The Wrong Path - By Vivian Marie Aubin du Paris Page 0,29

ended the call and looked around for something… anything… to throw at Parker to stop him. His hand was under Erin’s shirt, now, and he didn’t look ready to stop.

Her eyes landed on a half-full bottle of water in the cup holder. Bracing herself, she held the pepper spray in one hand with her finger on the button, and with her other hand took the top off of the bottle, reaching over and dumping it on Parker’s head.

He let out a litany of curses and started to lunge at her. She scrambled against the driver’s side door and kicked at him, trying frantically to keep him at bay. He grabbed her ankles and she cried out, kicking harder, keeping her grip firmly on the pepper spray. She screamed and pleaded with him to stop, but he just continued to swear at her, rage emanating from him.

Her heel caught him along the side of his cheek and he let out a horrible yelp, leaping at her angrily. She kicked again, the sole of her shoe landing squarely against his forehead. He fell back, looking dazed.

For a small eternity they sat there, Parker swearing and holding his bleeding cheek, and Annabelle crouched in her corner of the car, trying to keep herself from crying.

The knock on her window made her scream. She whirled to the side, a sob of relief choking her as she recognized the person staring back at her. She flung open the door and threw herself desperately into Will’s arms, burying her face in his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice calm but urgent. His embrace was warm and safe, and for the first time since the group had stepped into the club, she felt like she could relax. She trembled so hard that she could feel him shaking and tried to take deep breaths, forcing herself to recompose.

Reluctantly, not wanting to leave the protective circle of his arms, she stepped away and nodded. “I’m okay,” she confirmed. “Thank you for coming. I-I’m sorry… I didn’t know who else to call.”

He didn’t say anything as he leaned into the car through the driver’s side door, surveying its occupants. She held onto his arm, too afraid to let him go, and watched as his eyes settled on his older brother, slumped unconscious in the passenger seat.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” he said finally, straightening and looking down at her. “Looks like every one of your friends somehow crammed into this car.”

She nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. “I can’t drive a stick,” she told him, shaking.

From the backseat, there were giggles. “I can teach you, sweetheart,” Parker offered, slumping forward into the driver’s seat.

Annabelle cried out as Will suddenly surged forward, grabbed Parker by the shirt, and hauled him out of the car through the door. Once out, with lightning-fast reflexes, Will threw a punch that had Parker on the ground, his lip split, moaning in pain. Annabelle held her hands over her mouth as Parker lay there, spitting blood, looking stunned. Will stood over him menacingly, his jaw clenched.

“Will!” she pleaded, when it looked like Will was going to pick him up and do it again. He paused and looked up at her, his eyes dark. Then he looked back down at Parker and gave him a little shove with his shoe.

“You can find your own way home,” Will told him flatly.

“What? You can’t just leave me here—“ Parker objected.

“I can,” Will corrected. He crouched down and spoke lowly. “And if you ever try to force yourself on Annabelle or any other girl again, I will do much, much worse. Do you understand?”

Parker tried to protest, but he could only split blood.

Looking satisfied, Will stood and gestured for Annabelle to get into the car. “Let’s go.”

She hesitated. “What about your car?” she asked. “It’s an automatic, right? I can drive it.”

“People leave their cars at clubs all the time for this very reason. I’ll come get it tomorrow.” She felt a gentle pressure against her back as he stepped toward her and guided her to the car. “Come on.”

She cast one last look down at Parker, who sat on the ground, blood pouring from his lip, and climbed into the car.

They drove mostly in silence, except for the occasional direction Annabelle gave to Will. She figured Claire’s house was the best place to take everyone, including Trevor, since that was where they always went after a wild night of partying.

At the house, Annabelle retrieved Claire’s house key from her