Page 18 of Roman Blake
I knew exactly what he meant… rape. I couldn’t believe that almost happened to me.
I sat there frozen, my heart beating too fast all of a sudden, my skin crawling even with the sunlight warming the room. Roman did not say anything else right away. He was still angry, and I could feel it all over him. Angry because of what almost happened. Angry because I had woken up cussing him out after he had spent the night there making sure I was safe.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
I looked down at my hands and realized they were shaking. I kept trying to force my mind to remember more from the night before, but everything still came in pieces. The drink. The man. My body not working right. Roman’s voice.
That was all I had.
Tears started stinging behind my eyes, and that only made me more upset because I hated crying in front of anybody.
Roman looked at me for a long second before he finally spoke again, and this time his voice was lower.
“You need to be more careful, Melissa.”
Something about the way he said that made shame crawl all over me.
Not because I had done anything wrong.
But because I had let my guard down.
Because I had gotten that vulnerable.
Because I had almost paid for it in the worst possible way.
“I did not know,” I said softly, hating how weak my voice sounded. “I really did not know.”
His jaw worked like he was still trying to hold himself together.
“I know.”
The room got quiet after that, and that silence felt heavy as hell. I could not even look at him anymore. I was embarrassed, shaken, and mad at myself. I was mad at the man who had done that to me, and I was mad that Roman had to be the one to see me in a moment like that.
After a long minute, Roman grabbed his phone and his keys from the table.
“I’m gone,” he said.
I looked up at him fast. “Roman…”
But he was already heading toward the door. He only paused long enough to look back at me.
“Drink some water, eat something, and do not go nowhere by yourself today.”
Then he left.
And just like that, I was alone with my thoughts.
That was the worst part.
Because once the room got quiet again, everything started settling in for real. I started thinking about how bad it could havebeen. How close it came. How I would not have even known until it was too late.
I sat there for a long time, just staring at nothing and trying to pull myself together. Eventually, I got up, drank some water, and forced myself to breathe through the panic that was trying to creep up my chest.
Then I went and took a shower.
I stood under that hot water way longer than I needed to, just letting it run over me while I tried to shake off the nasty feeling clinging to my skin. Even though nothing had happened, it still felt like something had. It felt like danger had gotten close enough to touch me and left something behind.
Once I got out, I put on a simple little outfit and sat on the edge of the bed for another few minutes.
