Betting On Love ✯ George Russell

🅒🅗🅐🅟🅣🅔🅡 11

♫ I'm yours again when you walk away
You know if you leave, I ain't gonna stay ♫

Trigger Warning: Violence and sexual assault are mentioned and described. It will be a disturbing chapter if you are sensitive, so please skip it if needed <3

Melanie Albon POV

Laney. That nickname disgusted me from the moment I left him behind. I said I would never let a man lay his hand on me, and I never did. He was too strong for me to stop him, but I left him the first time he did. Shame on him for fooling me once, but he won't fool me twice.

I remember that day like it was yesterday; that is the cause of my night terrors that still happen once in a while. I never told anyone. Only Nina had some idea, as she helped me recover from the biggest beating I ever got. 

I had to spend weeks at home as I recovered, but the worst was the psychological damage. I still see his face in my nightmares. The broken bones and the bruises healed. But my mind is still bruised.

I was never one to have boyfriends. I didn't care enough about it when I was younger. I went on dates, and I had fun. Until I met him, Oliver, he was pretty nice at first. Then he was more jealous and possessive; he had this hatred for George, but he had never seen him, he just heard stories about my brother's annoying best friend.

One night, we went out together because he said I was too much of a tease to go out alone. George was there, and he tried paying me for a drink. He was with some friends, but he still found time to talk to me shortly. Our usual banter was there.

Oliver watched from afar, but when I got to him, I saw his eyes were as dark as the night outside. George never noticed him. How could he? I made sure he didn't because Alex could never know.

I never told Nina any details. I couldn't. I never got into therapy; I healed the physical wounds and kept going as if nothing had happened.

I could never trust a man. But as much as I hated George, I trusted him more than anyone. Only my brothers could give me more trust than him. But George would respect my limits and never physically hurt me as Oliver did, so I have been with George since then, and I don't regret it.

It's uncomplicated, and I am uninjured.

"Was that-?" Nina is interrupted by my nod, and she instantly hugs me. "Are you okay? We should leave," she suggests, and I sit down to think.

"George kicked him out. I am safer here," I say as I lean back and look up. I am not going to cry, and no man deserves that. Not even the one who traumatized me for life.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks, and I shake my head.

"No, but thank you for all the help. I love you girl," I say as I hug her, and she hugs me back.

"You should go home and rest. Let's go. Maybe George can take us home," she suggests, and I am doubtful of ruining his night.

"We can call an Uber; that way I won't ruin the party for him," I say, more interested in that route.

"Let's go. We have a lot of ice cream, chocolates, and depressed girl stuff," she says excitedly, and we go to my brother and George's direction.

"We are leaving; my head is hurting. I called an Uber," I announce, and Alex nods.

"I will join you outside," George says as he immediately gets up, and I shrug.

"Let's go," Alex says as he follows us.

We get outside, and Oliver is nowhere in sight; the Uber arrives, and George leans into the front window and exchanges some small talk with the driver. I get in and wave them goodbye.

"Send me a text when you get home," George says, and I nod.

"Don't miss me much. Dream about me," I say, causing him and Alex to laugh.

The Uber drove off, and the man even joked about me having a protective husband; I wasn't going to say he wasn't my boyfriend, so I agreed. We got to the building, and I was typing the text to George as Nina looked for her keys, but the door opened, making us both look at it, startled. Oliver looked at me before grabbing Nina's hair and threw her inside the house and on the floor.

"Please, don't hurt her," I beg him as I see her completely still on the floor.

"I won't if you behave, get inside the damn apartment, Laney. Just obey me, and we will be good, and so will she, hopefully," he steps aside, and I enter the apartment carefully.

"Oliver, there is no need for all of this. She has no fault in this," I say as we enter the living room, and he laughs.

"He should've come. Where is your knight in shiny armor?" He asks as he feels like he took the victory and probably did. George is at a party; he would never notice that my text wasn't sent. Not until it was too late.

"He has nothing to do with this; he is a friend."

"A friend? Your brother's best friend that you supposedly hated is a friend? So cute. What about the 69 planned for today? Friendly activity, right? I will do it in his place today. Lean on that table, now." He points to the dining table, and I am scared. In the few seconds it took me to move, I saw him looking at Nina.

"I- Please. I don't-"

"You or your unconscious bestie, choose."

And so I did. I leaned on the table, and he stood behind me, forcing the side of my head firmly against the cold wood. No. No. No. Not again.

"You are as hot as always. Are you always this tense for him? This dry? Because this will be hard for you if your body doesn't contribute to the experience. You must remember the feeling of 3 years ago; only one of us will have fun," he says as he pushes my panties to the side and forces a finger into me.

My body was not ready to obey. How could it be? I have no idea how hard Nina hit the floor. I don't care about me. I've lived through this once, and I can do it again. I can't lose Nina, not her.