Room 331 by Rebekah Dodson

Author:Rebekah Dodson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coffee, romance, college, coming of age, writer, unrequited love, frieds
Publisher: Rebekah Dodson
Published: 2017-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

THE NEXT FEW DAYS BEFORE the term started were difficult. Rochelle didn’t sleep much, and when she did, it was in short bursts. A few times I’d find her up in the middle of the night in front of the TV, a textbook spread in front of her. She barely ate, preferring to pick at her food for a few minutes before dumping her plate in the sink.

A few days before our term started, I awoke with a start to a blood curdling scream. I fled out of bed in only my shorts, not even taking time to throw on my robe, and burst into Rochelle’s room. She was thrashing back and forth, the comforter I’d tucked around her a few hours before thrown to the floor and the sheets twisted around her. She was whimpering and her cheeks were stained with tears, her eyes shut firmly.

I rushed to the side of the bed and dropped to my knees, gently shaking her. “Rochelle!” I said quietly but with urgency. “Rochelle, it’s just a dream. Wake up!”

She eyes flew open and she gripped the sheet next to her so hard her knuckles turned white. She blinked at me a few times, then finally said, “Elijah, oh God.” She threw her arms, even her injured one, around my neck and gripped tight. “I had a horrible nightmare. It was Gerry...he wouldn’t stop hitting me...and no one knew. No one found me. No one cared.”

“I care,” I said softly, not sure what else to say. “I care, Rochelle, I’m here.”

“Stay with me,” she pleaded. “Don’t leave me.”

I didn’t know if I could trust myself. I had the urge to cover her in kisses, let her know I’d never let anyone hurt her, tell her how much I loved her. But considering what she’d been through in the last few weeks, I couldn’t do that to her. I wanted it to be on her terms.

“What do you want me to do, Rochelle?” I asked finally.

With her head on my shoulder she whispered in my ear, “Just hold me.”

I was aware that this was a very bad idea. Rochelle was in a thin nightgown, her curves accentuated, and I was only wearing a pair of boxes. Could I keep myself from being aroused? This was awful. I didn’t want her to think that I wanted to sleep with her, even though it had been on my mind lately. What a heartless fool I was to be sexually attracted to a woman who had just been taken advantage of, in the worst way. But she needed me, and she had no one else.

“Okay,” I said finally, and I crawled in next to her, lying on my back, just to be safe. She pressed her head into my shoulder and pulled the comforter around us. She was warm and soft, her hair lightly caressing my cheek, and soon her soft snoring filled the room.

God, I wanted her so bad. I wanted to show her that not all men were like Gerry, not all men were assholes and abusers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.