average human’s Reviews > What Is Love > Status Update

Wyatt shook his head. “Nope. You can’t come here and not get their famous waffles.”
“It’s lunchtime. Coffee is all I want,” I insisted. As hungry as I was, I couldn’t gain weight. If I did and Mother noticed—and Mother always noticed—she’d probably starve me for a week. It had been great trying all the wonderful foods and the drinks last night with them, but I had to be careful.
“You see how skinny she is,” Reid said to Wyatt. “Why are you so surprised?” Reid then quickly placed his and Roe’s orders, which were all breakfast food.
Wyatt also ordered breakfast and an extra side of waffles, which I knew he ordered for me.
After writing it all down, Bonnie left and we all noticed she had a little limp as she walked.
“Looks like Nate doesn’t even care that people know he beats her,” Wyatt said.
Reid nodded. “It’s because she won’t leave him.”
I didn’t like the judgment in his voice. He’d said “won’t” like he knew exactly what was happening behind closed doors. “Who is Nate?”
Just before taking a sip of his own coffee, Reid answered, “A Haven’s Rebel and her husband.”
His hate for the club was obvious. It was like he had to add the fact that he was a member of the Haven’s Rebels, like it explained why Nate was evil.
“I don’t get it. She should have left his ass the first time he hit her. It’s been years now of him doing that shit. She needs to pack a bag and leave,” Wyatt said.
Reid set down his mug. “It’s because she’s weak.”
His words ignited an anger I’d never felt before. Not to that magnitude. “You think it’s weak to stay with someone who beats you?”
Reid’s face hardened. “She could choose to leave, choose to fix her situation, but she doesn’t.”
“You really think she hasn’t thought about it a million times? What if she can’t leave? What if he has financial control over her? You can’t get far without money. Does she have anyone to help protect her from him when he comes looking?” I shot question after question at him.
“She could call the police,” Wyatt said.
“What if they don’t make it in time? What if they get there and they can’t do anything because it’s his word against hers? What if the reason she hasn’t tried to leave is because she thinks he’ll kill her if she ever tries?” So many questions I’d asked myself millions of times. Now they were out in the open and still they went unanswered. Both Wyatt and Reid just sat there staring. My anger dulled and raw defeat took over. “Is it really weak to live in fear every day because someone who is supposed to love you would rather hurt you?”
They didn’t answer right away. I looked from Wyatt to meet Reid’s whiskey eyes and I saw rage burning in them.
“What would a spoiled, entitled rich girl who’s never had to go without or struggle a day in her life know anything about it?” he seethed.
Everything in me seemed to shut down, snuffing out my anger. I nodded as I looked down. “You’re right. I don’t know anything.” I scooted my chair back and stood.
“Lottie,” Wyatt said as he glanced from Reid to me, looking torn.
I pulled some money out of my wallet to pay for my coffee.
“We don’t need your money,” Reid snapped.
I set the ten dollars on the table anyway and headed for the exit. I passed Roe on the way out.
“Lottie?” he said. “Where are you going?”
I didn’t answer and walked out the door.
He followed me out and grabbed my hand, stopping me. “Wait. What happened?”
I turned toward him. “I told you I’m not a good person. I’m a liar. I’m weak and pathetic. I’m not worth your time. And it doesn’t matter how much time I spend with you or how much I want to be around you. Nothing will ever change. I’m wasting your time and just torturing myself.”
He frowned, looking completely confused. “What?”
I shook my head as I pulled my hand from his. “Just…stay away from me.” It gutted me to say that, but it was for the best. I turned, leaving him standing there in shock, and started walking toward home.

