Chapter 28: Beau

After Eve’s angry departure, Keane, Teague, and I stayed together in the room, a heavy silence settling over our heads as we tried to figure out what had gone wrong.
“I’ve never seen her so shook,” Teague said, his leg moving a mile a minute.
“Chill,” Keane told him. “You’re going to get worked up.”
“Shouldn’t he be?” I demanded, agitation leaking from my pores. I leaned forward to glare at Keane, offended that he didn’t seem to be taking it seriously. “We all agreed that we wanted her. Not me, not you, and not Teague. We agreed together. And now you’re okay with letting her just go?”
“Relax, fellas.” Keane rose from the chair and crossed the room to grab a bottle of liquor from his shelf. “She wants us. She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“This is all so fucked up, man,” I said. “We’re only breaking her. And Max trying to fucking rape her was just the cherry on top of the pie.”
“That’s the fucking point,” Teague said. “We have to break her to get her to submit to us.”
“I don’t want to keep doing it.”
“Well, you’re fucking going to,” Keane hissed, laying a hand on my chest to try to calm me. “She’s not ours yet. She hasn’t submitted. If we give up now, we might lose her forever.”
“Keep pushing her, man, and that might happen anyway,” said Teague, lighting a joint to take a hit. Keane shook his head, hand dropping from my chest.
“We won’t let that happen.”
“She already said she doesn’t want to be claimed,” I reminded him. “What makes you think she’s suddenly going to change her mind?”
“She will,” Keane said confidently. “Give it time. She will.”
I shook my head in disgust and stood up, storming out of the room before either of my friends could stop me. I had to find Eve and make sure she was okay. The ordeal with that douchebag Max had no doubt shaken her up, and I wasn’t about to let her stew in her own shock. I didn’t care if she didn’t want us around. I wasn’t about to let her deal with the trauma of it by herself.
I checked her room first, surprised to find it empty. Neither Eve nor Kasey was anywhere to be found. Feeling anxious suddenly, I proceeded down the hallways, keeping my eyes open for Eve, but she was in none of the places I figured I’d find her. I checked the library last, finding Kasey in there with her head over a book.
“Have you seen Eve?” I asked, and Kasey glanced up to look at me, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. Her arms were freshly bandaged. She looked better than the last time I’d seen her, and a sliver of relief traveled through me. I didn’t care one way or the other for the girl, but she was Eve’s friend, and that mattered.
“Not recently,” she said. “She had a session with Carter, but I haven’t seen her since. I figured she was with you guys again.”
“She’s not,” I told her, a bolt of panic traveling through me. “Did she tell you what happened?”
“Yeah,” Kasey said softly. “She did.”
“Did she seem all right to you?” I asked, but I already knew the answer before Kasey shook her head.
“Of course not. I’m kind of worried about her.”
I turned away from Kasey, mind racing. I had to find Eve; it was detrimental at this point. Who knows how she was handling this or where she was. She needed someone with her right now. Anyone. Even me.