Uncrushable (Forehead Kisses #3) (17 page)

She seemed disappointed. “Okay.”

“I just don’t want to bring you down with me. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

She didn’t argue with me. “Okay. Call me when you’re feeling better.”

“Okay.”

“And for what it’s worth, I liked watching you kick his ass.”

A slight smile formed on my lips. “Thanks.”

I walked her to her car and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She got inside then drove away. I stayed in my driveway and stared at her taillights until they disappeared around the corner. Then with a heavy heart and a bad attitude, I walked inside and sat in the dark.

I sat in front of the TV even though I wasn’t really watching it. My mind was elsewhere, thinking about the way Crow tried to snap my neck. Everyone thought he was just flailing, jerking me to get a better hold. But that wasn’t the case.

He was trying to kill me.

When people were upset, they lashed out and did things they regretted. But Crow wasn’t like that. He had no remorse. He hated me for the way I ravaged his girl, and he was livid that I beat him in the ring. Hate couldn’t begin to describe what he felt for me.

I tried not to let it bother me, but it did. And his comment about Keira pissed me off. If he came anywhere near her, I would rip his throat out without hesitation. She was off limits. If he had any sinister intention toward her, I’d extinguish his life like a burned out candle. That was the reason I was so upset, not the way he choked me and tried to kill me. It was his threat against my girl. I wasn’t even sure what he meant, but I didn’t take ill words lightly.

My mind wandered in dark thoughts until my phone rang. Hoping it was Keira, I pulled it out and looked at the screen.

It was Adrianna.

Why was she calling me? Did she change her mind about telling me the truth? I took the call. “What’s up?”

She sobbed over the phone, her wails burning into my ear. “Liam?”

Alarm shot through my body. I was on my feet without thinking. “What’s wrong? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m in the bathroom…he’s trying to get in.”

“Call the cops.”

“I can’t. If I do…he’ll kill me.”

I was running out the door with my keys in my hand. I jumped into my truck, started the engine, and then hauled ass. “Stay on the phone with me.”

She continued to cry, her voice cracking. “Please hurry.”

I ran three lights and sprinted through a stop sign. If I didn’t get there in time, I was afraid he would kill her. I couldn’t let another girl die because a guy couldn’t control his anger. I couldn’t let the abuse continue. My sister didn’t die in vain. Maybe she lost her life, but I would make sure no one else did.

I slammed on my brakes when I reached her apartment. “I’m coming in.” I hung up then ran up the steps until I got to her floor. The door was unlocked so I walked in, my muscles tensed and ready for battle. I’d kill him because it was self-defense. If I didn’t take him out now, he would just do this to someone else.

I turned toward the hallway and I saw Adrianna raise a skillet. Then she hit me hard in the head, making me stumble back. “What the fuck…?” When I was on the ground, she hit me again. All I saw was darkness.

My body was on something soft. I was facing upright and I had a huge migraine. I was still asleep, but slightly awake. I heard voices in the background, two girl voices.

“Take a picture with me on top,” Adrianna said.

What the hell was going on?
I felt a small body move on top of me. I suddenly realized I was completely naked. There were no clothes covering my skin. Even my boxers were gone.

I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t. My body was unresponsive. Pain shot through my head. I must have a concussion.

“Did you get them all?” Adrianna asked.

“Yep,” a girl said.

I used all my energy to stir my body. I flashed my eyes open and saw Adrianna sitting on top of me, completely naked. Her breasts were in my face and her bottom was right on my dick.

A girl stood next to the bed with her phone, snapping pictures of us.

Everything became clear.

“You fucking bitch.” I shoved Adrianna off me so hard she hit the floor.

“Shit, he’s awake,” she mumbled.

I jumped out of the bed, my muscles tense and murder in my eyes. I was about to become the violent abuser I attested I hated. I wanted to grab her by the throat and strangle the life out of her. Her screams and cries of help would do nothing but make me smile.

Adrianna flinched and crawled away from me, the fear in her eyes.

She should be afraid of me.

“You played me.” My hands shook because I was furious. She preyed on my past and used it against me. “I couldn’t believe I actually tried to help you. Of all the dirt I’ve met, you’ve got to be the shittiest person in the world. Maybe you haven’t killed anyone, but you’re worse than my sister’s tormentor.”

“Send it,” Adrianna said to the girl.

I turned my body to her and watched her hit the button on her phone.

Shit.

“Sent,” she said.

Adrianna smiled. “Good luck explaining that to Keira.”

I snatched her phone away but it was too late. The message was already sent out. My fists clenched then I shattered the phone on the ground, breaking it into indistinguishable pieces. I clutched my head, afraid of what I might do to both of them. I’ve never wanted to hurt a girl before, but I knew I wanted to then. I took a deep breath then snatched my clothes and stormed out of the room. If I didn’t leave now, I’d commit murder.

I didn’t know what kind of pictures Adrianna took, but I could imagine how incriminating they would be. Since I was unconscious, she probably violated my body in ways that would make me hurl. Keira would be devastated when she saw them, and I would have no evidence to prove my innocence. We would be done—for good. There was no coming back from this.

When I got to my truck, I smashed my fist into the door over and over, denting it further inside. My fist was bloody but I didn’t care. I screamed and cursed, wanting to demolish my truck into pieces. Two women walking up the sidewalk stopped when they saw me and immediately turned around, running.

