The Hardest Fall by Ella Maise

Chapter Twenty

Dylan

Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I headed toward the library so I could see Zoe before Chris and I began our daily workout. I should’ve given her space. It wasn’t like she was running away from me, but I still wanted to see her, still wanted to make sure everything was okay after the night before, make sure there was no chance of her pulling back from me again.

I was too far in my head, trying to come up with a solution for Zoe and me. For no reason at all, I quickened my steps, and soon I was full-out running. There was just something nagging at me, and I felt the need to see her.

Feeling strange, I ignored the rain and pulled out my phone, trying Zoe again.

Her phone went straight to voicemail.

Was she still at the library? Was she really meeting a friend, or had she lied to me?

The need to find her squeezed something in my chest and I took off toward the library like a bat out of hell.

When I finally made it there, I slowed down to a walk. I walked straight in only to find that there were hardly any students around.

I could hear people murmuring in the main room so I followed the voices. There were only two students, and both of them were wearing headphones, lost in their work. The voices stopped. Walking in farther, I checked the room on the right then headed for the opposite side. When I pushed in some chairs to pass by, I spotted Zoe’s friend through the doorway in the east wing. Then my mind registered Zoe being held against the wall by some guy. Her face was flushed, eyes big, and she was silently gasping for air, her hands unsuccessfully trying to push the guy away.

I ran to them, not giving a damn that I was bulldozing through the desks and chairs in my way.

Her name spilled from my lips, but I didn’t think she heard me. Neither of them did.

I stepped through the bookshelves and was on the guy in a few seconds, though it felt like several minutes had passed. I gripped his shirt and yanked him away from Zoe. Startled, he lost his balance and stumbled back. Before I could catch her, Zoe fell to her hands and knees, coughing and crying.

I was down on one knee before her friend could get to her.

“Who the fuck are you?” the guy roared, coming at us, but I ignored him and pushed Zoe’s hair away from her face.

“Are you okay? Baby, talk to me—you okay?”

She grabbed my arm and lifted her head, her free hand covering her throat. “Yeah,” she gasped, her voice rough and barely audible. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m fine.”

I helped her up and her friend took over.

The guy was still spewing shit, shouting and cursing, but I heard not a single word. My senses dulled and all I could focus on was this fucking bastard who had dared to put his hands on Zoe.

As I walked toward him, I took in his bloodshot eyes, twitching hands, and noticeable restlessness.

In three steps I was on him and none of it mattered. I punched him right in his nose and heard the satisfying crack. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girls run out of the small room, but my only focus was on the bastard holding his bloody nose.

Shoving at his shoulders until I had him against the wall under the high windows, I reached for his throat. He managed to kick my legs once, his fingers grasping my shirt.

“How does that feel, you son of a bitch,” I whispered, slowly tightening my grip. “Does it feel good?”

He made a pathetic attempt at pushing my face, but he was much smaller than me and I slapped his bloody hand away with no trouble.

So focused on the guy, I didn’t notice Zoe hitting my arm until she was begging and shouting at me to let go.

“Dylan, Dylan, please. You’ll get into trouble, please stop. Dylan, let him go.”

I pushed the guy away in disgust and he groaned, coughing and wheezing, his face a dark red. “My head is pounding. I can’t think, I can’t think,” he said as he moaned, coughing between words. He held his head in his palms and kept mumbling on the ground.

Disgusted, I let Zoe pull me away.

Kayla was back and we had more than a few onlookers, mostly students who had filtered into the library. The desk lady was at the door, a phone clutched in her hand as she spoke to someone hurriedly. Campus police would arrive any second now. Gritting my teeth, I turned to Zoe and cupped her face, trying my best to control my breathing. She looked so scared as her eyes welled with tears, and she already had dried tears on her face. How late had I been? What else had he done?

Fuck.

My hands were trembling. “Are you okay?” I asked, my voice coming out harsher than I’d intended. “Did he do anything else?”

She shook her head and blinked, causing the tears to finally slip out. Looking down at her, I wanted to take it all back and wake up early before she could take a step outside the apartment’s door.

When I looked back, the guy was on the ground, hitting the back of his hand against the wall.

He just kept muttering the same thing over and over again: “Kayla, what did you do? What did you do?”

Kayla sat down in one of the chairs and starting sobbing uncontrollably.

Zoe’s eyes flashed with anger.

“He raped her, Dylan,” she whispered, bringing her attention back to me. “We need to do something. He raped her.”