Chapter Six

By the time I get home from school, it"s almost five o"clock, and the sun is starting low on the horizon. I change out of my clothes and jump in the shower before work.

After I finish my shower, I shut my bedroom door, noticing Dad walking through the front door. My limbs lock in place, not knowing what to expect, but surprisingly, he just stares at my face and down to my neck with a blank expression. Then he makes his way to the kitchen without saying a word to me.

As I reach for the front door, he grabs me by my arm, forcing me to face him. "Where the hell are you going?" The glassy eyes and the smell of alcohol tells me he"s already drunk.

"I"m going to work," I say quietly, praying he"ll give my body a break today.

He shoves me away, and I almost lose my footing. "Go. I don"t want to see your face." He spits and walks toward the kitchen.

I never ran so fast in my life.

When I arrive at work, the place is less busy than yesterday. I spot Tia laughing with one of her regulars by the cash register as she checks him out. When he leaves, she walks toward me. Her smile quickly vanishes, and her upper eyelids droop, tears filling her eyes.

Tia gently grabs my arm and leads me to the locker room. She locks the door and throws her arms around me and cries. Hugging her in return brings back memories of our childhood. Unfortunately, we"ve shared too many of these moments—moments of fear. Fear of the day when one of us will not survive the next time.

Tia never spoke about that night and what provoked her dad to flip out the way he did. And I never pressed her for the details. I was just grateful she survived that night and the many nights afterward.

"Motherfucker," she hisses as she wipes the tears from her face.

"I really don"t want to talk about it, Tia. I just want to work and forget about it."

"You need to get the hell out of there, babe. He"s going to fucking kill you!" She continues to wipe her tears as she turns her head to the side to avoid looking at me.

"He's getting worse."

"It"s nothing I can"t handle."

The truth is, I can"t handle it anymore. The physical pain is crushing my will and desire to fight toward the finish line to freedom. My strength is slowly fading away, making room for the fear to take over.

Tia gives me an uneasy look. "Stop pretending to be tough, Sadie." She sighs with frustration.

"Tia, I don't need a pep talk, ok? I just need you to help me cover up these bruises. Can you do that for me?"

She gives me a weak but supportive smile. "Yeah. But promise me that you'll call me when it happens again." She walks to her locker, pulling out her makeup bag.

Tia didn"t say "if" because she knows it will happen again. Another reason why I love her. Unlike our mothers, who are in denial, Tia doesn't sugarcoat anything and pretend everything will change for the better. Because she has lived this life for years. We know the only way it will end is if one of us dies.

"Damnit, Sadie. Say it. You promise?" She interrupts my thoughts as I watch a lonely tear fall down her face.

"Yes, I promise," I reassure her even though we both know it is a lie.

As we stroll out to the bar later, both with red puffy eyes, something comes into my line of sight that makes me stop dead in my tracks. I swear my eyes are playing tricks on me.

"?Maltida sea!" Tia yelps as she rubs her nose after running into me while I freeze in place. Not wasting any time, I spin behind Tia using her body as cover.

"What the fuck? What"s gotten into you?" she says in annoyance as she tries to turn to face me, but I stop her midway, forcing her to back toward the bar.

"He"s here," I whisper yell, holding onto the bottom of Tia"s shirt.

Tia follows my gaze. "Who? Your dad?" She quickly scans the room.. No, not Dad, the boys from Whitecrest Academy.

They're wearing dark denim jeans that sit below their waist and black hoodies with the school"s crest on the front left chest. These guys look like freaking Titans. Tall, beautiful, strong, built with hard lines and well-defined muscles.

These are fucking teenagers wrapped in God-like bodies.

"Damn." Tia whistles with an enthusiastic tone as she turns to face me.

The boys—not gods, because they are just boys— swagger into the bar through the double wooden glass entry doors with ease and confidence. As much as I enjoy gawking at the four sexy distractions, only one of them makes the temperature rise in the room, causing my insides to burst into flames.

The boy with the deep ocean-blue eyes.

I watch as the hostess seats the guys Still hiding like a pathetic coward behind Tia, she abruptly turns around and places both hands on my

shoulders, holding my gaze. "What are you going to do? Hide all night behind my ass?" Tia chuckles, taking pleasure in my misery.

Yes.

Silently watching them from behind the wall near the kitchen door, I wish I was the one serving their table. Well, or just serve him. Tia"s loud flirtatious laugh reels me back in from my inappropriate thoughts.

What the…how did I miss seeing her walk away?

The brute with short spiky brown hair winks at her when she removes her hand from his shoulder, his eyes glued to her ass as she walks away from the table. Tia struts her way back toward me, but not before she hands Ricky the order ticket. The corners of Tia"s mouth curl up into a mischievous smile. She blows a bubble from her gum with confidence and sass.

POP!

"What the hell?" Tia laughs after my coated dark berry fingernail pops her bubble gum.

"What was that for?" She continues to laugh while removing the sticky pink residue from the tip of her nose.

With my brows pulled together in a scowl, I pull Tia toward me to stand behind the wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" I quietly yell.

"What?" she innocently asks with a subtle wink.

She sighs. "Look, all I did was take their order and flirt with the bigger huskier guy. They seem nice. Not uptight assholes like I thought they would be." She shrugs. "Your guy" —she taps the tip of my nose with her finger— "is a sweetheart, and he is deliciously gorgeous."

