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Steven shifted a little Away fro, firm hands all over… didn’t even touch me “Okay, Tamara, so what is it this ti Callie’s life, you’veme now?”

It sounded like the sort of thing Steven would say as a joke, but, I didn’t think I was

“Steven, what’s going on? You…”

“What the fuck you looking atme down “Did you like what I did for you yesterday so o? I thought you had all these other guys hanging off you waiting to fuck you, wasn’t that what you hining to me about the other day?”

I wanted to back away froo “That wasn’t what I was saying at all, Steven, you know that, I was just upset and I thought—”

“Well, you do keep clai a whole lot of evidence of that in your actions Just a fucking randy cow”

I’d seen Steven this vicious before I’d felt how rough he could be But on those occasions, he’d been feeling like there was a threat to his friends or hi on there Maybe I hadn’t understood anything at all That would be on brand for me at the moment

“Do we really have to fight about this? I don’t—”

“Seriously? You think we’re fucking fighting right now? Because to er refusing to get the e”

“Oh, I get thethe flank of his car, gettinght I would ever hate Mum once the shock of her betrayal really sank in He’d ive me… and then he’d yanked it all fro

“Is this what you did to her?” It caether in my own head “Did you screw around with her head until she didn’t knoas going on, and then start hurting her? Was she the one who finally stood up to you?”

I could tell I’d hit hione softer than it was usually

“I hope she did,” I added “I hope she gave even better than she got Well she did, didn’t she? I bet that restraining order is going to follow you around for the rest of your life”

Steven made a sharp move towardsto try to hurtback, until I was able to get inside the building that housed the library I had to wander through a bit of a maze of corridors to locate the side entryway into the library, but once I was inside I felt like a cloak of relaxation had folded over my shoulders I was safe from him for the moment

I had only a few ether before I had to head to class It see was backwards:blip at the corner of my life, had an account for his actions that seemed to line up My mother, who I had always trusted to make decisions that kept me safe, had made one critical bad one