62%

After an hour, my feet were killing me. Stiletto boots were not meant to be walked in for long distances. From where I was, I still had at least a few more hours of walking left until I reached the Kendry Bridge and another hour from there to my house.
I debated going into the next store I came upon to see if I could use a phone to call the house. Prue was there. I could ask her to come get me.
The loud rumble of a motorcycle driving by made me look at the busy road next to me. I noticed the Haven’s Rebels cut before I saw the rider look back at me. The rider was wearing a helmet and sunglasses, but I could tell right away who it was.
As I continued along the sidewalk, I watched as he switched lanes, slowed, and pulled over just up ahead. It took me a minute to reach him, but as soon as I did, he got off his bike and faced me.
“What are you doing on this side of town walking alone?” Bram demanded, stopping me in my tracks. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
I folded my arms across my chest. “Is that what you pulled over for? To scold me? Because if it is, get back on your motorcycle and continue on with your day.”
He pulled off his sunglasses to give me a stern look. “I don’t know if it’s stupidity or sheer balls, talking like that to a man like me.”
“Are you going to hurt me, Bram?” I asked. “Then get it over with.”
At first, he seemed like he thought I was all words, but the longer he stared at me, the more he looked taken aback. When he made no move to come after me, I went to walk around him.
He put up a hand to stop me. “Wait. Why are you here? Why are you walking alone?”
“I don’t have my car and my phone is dead.”
“Can I ask why you don’t have your car?”
I tucked my hair behind my ear. “I got a ride here last night, and by my own choices, I don’t have a ride back.”
“Right,” he said, sounding like he was trying to find patience. “And why did you decide to walk home from the other end of the city?”
“Because I got in a disagreement with…my friends.”
“When you say friends, you’re talking about Roe, Wyatt, and my stepson, Reid?”
I nodded.
“So you got into a disagreement with them and they fucking let you walk home alone?” I could tell he was trying to keep his voice calm, but it was obvious he was not happy.
“I told them to leave me alone. So you can’t really blame them for giving me what I asked for,” I said.
He sighed through his nose. “Maybe not, but it still pisses me off.”
“Why?” I asked. “You don’t even know me.”
“I—” He paused, as if unsure what to say. “I knew your father.”
“Is that how you knew my name?”
He looked away toward his bike. “Yeah.”
I shifted my weight from one aching foot to the other. “Then, acquaintance of my late father, can I go? Or can I please borrow your phone so I can call someone to come get me?”
He reached under his chin and undid his helmet. “I’ll give you a ride,” he said as he took off his helmet and held it out to me.
I glanced at his motorcycle and took a step back. Other than the tires and leather seat being black, his bike was mostly chrome, but the gas tank and the parts that curved around the wheels were this dark metallic orange. “I can’t. My mother would kill me if she saw me on the back of your bike.”
“I’ll drop you off down the street.”
I shook my head as I eyed his motorcycle again. “I can’t.”
He lowered the helmet as he stared at me like I was a puzzle. “You’re afraid.”
I bit my lip as I gave a slight nod.
“If you want, I’ll drive ten miles per hour all the way,” he offered. “We might get honked at, but I don’t fucking care.”
I huffed a laugh. That was very nice to offer.
“If you really want to, you can call someone to come get you, but just know I’d be careful. I wouldn’t let anything happen, especially with you on my bike.”
I figured he was worried about getting into trouble if I got hurt because of him, but I was oddly reassured. I wanted to believe him. I also wanted to call Prue.
Coward.
Weak.
Pathetic.
My thoughts wouldn’t shut up. It’d be so easy to roll into a ball and drown in them. I’d done it before. Finding the will to get up and keep going after falling so low was like climbing Mount Everest. I did not want to get to that point. I didn’t want to have to make that climb. So I had to keep standing.
“Charlotte?” Bram said.
“Sorry. I’m having a bad day,” I said with a voice that cracked and eyes that began to burn. “I’m being really hard on myself over the dumbest of things because of how bad I already feel.”
“Are you really upset because of the disagreement you had with your friends?”
“I think I used the wrong word,” I said, staring down at the ground. “I don’t think it can be a disagreement when I agree with the other person. It’s just hard to hear someone say something you’ve been telling yourself for so long.”
“What did they say about you?”
I shook my head, not wanting him to know. Surprising us both, I held my hand out for the helmet. That strange defiance I’d been feeling lately was pushing me to prove myself wrong. “Can I hold onto you when you drive?”
He handed it over. “Of course you can.”
I exhaled heavily through pursed lips before putting the helmet on.
What the hell am I doing agreeing to this? I thought as I watched him straddle his bike and hold a hand out for me.
I placed my hand in his. He had big hands, especially compared to mine. They were also calloused like Roe’s.
His hand closed around mine as I put my boot on the footpeg and swung my leg over. As soon as I was seated behind him, he started the motorcycle. Even though I was expecting it, when it roared to life, it startled me. I wrapped my arms around his ribs tightly and buried my face into his back.
His body shook, telling me he was laughing. He patted my hands. “Here we go,” he shot over his shoulder just before he took off.

