Free 05 Desperate Match by Lynne Silver Page A

needed to share.
    “He was really popular. He played football and everyone liked him. He was dating a cheerleader before he met me.”
    “It’s like a freaking after–school special,” he said, then zipped his lips vowing not to give snarky commentary. She didn’t need it. But she laughed and agreed.
    “I know, right? The school loved it, especially our names. His senior year, the yearbook actually did a stupid page with a parody of the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme. I, of course, loved it. I thought it was so cool.”
    “When did the hitting start?”
    She twisted a thread on his comforter and stared at the blank TV. “Not in high school, but the signs were there. He was controlling, you know? I wanted to try out for the volleyball team, but he didn’t want me to. I’d have to miss his football games sometimes since the seasons were the same time. If I were a cheerleader I could be at all his games.”
    She gave a gentle snort. “Fifteen–year–old me thought it was romantic that he wanted to be together all the time. It didn’t occur to me that Jack got his way, but I didn’t. It also meant he controlled who I was friends with.”
    Rowan nodded and kept silent, listening. He longed to take her in his arms, for she sat stiffly, hurting with the memories, but he knew she had to expunge them before she could move on. “What else?” he prompted.
    “He drove me to and from school every day. Even after he graduated. I’d been thinking about getting a job and saving up for my own car, but he’d said not to bother since he could drive me on the way to work.”
    “Again, all about control,” he said.
    She nodded. “He set up my total dependence on him early.”
    “What’d your parents think?”
    Tears shined in her eyes. “They liked him. He was polite and handsome and never got in trouble at school. He hid his meanness well, but there were signs. Ask any of the kids he bullied.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Like I said, after–school special come to life.”
    “The first time he hit me was right after our honeymoon. We’d been living in the house about two days, and I was unpacking some presents. I dropped something and it shattered. He got angry and hit me.”
    Jill shut her mouth and got busy staring at the carpet.
    “Jill?” he asked. She gave him a side–glance. It wasn’t enough, but it was a start. “I think you should know, you could throw every single thing in this room, shatter it beyond recognition, and I still wouldn’t hit you.”
    The beginnings of her smile warmed him.
    “I might yell a lot, and I might even cry if you broke my mom’s picture, but I still wouldn’t hit you.”
    They both turned to look at the framed picture in the center place of honor on his dresser. “I believe you,” she whispered.
    “No, you don’t,” he said. “But you will.” He stood and stretched. “Let’s get some sleep. Driving six hours and beating assholes is tough work. I’m tired.”
    She stood. “You take the bed.”
    “Nah. I’ll be right back.” He left his room and went down the hall to Gavin’s room. He’d been offered use of an air mattress, and he dragged it back to his room. The sound of running water told him Jill was in the bathroom washing up for bed. She emerged from the tiny room in her pajamas, and he did another double–take at how different she looked with her new hairstyle. It’d be too easy to say she was pretty, although she was. Her attractiveness was more in the way she carried herself. She no longer looked beaten and like a trapped animal.
    “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the large grey object on the floor at his feet.
    “Bed.”
    Her brow furrowed. It was cute. “I’m not a giant like you, but I don’t think I’ll fit in that bag.
    He chuckled. “Wiseass. It blows up like a raft. Gavin said it’s pretty comfortable. Let’s try it.”
    Together they wrestled the rubbery rolled–up deflated mattress out of the bag and onto the floor. Jill found