anywhere I’m working the same do for more than a few months at a time.

From the moment I could, I experimented with my hair. I never went real wild or did funky colors (at least not more than a peek-a-boo) but I’d been all over the spectrum. Blonde, black, brunette, auburn, and around again. I’d had auburn right before I’d changed and, while I dug the red, the style I’d found was so me.

It’s dark brown all over—about four steps up from black—except surrounding my face on the sides, my bangs, and a couple random peek-a-boos in the back. Those are all a mix of platinum and golden blonde. I’ve managed to leave it alone long enough so it’s long with lots of layers for volume, and side swept bangs. It can be wild, it’s always hot (when I wasn’t just waking up after letting it air dry), it can be classy in its own way, and I freaking love it.

By the time I finish my hair and makeup (only powder and mascara since I’ll be taking it off to reapply later), I’m no longer annoyed with Evan anymore; I’m definitely not grateful, but the annoyed vibe is gone. The new, big barreled brush I just bought works phenomenally and it’s hard to keep being annoyed when you’re having a good hair day. But once I walk into my room, I realize my mistake.