65%

The hours it would have taken me to walk only took fifteen minutes on Bram’s bike.
I admitted that after the first five minutes, my fear eased. Not completely, but enough for me to lift my head and watch what we drove past.
Bram did as he’d said. He parked down the street from my house, which I strangely didn’t have to give him directions to. He offered me his hand again to help me climb off. I took it because my legs were a little shaky.
“So how was it?” he asked me as I took off the helmet and handed it back to him.
“Not as bad as I made it out to be in my head, but still a little nerve-racking.”
He looked down with a small smile. “You get used to it.”
I’d have to take his word for it. “Thank you for the ride.”
“Anytime, kid.”
I gave him a little wave as I headed for my house. I didn’t hear him take off until I was almost halfway up my driveway.
I pulled out the house key attached to my car fob to unlock the front door. As soon as I got inside, I took my boots off my aching feet. I set them, my keys, and my wristlet by the stairs to take up to my room later. In sock feet, I went to the kitchen. After all the walking I had done, I was parched.
The house was quiet, which wasn’t unusual. Prue was the only one who worked weekends. We had three housekeepers, one landscaper, and a handyman who fixed and maintained everything on the property, including the pool out back. Prue, who was the head housekeeper, was also the staff manager. She had been working here for twenty-plus years. She worked late some days and knew everything about the house.
I filled up a glass of water, chugged it all down, and refilled my glass again. As I went to take another drink, I felt someone come into the kitchen. I thought it was Prue. I was mistaken.
“You’re finally home,” a male voice said.
My stomach dropped as I turned toward the kitchen’s hall entrance. Clay stood there, dressed in casual but still expensive attire: starched jeans and a gray Prada cashmere sweater.
His nasty eyes looked me up and down, not hiding that he liked what he saw. “You look like you’ve gained weight.”
What?
No, I don’t.
“I went to a party with Brandon last night. He insisted I drink. I’m just bloated from that,” I explained.
“Is that who you were with all night and this morning?” he asked.
I nodded and tried to act calm by taking a small sip of my water.
“Did you fuck him?” he asked.
I choked on the water in shock and began coughing.
“I’ll take that as a no,” he said as he came farther into the room toward me. “That’s not going to make your mother happy. In fact, she might get angry enough to cancel the rest of her trip and come right home when I tell her.”
I set my glass down on the kitchen island. The way he stared at me, I felt like prey. The hair on the back of my neck was standing.
He came closer until he was only a few feet away. He leaned a hip against the counter. “I totally understand why you haven’t given it up. I know how inexperienced you are.”
He doesn’t know shit.
He slid his hand across the top of the island over to mine, which rested near my glass. His pointer finger ran over the tops of my fingers. “I can help, you know. I can pop that little cherry of yours⁠—”
I pulled my hand away in disgust and took a step back.
He smiled. “Oh, come on. I can show you how to please him.” Just as the last two words left his mouth, he lunged for me, knocking over my water glass.
I barely heard it shatter on the ground. I was too busy running, trying to get to the other side of the long island. I didn’t make it. He caught me by the sleeve of my dress. I tried to pull free, but my sock feet kept slipping on the tile floor. His hand shot up from my sleeve to my collar. He yanked me to him with such force that the neckline ripped and I went falling toward him. He didn’t catch me before I hit the tile floor on my knee and elbow hard. I didn’t have time to comprehend the pain before fingers snaked into my hair and fisted.
“Get up,” he barked as he yanked up on my hair.
Sharp, stinging, burning pain spread all over my scalp. I screamed an ear-piercing scream. When I got my feet under me and could focus on something other than the pain, I noticed his fist still on my torn dress by my shoulder. I pushed up on my feet, shooting up quickly so he wasn’t pulling my hair taut, and bit his hand hard enough to draw blood.
He roared, releasing my dress, but not my hair. So when I went to get away, I just fell back.
“You little bitch!” he yelled, punching me in the ribs with the fist I’d just bitten.
Air left me. The shock and pain seemed to shut down my lungs and their ability to expand. My legs gave out. He caught me and tossed the top half of me face down on the kitchen island. With one hand pinning me between my shoulder blades, he used the other to shove the bottom of my dress up.
I was finally able to pull myself out of my shocked state to start struggling against him. “No! Stop it!” Because of the height of the counter and how much of me he’d thrown over it, only my sock-covered toes touched the floor.
