My girlfriend looked as uncomfortable as if I'd introduced her to her worst nightmare. Like she wanted to be anywhere else, but when I asked if she was okay, her tense body language said 'Drop it if you still want me to be your date tonight.'

Rather than confront whatever made her withdraw, I ignored it until we crossed the parking lot. Every step ached. Side effect of my ego, pushing so hard in front of her.

I couldn't help myself. Those eyes captured everything, and owning her attention was so satisfying. Despite having fucking earned it, I'd never take it for granted.

While she watched from a distance during games and practices, Ellie's presence here felt intimate. The weight of her concentrated gaze, twenty feet away where she sat against a wall, fueled my competitive streak inside me more than normal.

However, her ghost-white expression and Mason's awkward, stiff pauses meant something was wrong. And I was damned determined to know what.

"What is it?" I grunted and heaved my workout bag into the back of my truck. It landed with a thud, echoing vibrations as my girl's uncertain eyes studied me.

"You sound hangry." The tease in her voice was subdued, and she wouldn't look at me.

While I had no idea what the fuck was going on, with her being this uncomfortable, she needed to tell me. Touching her chin, I directed those worried, round eyes to mine. "Ellie."

"What?" I didn't believe that projected innocence for a second. "I can't show concern over your general health and well-being? For your colon?"

Stretching my jaw, I stifled a yawn. "Stop changing the subject."

"Fine." Her little huff was cute. Like a micro puff of air between us. "This isn't the first time I've met Mason." She spoke barely above a whisper and, within a blink, tears shone in her eyes. "Or, more like seen him."

"Ellie, where did you see him?" My hand held her cheek, stroking the soft skin with my thumb. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

I wasn't freezing my balls off that long.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm okay." She didn't sound okay as she rubbed her eyes and took a shaky breath. Gathering whatever she held secret, she steadied her shoulders as if preparing to give me bad news.

"Mason was there."

Whatever her point was, it passed me. Frowning, I pointed back at the gym. "He works here."

"No." Her eyes rolled. "Mason was there...at the party." More tears appeared, glistening her eyes like mirrors. "The night with Ryder."

My jaw dropped under a torrid storm of emotions filling me. Dizzy-headed, I palmed the side of my truck. "Ellie, what? Mason? What? Are you sure?" Stupid question, of course, she was sure. "Did he hurt—"

"No." She shook her head, the sun's highlights shifting across her hair. "He interrupted us. Drunk off his ass, but stumbled inside. I... him barging in distracted Ryder, and I fought him off enough to get out."

As her lower lip trembled, I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around her. Wishing I could take the fear shaking through her. Or give her every last bit of strength in me. Make her breathe steady instead of the little hiccups bouncing her into me.

Or, even better, punch the life out of that piece of shit.

Slowly, her palms slipped up my lower back, and her cheek rested on my chest, but her spine still quivered and moved my hand. Damp spots near her eyes glued my shirt to my skin.

Fucking hell, I hated this. Not her being upset, but unable to do anything. Being this fucking helpless made me want to tear my skin off.

"I'm sorry." With a slow breath, I tamped down the anger threatening to combust in me. The only thing that kept my anger in check was how anger wasn't what Ellie needed right now.

She fought him off?

This was the first time she'd revealed that insight. Despite the seriousness of the conversation, the idea of my tiny girlfriend fighting off a sickening football quarterback rapist was impressive.

"Ellie, how?" I asked over the top of her head.

"I don't know why he was at the party, but—"

"No." My mouth twitched faintly. "How did you fight off Ryder?"

"Oh..." Her cheeks were pink when she pulled back. She sounded almost apologetic. "I... kneed him in the balls, then punched him in the dick. He rolled off, so I got out, and Harper met me in the hallway."

Christ, she was—thank fuck, was all I could think. Probably pure adrenaline.

"Ellie." My voice came out in a near-whisper as I pulled her tighter. As if I could crush the sadness from her. While her breathing had slowed to a more normal pace, I needed deliberate breaths to calm the racing pulse buzzing through my veins.

The longer we stood, the more Ellie's breath stabilized, but my frustration grew. While she was safe, how that piece of shit walked around completely free, and worse admired, while girls like Ellie got random, sudden, upsetting reminders that pulled them backward tore me up inside.

"I can't believe Mace never told me."

