This time when he grabs for my hand I let him take it. “’Your sister, right?”
I nod, surprised he remembered her name. “She doesn’t want me living with you. Now I know why.”
He rolls his eyes. “You really need to expand your horizons.”
I try and pull free of him but he holds me tighter. “Please, Kent. I have things to do.” I need to get away from him.
“Will I see you before you leave for work?”
You won’t see me ever again if I can help it. “I don’t know.”
“You know, you don’t make any sense. You played along with me and then when I play too I’m the bad guy? I could have ripped your panties off and took you in that bathroom. You would have let me too. You wanted me so fucking bad. I was trying to do the right thing. Don’t punish me for it.”
I know he didn’t physically hurt me. But it feels like he dug his nails down my heart. All he could stand to do to me was touch me through my panties? Even the thin barrier was a good enough obstacle between him and me?
I wrench my hand free of his and point at his door. “Get the fuck out my car.”
His jaw opens wide. “Rain. Stop.”
“Now!” I scream. I need him gone before I break down.
“You’re all the same. Psycho-ass women. I don’t know why I still bother with you unappreciative assholes.” He slams my door and leaves.
I put my car in drive and grab my cell as tears stream down my face. “Becca,” I sob.
“Rain, what’s wrong?” my sister demands.
“Kent…” I hiccup and stop at a red light.
It’s all I need to say. “What did that disgusting manwhore do to my baby sister?”
I refuse to tell her I let him touch me. “He’ll have sex with anyone, Becca. But when it comes to me I’m like some charity case.”
She’s silent for a second. “Fill me in. I don’t know which rant I’m supposed to be giving here.”
“I need to cry to someone.” To prove it a sob rips me open and I cry harder than I have since Becca left for school. She doesn’t know I broke down then. She was already in California when I lost it without her. How was I supposed to live without my sister? We were a team. She was my mom, my dad, and my best friend. “I need you, Becca.”
“You want me to come home for a couple days?”
“I want a hug and to see you in person.”
“Oh, Rain. Shh. I’ll be on the first flight out there.”
“I’ll pay you back.”
“No you won’t. Now talk to me so you can calm down.”
Someone honks behind me. I stare at the green light and pull forward.
“Are you driving? You know you’re a shitty driver when you’re crying. Pull over.”
I do as she says. I park in the grocery store lot, already feeling slightly better after hearing her voice. “Are you really coming?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t. You know how I am. I get emotional sometimes. You don’t have to miss school just because your sister is a spaz who can’t handle her emotions.”
“That’s because you always hold them in. You never let anything out. You keep yourself so tightly bound your pain starts to escape on its own. What did Kent do?”
I sigh, watching a mother stack groceries in the back of her minivan. “Why does he have to be so sexy?”
She laughs. “Guys like him can’t help it. I think he’d be even sexier if he tried.”
“Don’t come.”
“Rain.”
“I’m serious. I’m fine. I’m going to avoid him the best I can until this blows over.”
“Until what blows over?”
“Nothing.” Apparently. “I love you, Becca.”
“Love you too, Rain. If you need me, call me and I’ll be out there the next night.”
“Thanks.”
I hang up and sit there, feeling drained. I want to curl up in my bed and sleep. Instead I have to work eight hours. I think about calling in sick and then chicken out at the last minute. I have a couple hours till my shift and decide to make good use of my surroundings. I wipe my tears and head inside the store. At least this way Kent can’t think I was avoiding him. I was grocery shopping. And crying, and raging. But what does he mind? I’m some lonely, horny cat who keeps trying to hump his leg.
Angrily taking a shopping cart, I go down every aisle slowly. Why didn’t I stop him? I