"Yeah, well, he's not my guy."

Probably never will be. We come from two different worlds.

She moves behind me and leans her head on my shoulder. "Not every guy is Christian, babe." Tia gently squeezes both of my arms like she's giving me a hug, as if letting me know to open my heart once again. She"s right about the boy's eyes. The deep, vivid blue unveils trust and freedom from the never-ending pain. Looking into his eyes brings me comfort. Feelings I haven"t felt since I was a little girl.

Someone bumps into me from behind. "Jesus!" Boston, the bus boy, exhales as he throws a white hand towel over his shoulder. "Shit. Sorry, Sadie. I didn"t expect anyone would be in front of the kitchen door." Boston inhales a deep breath, rubbing his hand over his buzz-cut.

"It"s ok. I'm headed to the bar anyways." He smiles as he walks away. After taking a deep breath and getting my shit together, I make my way to the bar with my head held high and without sneaking a glance toward his table.

As the night goes on, the bar fills up quickly, and I forget about the mystery boy sitting a few feet away from the bar. "Love Again"by Dua Lipa pulsates throughout the speakers. I shake my hips while making a dozen Irish Car Bomb shots for a party of twelve. Half of the guys are sitting at the bar, while the other half are playing a game of pool. After setting the last shot down on top of the bar, a warm, heavy hand covers mine. When I look up to see who had the balls to touch me without asking permission, my eyes land on a light set of gray eyes with a gleam of deviltry. Yanking my hand away, he smacks his lips when his eyes lands on my chest. Assertively snapping my fingers in his face, I say, "Hey, eyes up here." I point with two fingers in a V-shape to my face.

He winks and says with a sloppy grin, "I don"t mean to offend you, sweetheart, but you are fucking beautiful. It"s hard to not look away when you're dressed like that." He motions to my clothes.

I hate this god damn uniform.

Suddenly, the creep grabs my wrist pulling me towards him. I wince from the pain when my body hits the edge of the bar.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demand trying to yank myself from his grasp, but he tightens his grip.

"You think you know what pain is?" He hisses. "Oh, baby. You have no idea what I could do to your pretty little tight body." He licks his lips while looking at me like he's going to enjoy his next meal.

"Let me the fuck go."

"Or what?" He taunts.

"I'll cut your balls off and stick them in the blender just so I can stuff them down your throat." I mutter through clench teeth.

He smiles. The asshole smiles.

"I suggest you let her go." A deep voice says from behind the creeper.

I look over the creeper's shoulder and my gaze find a set of blue eyes full of fury.

"Ah, huh." The creeper laughs. "Are you going to cut my balls off too?" He says over his shoulder directing his question to El ángel de ojos azules.

The asshole winks at me while taking a swig of his drink.

"No." He wraps his hand over creeper's wrist and squeezes. Creeper grunts in pain trying to pull away but it works in my advantage when he loosens his grip on my wrist. I pull back and rub the burning sensation.

My savior leans forward until his mouth is close to creeper's ear. "I'll do much worse. You won't have any use of your hands when I'm through with you. You ever come around and touch her again, I'll fucking end you." He grits his teeth so hard I fear he'll break them.

"Alright." Creeper cries out in pain.

Creeper steps away from the bar without a backward glance as he makes his way back toward the pool table where the rest of his friends are gathered.

"Are you ok?" The deep smooth sexy voice asks with a worried look in his beautiful ocean blue eyes.

"Yeah, thanks." I quietly say still rubbing my wrist.

"Mother—" He reaches for my hand holding it in his.

I glance at his touch as he soothes the purple bruises that has already formed.

"It's fine," I assure him.

"You should put ice on that." He says while still holding my wrist.

His touch ignites something in me. I pull away and regret it immediately. He licks his lips and tilts his head to the side, maintaining eye contact while watching me with a curious gaze.

"Thank you for what you did," I say.

"You're welcome."

He sits on the bar stool and leans extending one arm to move a few strands of my hair away from my face. I don't flinch or pull away from his touch.

He smiles with sincerity. His simple touch sends waves of electricity throughout my body, goosebumps forming on my skin. He notices because he leans back with a big grin on his face while his hands rest on the edge of the bar, lightly tapping his fingers.

Trying to break the uncomfortable silence, I muster the courage to speak while picking up a beer glass to dry the inside. "So, you guys come here often? I know you"re not from this side of town," I say without judgment, pointing to the school logo on his hoodie with my free hand.

He blinks and looks up to my face. His eyes soften when he says, "Not really, but that's about to change." He winks.

God. That smile is so sexy. I wonder what he would do if I leaned over and sucked on his lower lip?

He has a girlfriendmy conscious sings at me.

"Yo, D! What do you want to eat?" the brute Tia was flirting with yells across the bar.

"D?" I give him a questioning look. "Is that your name?"

He smiles and turns back to his friends and gives them a nod. I continue wiping the glasses, waiting for this feeling of wanting him to go away.

I don"t dare look up until I feel his warm breath on my face. He stands up and leans in close with both hands gripping the edge of the bar. He stares at me for a long minute and his eyes drop to my lips and back to my eyes.

"Looks like I have another reason to come back." He winks and pushes off the bar, and stalks away from me.