"He could barely stand," she admitted. "Like I said, he stumbled into the room and fell but I'm sure." The weight of the truth anchored her sad eyes. "I remember him from my nightmares."

Pulling back, the guilt sagging her shoulders, dimming the brightness I loved in her, tore through me. "Ellie—"

"It's okay." She touched my chest, her hands grounding over the wild beats. "If anything, I should thank him."

"I wish it'd never happened." Holding her face, I stroked my thumbs over her damp cheeks and pressed a kiss on each one. The knot of helplessness remained tight in my chest when embarrassment lingered in her eyes.

My girl was stronger than anyone gave her credit for.

"I've wished that so many times, it's pointless," she muttered. Slipping out from my hold, she rounded my truck and unlocked her can-sized car. "If we could move forward, I'm going to go to the grocery store with Mom, but I can hang out at your mom's later if you want. Maybe I'll make you a birthday cake."

There she went, packing away her feelings again. Activating self-preservation mode and looking at me with care in her eyes. "You go home and nap."

Like I could sleep now.

"Don't worry about that baby, take a break. Sleep with me."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized they weren't what I meant. Those beautiful dark brown eyes widened, so I added, "Take a nap too."

"I'm going home for a distraction," she admitted. "I took off work today, so I wouldn't go to your dance smelling like crappy pizza, but Harper is coming over to help me get ready."

I forced a smile at her attempt to lighten the mood. "Can I take you out to dinner before the dance tonight? Just you and me."

"Yeah." Just a tiny smile appeared. "I'd like that."

"Okay." I closed the gap for one more kiss goodbye, then waved as she left.

My fists tightened after her tiny little car drove away. I hadn't gotten more than two steps toward my truck when Mason stepped beside it. Looking guilty as fuck.

"What the fuck, Mace?"

"I didn't know, I swear." He held up his hands as I approached, his eyes remorseful. "She looks similar to Mia, I—"

"Mia?"

Refusing to look at me, he crossed his arms. After a slight nod, he said, "Amelia Putnam, the girl I walked in on with Ryder freshman year. Ellie looks a lot like her... just spooked me at first. Sorry, didn't mean to freak her out, just caught me by surprise."

My mouth dropped at Mason's words. What the fuck... Was he suggesting that piece of shit had a type?

Bitterness burned my stomach like acid. It hiccupped, coating my throat in bile and threatening to make me dry-heave. I stared at Mase, a damn stranger after finally sharing this information, and searched his expression for any clue that he knew what Ellie did.

Finally, I blurted out, "So, you've never met Ellie before?"

His eyes remained full of guilt, but just shook his head. Probably assuming he should know where he knew her, but if he didn't know, I wasn't enlightening him. "I don't know, sorry."

With a weight in my chest like my friendship with Mason, my mentor, depended on his answer, I asked, "How did you know Ryder before UC-Davis?"

"Why are you asking this shit?" He dragged a hand over his face. "In high school, we were rivals like you and Harrison, but sometimes we showed up and crashed Santa Cruz parties. Sometimes, they crashed ours."

My fists still squeezed tight, keeping my voice steady was a challenge. "If you knew Ryder had done that shit with girls, why didn't you do anything? Say anything?"

"Not something I'm proud of either, bro."

My eyes narrowed. Refusing to meet my gaze, this didn't look like the same guy I'd respected for more than a year, admired, and appreciated his advice like an older brother.

Now, he was only a coward.

Unfortunately for Ryder, I wasn't.

After I said goodbye, I climbed into my truck, pulled out my phone, and opened my messages. A few follow-up requests for campus visits came in. I scrolled to the one from UC Davis. After a glance at my calendar, I picked a random date, January 3rd, to visit and messaged the recruiter with similar words I'd already sent Cal State and UCLA.

I'd just texted Ellie the tentative dates when Greg messaged back.

Jan 3rd works. Normally, Saturday is game day, but hopefully, our Aggies will be getting ready for a bowl game. We'll show you the facilities, let you join QB conditioning for an eval from the coaching staff and trainers, and see whatever academic departments you want. Even though you're only two hours away, an overnight stay is probably best.

My stomach twitched at the idea of going in person, but there was time to figure things out.

Great, thanks. I'd like to visit the bio and chem departments there. My girlfriend Eleanor Harrison also applied. She's undeclared but has taken interest in my eating habits and probably would also like to see the library. But both of us will visit.

His response came back even quicker.

