She swallowed, forcing the next words out. “I pushed. I fought. He laughed. Like it was a game. Like I was small and stupid. If Stan hadn’t come…” Her whole body shivered, her braid trembling down her back. “I don’t know how far it would have gone.”
Fuck. f**k. f**k.
I couldn’t sit anymore. I slid forward, slow enough not to spook her, and put my hand on the blanket near hers. Not touching yet. Just close. “Sammy…”
Her eyes flicked up, wet and wide. And what gutted me wasn’t the fear—it was the shame.
“I should have known better,” she whispered. “I should have seen it. I should have never let it get that far. It’s my fault.”
The words ripped through me worse than the confession itself.
“No.” My voice came out like gravel, thick with the growl I was biting back. “No, Sammy. Don’t you
