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“That’s right—I’m bossy. So let’s dance!”
Solon led her to the dance floor and encircled her with his arms. Abbey reached up to put her hands on his shoulders and swayed to the music, feeling happier and more at peace than she had ever believed would be possible in this setting after the attack. But she found that now she was able to let all that go and just relax in her Monstrum’s arms feeling safe and secure and?—
“Hey, can I cut in?”
Abbey’s eyes widened and her breath caught in a painful gasp in her throat. She hadn’t heard that voice in over ten years but she knew immediately who it was.
“Abbey? That’s you, right?” the voice spoke again. “You’re looking hot, baby! How about a dance for old time’s sake?”
“Lelka, do you know this male?” Solon rumbled and Abbey was glad he wasn’t letting go of her.
“Oh shit—sorry I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Chris—Chris Brander,” the horribly familiar voice said. “I used to play Quarterback for the Lions back in the day.”
Now Abbey could smell him too—the scent of beer, sweat, and the harsh chemical odor of Blood and Bone Cologne for Men stung her nostrils. The mixture took her back over ten years and put her right in that spot, under the bleachers. Right after football practice when she’d been down there, looking for a lost earring and Chris Brander had seen her and?—
“Excuse me,” she blurted. “I…I have to visit the lady’s room—now!”
“Abbey? Are you well, sweetheart? What’s wrong?” Solon sounded really worried but Abbey was already turning away from him. Luckily, she bumped into Maria who grabbed her arm.
“Oh honey, I’m so sorry—I was just coming to tell you I saw him in here,” she murmured in Abbey’s ear.
“Please—get me away from him!” Abbey begged her.
“Come on—let’s go.”
Without another word, Maria guided her through the crowded dance floor and away from the nightmare of her past which had suddenly come to haunt her in the present.
35
SOLON
Solon frowned at Abbey’s abrupt departure. Something was wrong—terribly wrong—and he had an idea it had something to do with the human male still standing beside him, holding a bottle of alcohol and grinning stupidly.
“Huh—she must have had to take a leak. You know women—the only organ smaller than their bladder is their brain,” the male said and then laughed uproariously, as though he’d made an extremely funny joke.
“I don’t find that to be true at all,” Solon said coldly. “Why do you find denigrating women amusing?”
“Well, fuck—excuse me, Mr. Serious,” the male threw out his arms in an exaggerated apology, tipping the bottle he was holding in the process. Some of the alcohol sloshed out onto the dance floor but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Who are you, anyway?” Solon asked. “And how do you know my mate-to-be?”
“I’m Chris Brander!” the male exclaimed, as though Solon ought to know him. “I’m surprised Abbey hasn’t talked about me. I was kind of the big man on campus back in the day, ya know? Go Lions! Speaking of which, you look kind of like our mascot. I mean, except for the horns.”
This meant nothing to Solon, but he still wanted to know why Abbey had run so quickly as soon as the human male showed up.
“How do you know Abbey?” he asked again, trying to get to the point.
“Oh, well your lady and I had a little ‘fun’ one time after football practice, if you know what I mean.” The male winked broadly and nudged Solon with his elbow, spilling more alcohol on the floor. “You wouldn’t think it to look at her back then, because she was this shy, mousy little thing with these big Coke bottle glasses, but she was actually pretty wild in the sack! Or maybe I should say under the bleachers, ‘cause that’s where we got it on.”
Solon frowned. This male seemed to be insinuating that he and Abbey had engaged in a sexual encounter when they went to school together. Had she run away simply because she was embarrassed for Solon to meet an old partner?
But no—embarrassment wasn’t the feeling he’d gotten from her before she tore herself away and left the dance floor. Her face had gone pale and her lovely eyes were wide. Fear, anger, disgust, horror…those were the emotions he’d picked up the moment she heard this Chris Brander’s voice.
He suddenly remembered that Abbey had told her someone had sexually assaulted her while she was in school. She had claimed that she “didn’t even think about it anymore” but that was clearly not the case. She had overcome her Shadowed Past, but it had definitely left a mark on her.
“Tell me,” he said to the human male. “This ‘fun’ that you and Abbey had under the bleachers—who exactly initiated the encounter?”
“Wow, man—you talk like fucking Spock or something,” Chris Brander muttered. “I don’t know who, uh, initiated it—it just kind of happened, you know? I mean, there she was, bending over. She said she was looking for something but I could tell she was just trying to show me that juicy ass of hers.” He made a kissing sound. “I fucking love a woman with a heart-shaped ass, you know?”