Of course. We'll talk to the departments, UC Davis has an impressive sports nutrition program. I'm attending your first playoff game with the offensive/QB assistant coaches and I'll bring a general recruiter for Eleanor.

Every part of me despised the thought of breathing the same air space as Ryder, let alone working out with him. I wasn't sure if I'd finish five minutes of conditioning without knocking him out cold.

As I peeled out of the parking lot, I considered possible options. Given Ryder was in a fraternity, he might end up at a party over the weekend. While I couldn't promise I wouldn't pummel his face to a pulp, his evil urges would present in the short-term.

I wasn't sure if I'd fill in Mase's memory gap for now. What the hell was wrong with him? With a thousand percent certainty, if I burst into a room and found any guy with a girl like that, I'd have stayed anything but cowardly quiet about it.

After her reaction to him, Ellie probably couldn't handle the shock of Ryder, but if I diverted her to another department tour, she wouldn't know he was there.

Details to work out later.

Either way, the evil rapist deserved to be in jail, not adored and worshiped.

After I tossed my phone onto the passenger's seat, Ellie's seat, one look at my phone's background picture of her innocent sleeping face told me she deserved at least that much.

***

The drive home and a stop at the flower place weren't enough to clear my head. Following Ava's advice, I'd ordered a corsage with tiny white roses and dark red ribbon matching Ellie's dress for her, an identical one for the crazy woman at home, and a single white rose pin for me.

Entering the house, I threw my workout clothes into the washer and slammed it shut.

"Simple, I'm home next time," Mom called from the kitchen, where–Shit, had she started lunch?

I rushed down the hall, skidding to a stop and relaxing at her sitting at the table with her book reader an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I got into my story."

Stove off. Fridge closed. No smoke, nothing raw. Good.

"Totally fine. Don't look into this too much, but here." I handed her one of the corsage's plastic containers and put the other one and mine in the fridge. Pulling out leftover chicken and sandwich dressings, I turned to Mom standing with tears in her eyes.

"For me? You-you-you!" Her arms trapped me in a strong choke, crushing the lettuce and mayo container into my chest. "Thank you, Sweetie. This is the nicest thing you've ever done."

"Ma," I croaked as she hugged my ribs in. "Oxygen."

"I'm wearing it to bowling tonight," she proclaimed, putting it in the fridge and turning with tears streaming down her cheeks.

One snotty sniffle. Two. Three and I was out. "I said don't make a big deal."

"Give your mom a break." She inhaled, the stuttered breath shaking her shoulders. "When you've gone this long being ignored and unappreciated, it's overwhelming."

"It's just flowers."

Her head shook, slowly and deliberately. "It's the thought behind them."

"Right." Rolling my eyes, I put together three sandwiches–two for me–and slid our plates onto the table while she put together two salads. Milk and apple slices finished our simple meal.

Identical to what I used to eat in elementary school, I realized and frowned. Compared to Ellie, we were so basic.

The reminder deepened my frown. Elbows pushing into the table, I chewed harder until Mom kicked my shin.

"Why are you eating like you're trying to break your teeth? You're also sweatier than normal. Rough workout?"

I sighed and stopped chewing. "What if..." How could I say this without outing my girl's privacy? "You knew someone who saw something bad happen, but they didn't tell anyone about it?"

"I...guess I'd try to understand why they didn't." Studying me for clues, she debated further in her head. "How bad?"

"Bad-bad."

"Without knowing what happened, if it's illegal, or if someone got hurt, I couldn't stay quiet about it. Why? Do you know something?"

"Yeah." I dropped my gaze to my hands squeezing my sandwich flat. "Not me, but someone I thought I could trust. And I can't look at this person the same."

"A friend," she said, not asked, and I nodded. "That's really tough. Part of growing up is figuring out what principles are important to you. Which ones don't react to and those you're willing to fight for. Not every situation also has a clear winner and loser. What matters is if, knowing whatever happened, you're also staying quiet."

The implied offer hung in the silence, thickening my throat with each swallow. I wanted to tell her, anything to alleviate the pressure crushing my chest, but Ellie's trust meant everything to me. After fighting so hard to win her over, I couldn't have any conversation about her unless she was here too.

It was her confession, not mine, no matter how much I hated staying silent.

"I see." Disappointment seeped into Mom's voice. "Well, you know I'm always here even if just to listen."

"Yeah." I couldn't look at her. "Thanks."