“Heads-up!” We barely have time to react before a football sails not very far over our heads. A tall, athletic guy comes running past at top speed and grabs it at the last second, bobbling it a little on his fingertips before pulling it in close. Piper does a slow, joking sort of clap, and he touches a finger to the brim of his ball cap before running away.

It’s only when she continues and realizes I’m not with her that she stops and turns around. “You okay?” she asks with a light laugh.

I don’t know. I should be, but I’m not. I can’t move, and my heart is racing. She approaches slowly, glancing around like she wants to make sure nobody is watching us.

“I can’t breathe,” I whisper before struggling to suck in a lung full of air.

“You’re safe. That guy, he’s nobody. Just a guy playing football with his friends. Nobody is going to hurt you. Okay? Remember that. Tell yourself that. You’re safe here. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore.”

Nobody is going to hurt me. I close my eyes and force my way through a few shallow breaths before the tension in my chest loosens and my pulse settles back to a more normal speed. The world was starting to dwindle to a pinpoint there for a second, and all the color had started to drain out of my surroundings, but now it’s back, just the way it was before.

And now I feel like the biggest idiot. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, not ever. I guess it’s only natural.”

“It’s just that it will probably take me a while to get used to people randomly running at me from out of nowhere.”

“I get it. Like I said, you don’t have to apologize or explain yourself. I’m here. We can get through this.”

I’m so grateful I could cry, but I’ve done so much of that. It’s amazing there’s any moisture left in my body.

That’s going to change with time, too. I have to believe it will. Piper’s right. I’m safe here—not that I’m going to run around being reckless or anything, but I don’t have to worry about whether everybody around me is going to hurt me somehow. I hate knowing how James managed to work his way so deep into my head, him and his sons. It isn’t fair.

But they aren’t here. The guys are at MIT by now, living it up. I haven’t heard another word from them since they dropped me off, and my mother hasn’t bothered to reach out to me, either. What a surprise.