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There was a lot of good in Wheeler A person would have to be blind not to see it He seeuy, he respected , and one lit up like Christ alone with hi close to him, which felt like a mini-miracle at this point I liked the way he looked at me and I liked the way I felt compelled to look at him I didn’t want to hide around hih now to not ignore the negative that was also circling around the attractive mechanic He had a baby on the way that he clearly wasn’t ready for Soon fatherhood was going to have to be his first priority, not calirl that had an obvious crush on him He had a tumultuous relationship with his ex and I wasn’t sure he was anywhere close to being over her, which had the potential to lead to a whole lot of heartache if I let hi unknown, the big what-ifs that kept ht and et as close as they would need to be if I ever wanted to have a real relationship

Oliver had hurt me in the worst ways a man could hurt a woman and it wasn’t the first time Sex with him had never been particularly pleasant, it always felt like so my first Before Oliver, my only sexual experience had been with the man that I convinced , sorew up in such a conservative household I honestly couldn’t get enough of it It e of ot pregnant at barely eighteen At first, I thought it was meant to be I was foolishly in love and had no problee football-star that told et into ether, a happy little family, but all of that was painfully unrealistic and woefully naive I told ht who ca him to be as excited as I was, and was heartbroken and destroyed when he told ht college and this perfect boy were ed for fro influence, but in a heartbeat all those drea, just another stupid fresholden boy He laughed at ht ere going to be together forever He walked away still laughing but canancy

Even without hi to face h his disownment if it meant I could be the best mom ever I was convinced this baby was er purpose in life than being the perfect daughter and proper little wife he’d trained me to be

The baby’s dad convinced me to come over to his place with pro around, that he only wanted me He promised that he loved me I was stupid I was so desperate for it to be real that I forgot about his ugly, twisted reaction when I told hi to be parents As soon as I knocked on the door, I knew I’d est mistake

He yanked me into his apartment and proceeded to beat me within an inch of my life My dad was a dictator and a tyrant, but he used his words and withheld his love to secure obedience and submission I’d never had anyone lay their hands on me before It was terrible To this day, I could still taste ain,sure that his bloere focused on and aroundhis wishes, but more than that he wanted to nant

He got his wish After fifteen minutes I passed out, and when I woke up I was back inThere was blood everywhere and I felt liketurned inside out I crawled to the tiny bathroom and it was there that my body did what it had no choice to after the football player was done with , alone, and torn apart in too many ways to name

Luckily, my childhood friend and the boy that had lived next door to e At the time I had no clue he’d followedon the brink of death in rateful that he did That boy was Roas now desperately in love withthe kind of family I’d alanted He took care of me and then he went and took care of his teammate as responsible for my condition The school had a mess on their hands with the three of us, but I was so heartbroken and mortified that I packedI kneithout a backward glance I didn’t stick around to press charges like I should have and I didn’t stick around to vouch for Rowdy like I should have Because of ot kicked out of school, and disappeared It was a lucky twist of fate that his path had crossed with Saleood sex, wasn’t so that I’d had a lot of success with and there were a lot of unanswered questions that were constantly floating around in ht actually want to have it again Every tiht of that ink that scrawled across Wheeler’s stomach and across the back of his neck, I wondered where it all went I wanted to know if it dropped below the tops of his jeans and I was curious if those freckles of his stopped at the bridge of his nose I’d never been so physically aware of the way I reacted to awith the way he ht voice jerkedall the things that were swirling around inyourself for what happened to you Those choices were not yours Your judgment is not in question All you could do was react to the situation the best you could have, given the circumstances You were a victim, not an acco my private sessions with o with Oliver willingly when he abducted un on o with him I did what I had to do in order to keep her safe At the time it seemed like the only option, but now I alondered if there was another way If I should have been ser … better