want this,” I said and sobbed. When I pulled away I felt another body at my back. Another pair of hands held me in place. Another set of lips on my skin. Tears fell down my cheeks in rivers now. Not again. I couldn’t do this again. I shook and tried to find a way out. “No more. I don’t want this.” I yanked my hand from Jacob, but there was no way out, not with Alex behind me. I squeezed my eyes shut when I felt them work together to remove my panties. There was nothing I could do. I didn’t want my mom to know. I was ashamed of what I had become. Of what I allowed to happen. I cried and repeated, “No.” over and over again. Just as I thought Jacob was going to force me, he was ripped from me and thrown across the yard. Alex dropped his hands and back away from me. When I focused I saw Gabriel with fire in his eyes. “Brenna, sweetheart. Please look away.” I nodded covering my eyes. “You motherfucker, you will never lay another hand on her. Do you hear me, douchebag?” Then I heard flesh against flesh and knew Gabriel was beating the shit out of Jacob. He cried and sobbed begging him to stop, and I lowered my hands to see Alex staring wide eyed at the fight in front of us. He didn’t move to help his friend. “Please stop!” “Are you going to keep your fucking hands off of her?” “Yes, yes,” he sobbed and I watched in morbid fascination as Gabriel straddled his body and lifted his fist as if he was going to hit him again. He’d done enough, and I sped to him and wrapped my small hand over his. He glanced over at me with something in his expression I didn’t quite understand. “Stop, Gabriel. You’ve made your point.” He clenched his jaw and glanced back at Jacob who looked as though he was going to piss himself. “Stay away from me. It’s over, and take your fucking goon with you. If I see you near me I’ll call Gabriel, and next time I won’t stop him.” Having Gabriel there made me feel strong. I knew no one would hurt me if he was there. He looked at Jacob. “Next time, you won’t be so lucky. Next time, Brenna won’t be there to stop me.” He moved off of Jacob slowly as if to make the fear settle. It worked. Jacob’s body shook, and I knew he was in a world of pain. His face was covered in blood and his eyes were nearly swollen shut. I didn’t even know what other problems he would be facing. Gabriel really laid him out. When he grabbed my hand I did my best not to pull away. “Now get the hell off of my property and take your pussy with you.” Jacob crawled to his feet and ran from my yard. He wasn’t drunk anymore. I hadn’t even noticed that Alex had already slipped away. He was lucky that Gabriel was more focused on Jacob or he’d be black and blue too. I didn’t know what I wasn’t scared. Jacob had hurt me on more than one occasion, but seeing Gabriel hitting him to protect me didn’t scare me. Maybe it was because I knew those fists would never be used on me. He looked at me heaving. He was angry still and his fists were clenched. When he looked at me he softened his eyes. “Brenna, we’re going to have a very long talk, but not now. I have to go. You call me if they come back, and I’ll be here in a second.” He ran his shaky hand through his curly hair. “And for fucks sake please stop calling me Gabriel. It’s Gabe.” Then he jogged away leaving me standing there wondering what kind of talk he intended to have. I knew he cared about me. He’d told me as much. It was the main reason I stayed away. I never knew when he was going to be visiting his dad. I didn’t need the complication of Gabriel Baxter in my life.
Chapter 2 Instead of going inside, I climbed back up into the tree house ignoring the pain in my ribs. I wiped my eyes getting rid of the evidence of my tears. It was a close call, and I had never been more appreciative of Gabriel than I was in that one moment, but now he knew my secret. I sat staring at the sky for what