“There’s no Austin at the Carver Firm. Not one. And that’s not all,” Callum says with a look of disgust and anger on his face.
“Stella found out that his name was Austin and that he was lying to you. Becca, has Stella ever told you about what happened to her at her old school? Before she moved to Colorado?” he asks.
“Yeah. After she caught Brady, we grabbed lunch, and she told me. It was her boyfriend. His name was Au—oh my God.” My hand flies to my mouth.
This has to be some wicked coincidence. There’s no way that it could be him. There has to be a million Austins in the world.
Oh God.
“When I told him Stella was coming tonight, he looked weird, almost nervous. I thought it was because he’d be meeting Cade.Oh my God,Callum. Please tell me I’m wrong.”
“Stella hasn’t seen a picture yet. Do you have one?” he asks, looking at my phone on the cushion next to me.
I nod. “We took one on our double date.” I hastily open my camera roll and scroll to find the photo.
There.
I hit Share and send it to Stella with a short message.
Me: Is this him?
A moment later, one word comes through, one word that changes everything.
Stella: Yes.
NINETEEN
Callum
Becca gasps, and I know what Stella’s response is without having to look.
“Becca?” I ask, scared to say the wrong thing, to set her off and make her run.
She turns to me, and a part of me wishes she had her walls up, had the shield up that normally lives between her mind and her eyes.
Because what I see destroys me. It irrevocably scars my heart. And she does the one thing that I least expect.
She cries out right before a tear rolls down her cheek, and she throws herself into my arms. Wrapping herself around my waist like she will fall and break without me holding her up.
She sobs and heaves and cracks open. Right in front of me, the girl I love crumbles. And I catch every broken piece, and I will hold on to them until she’s ready to put herself back together.
I pull her flush to my chest, and I wish more than ever that I could take her pain. That I could feel it for her.
“It’s okay, Becca. I’m right here,” I assure her. “Right here.”
She digs her fingers into my back. “Please don’t leave. Please don’t leave right now. Please.”
She pulls away and looks me in the eyes, fresh tears reviving the dried ones to life.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere.” I grab her cheeks and kiss her forehead. “I can sleep out here. I won’t leave you. I promise.”
Her lips tremble, and I can feel the shakes racking her body. I can’t imagine what she is thinking right now. She just found out her boyfriend is a rapist.
“Stay with me tonight?” she asks as I wipe away the tears under her eyes.
“Of course. I will stay as long as you need,” I tell her, and I mean it. I will stay by her side until she commands me away.
“Do you still take those pills?” I ask her.