My fist dripped with blood when I got into the truck. Unsure why I was even bothering to do it, I drove to Keira’s house, hoping I could explain what happened. Knowing Keira, she wouldn’t even answer the door. She’d never speak to me again.

When I parked outside, I ran to the door and pounded my fists against it. I needed to see her. If I could just explain what happened, maybe, just maybe, she would believe me. We both knew Adrianna was psycho. She had to believe me…I couldn’t lose her.

Keira opened the door. Her face was unreadable. She stared at me. There was a look in her eyes I couldn’t identify. Anger shined, but it was a million times stronger than any level of ferocity I’d ever seen. She looked like she might kill me, bury me in the garden in her back yard.

Her hands shook by her sides. “I can’t believe she did this to you…”

What…?

She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. “Trying to manipulate you is one thing, but this is just…there are no words.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “She violated your rights and raped you. It’s a crime. It’s a damn crime.”

The air I had been holding released out of my lungs. “You know I didn’t cheat on you…?”

“Of course.” More tears bubbled. “I know you would never do that, Liam. She must have drugged you or—”

“Beaten me over the had with a skillet.” I was pissed just thinking about it.

“God…” The tears breached the surface then fell down her face. “That’s so wrong.”

I was just relieved she didn’t believe the stupid charade. I thought I was going to lose her again. “It means the world to me that you didn’t believe it.”

“I learned from my mistakes…and you would never do that, Liam. I know how much you despise her. Actually, you wouldn’t do that with anyone. It doesn’t make sense. You won’t have sex with me, so why would you have sex with someone else?” She wiped her tears away. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

The concern and pain in her eyes moved me. “It’s okay…I was unconscious the whole time. I don’t even know what pictures she sent you.”

“You don’t want to see them…” She walked into the house then grabbed the phone. “I’m calling the cops.”

“No.” I snatched it away.

“No?”

“They are going to investigate it. I’ll have to show them pictures and feel my dignity taken away. I destroyed her phone and now all that remains are the ones on yours. I just want to forget about it.”

“Liam, you don’t know—”

“And I don’t want to. This isn’t a normal rape. I’m not afraid of her doing it again. She’ll never get the chance. But I am afraid I might kill her…”

“This isn’t right, Liam. I can’t just let this go.”

“I never said to let it go. I just don’t want to get the police involved.”

Keira wrapped her arms around my waist and held me close. “I’m so sorry…”

My hands hooked around her small body. “It’s okay. I was only worried I would lose you.”

“You could never lose me.”

I placed my lips to her forehead and kissed her. She and I had become stronger than we’d ever been before. No one could rip us apart. No one in our pasts could claim our present. No one in our present could claim our future. For the first time, I realize she truly trusted me, took my word over everyone else’s. If she believed me despite the pictures sent to her phone, then her trust for me was ironclad. “I love you.”

She took a deep breath at my words. “I love you too…”

“Move in with me.”

“What…?” She pulled away and looked me in the eyes. “I didn’t think you were ready for that.”

“I wasn’t.” I gave her a serious look. “But now I am.”

It took a few days for us to move everything back to my house. Scotty helped out and used his truck to haul the rest of her stuff.

“So…” He put his hands in his pockets. “I hope this is the last time Keira will have to move her shit.”

I put my arm around her waist. “It is.”

“Good. Because I want to have a permanent bachelor pad.”

“Like me living there put a damper on that,” Keira teased.

He laughed. “Good point.” He jumped into his truck. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Bye,” I said with a wave.

When he was gone, we walked back into the house. Her smell started to stain the air again. Her knickknacks were around the house. The pillows she made were on my couch. Her toothbrush was back in the drawer in the bathroom. All her stuff was here—joined with mine.

“It’s good to be home,” she said.

I smiled. “It is.”

She sat on the couch and kicked off her shoes. “Moving makes me tired.”

I sat beside her. “Me too.”

She and I hadn’t discussed Adrianna since the incident happened. I wasn’t in the mood for sex knowing what she did to me. If I weren’t unconscious for the whole thing, I would probably be permanently scarred. Thankfully, I was. Now it was just a bad dream. Keira deleted the pictures off her phone and I never looked at them. I didn’t want to see the disgusting things she did to me.

She patted my hand. “Are you okay?”

She hardly ever asked me that. “What gave me away?”

“Your eyes.”

“I guess I’m still hurt…but I’ll get over it.”

She gave me a long look before she finally looked away. “What should we do on our first night living together?” She grabbed the remote and smirked at me.

I knew what she was thinking. “
I Love Lucy
?”

“Yep.”

“Sounds good.”

As the weeks went by, the pain left my heart. The anger was still there but it would always be there. Since I could rip her face off, I was unable to do anything to relieve my anger. I decided to let it go and forget about it. The longer Keira and I lived together, the happier I became. We spent our afternoons in the backyard working on the garden, and we made dinner every night. We hadn’t made love, but we slept in each other’s arms until the sun rose the next morning. She was the best therapy I could ever have.

During the last week of school, we completed our finals. I hadn’t studied much because I didn’t care about my grades at this point. Keira didn’t study because she claimed you couldn’t study for math. You either knew how to do a problem or you didn’t.

I waited outside her math class until she emerged.

When she saw me, a smile lit up her face. “Hey, handsome.”

“Hey, baby.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, giving me chills like she usually did. “You want to buy me lunch?” A playful look was on her face.

“I always want to buy you lunch.” I took her hand and walked with her to the lunch hall. I was in the mood for a burger and fries. Hopefully, they had it on the menu today. “How was your final?”