Page 159 of Wild Thing
“So what happened Dylan?” Zack’s voice was cautious, the beginnings of suspicion obvious.
We sat down at the dining table and I told him that Steven and I had been at the gala dinner, and then we had a couple of drinks at the hotel bar. I left out the part about why I’d been drowning my sorrows.
Instead, I focused on what happened next, telling him how Steven followed me to my room, how he claimed he wanted to make sure I got back to my room safely. That part still felt like a sick joke when I thought back to it.
I told him of the violence and the brutal reality of what almost happened. I detailed how Steven pushed me into my room, and how I’d fought back with everything I had in me. My chest tightened as I remembered how I’d screamed and begged for him to stop.
Zack’s face was a storm, his brows knitted together in fury, his jaw clenched so tightly that I thought it might snap.
I got to the part where Brax burst through the door. Zack's entire body went still.
“So if this, Brax guy, hadn't shown up," his voice was low. "Steven would have raped you.”
“Yes.”
“And who exactly is Brax?”
I let out a shaky breath.
Everything hinged on what I said next.
How much detail do I go into? How much torture did I want to put Zack through?
“My client’s builder,” I said, my words flat and detached.
Zack’s expression was one of relief. “Well, thank god he was there.”
I lowered my eyes and waited for him to figure it out.
It didn’t take long.
I raised my eyes to him. I watched his eyes narrow as he pieced everything together in real time.
"Why was he there? How did he get into your room?”
I lowered my eyes again. “He had a roomkey."
Zack went deathly still.
His voice was wary, as he whispered. “Why did he have a key to your room?”
It was time to fall on my sword. The guilt burned through my veins as I took a deep breath and began to reveal the whole chaotic situation.
From running into Brax, to the history we shared, to the joint work project, and then finally, the affair.
Zack’s expression was unreadable at first. He was still. Too still. I waited for him to say something. But nothing came. He dropped his head into his hands, elbows on his knees.
“Did you have sex with him?”
“What?” I wasn't expecting that question straight away. “That’s–”
Zack lifted his head sharply and looked at me with cold, dead eyes. “Did. You. Fuck. Him?”
“Zack, I–”
“It’s a fucking yes or no answer!”
I swallowed hard, knowing that there was no coming back from this. I owed him the truth. “Yes.”