I felt his finger hook the side of my thong and pull hard, the fabric cutting across my hip just before it ripped. I flailed and twisted as I screamed as loud as I could until my throat felt like it was ripping apart. I reached and swung my arms. My fingers touched a large wooden bowl on the counter full of fruit. I curled my fingers around the lip of it and tried with all my might to swing it backward, sending grapefruit and lemons everywhere.
He caught my wrist as he pressed his pelvis against my butt and the backs of my bare thighs. His tight grip jerked with a strength I couldn’t fight, and the bowl went clattering to the floor. He twisted my arm to hold it behind my back. He didn’t break it, but it fucking hurt enough to make me scream again.
“Just accept what’s about to happen,” he growled as he struggled to hold me. “You might actually like it.”
Air hit my backside just before I heard his zipper. Tears poured out of my eyes, dripping onto the quartz counter as I did just as he said. Very quickly, I came to terms with the fact that he was about to rape me and I couldn’t stop it.
I heard a loud thunk a split second before Clay grunted and disappeared from behind me. I quickly pushed off of the island and turned.
Prue was standing behind me with a cast-iron skillet in her hand. Clay was on the floor unconscious.
Breathing heavy, tears still pouring down my cheeks, I looked back and forth between Clay and Prue, trying to wrap my head around things. “What do we do? What do we do?” Each time I asked, my voice grew more panicked.
Prue calmly came over and set the skillet on the counter. “You leave.”
“What?” I asked.
“You leave. Right now, Charlotte. I’ll take care of this and let you know when it’s safe to come back,” Prue said as she tried to usher me out of the kitchen.
“I don’t have anywhere to go.”
She sighed. “You still haven’t read the letter?”
“I read it!” I didn’t understand.
She paused in the foyer. “Then you know who your real father is. Go to him.”
“I don’t know where he lives or what he looks like,” I quickly said.
“He’s a Haven’s Rebel. Go to any one of them and ask. They’ll tell you how to find him.”
I spun around to face her and grabbed her upper arms. “How do you know—have you known everything this whole time?”
Her hands cupped my elbows gently. “Mr. Noah sent me a letter, too. A few weeks ago. Change is coming. JJ and I are going to help you.”
“My father’s lawyer?”
She nodded. “He’s been waiting for you to reach out to him. I’ll let him know you’ve read the letter. Now go, before he wakes up.” She turned me and gave me gentle pushes until I was almost to the door.
My mind raced so much that when I noticed my wristlet and keys at the bottom of the stairs, I only had a split-second thought that I should probably grab those. Before Prue could toss me out, I quickly scooped them up and stopped resisting leaving. Once I was out the door, she shut it behind me without saying goodbye. Clutching my keys and wristlet, I went around the house to the garage. I had to use the side door, which was thankfully unlocked. I climbed into my G-Wagon and pressed the button to open one of the garage doors.
I was rushing so frantically that I didn’t remember to put my seat belt on until I was already on the road. I didn’t know where to go, but I was heading south. As I drove, I took my dead phone out of my wristlet and put it on the wireless charging mat in the center console.
Where do I go?
I didn’t want to go looking for my birth father.
Especially not looking like this.
I glanced down. My dress, which had been a turtleneck, was torn down the back and the neckline kept falling off my shoulder. I didn’t even have shoes on.
Why didn’t I grab my boots?
The sight of myself made my eyes fill again. I just let the tears fall. I knew they didn’t help my situation, but I didn’t have it in me to stop them from falling.
I pulled over just after crossing the Kendry Bridge. Resting my forehead on the steering wheel, I tried to calm myself enough to think. It took a while, but I eventually came up with an idea.
I grabbed my phone. It was charged to ten percent. That was plenty for the call I needed to make. I went through my contacts for the number I had received last night before parting ways. After wiping both of my cheeks, I hit call and brought the phone to my ear.
It rang a few times until muffled voices and music filled the other end of the line and a female voice answered. “Hey, babe!”
I sniffled before I tried to say with a calm voice, “Hey, Mac.”
I heard her breath hitch a little. “Lottie, are you okay?” As she spoke, the music and voices grew distant.
“I need your help,” I said.

67%

It had been a little over an hour since I’d gotten off the phone with Mac. I was parked in a hotel’s lot waiting for her to show up. It had started raining. As I sat in my car, I numbly stared at the drops hitting the windshield.
Caught in a daze, I jumped a little when my passenger door opened and Mac hopped in with a large jean tote bag. “Now don’t get mad, but I don’t have a car, and I figured he was the lesser of three evils.”
Just as she said that, there was a tap on my window. Wyatt stood just outside in the rain. He stared at me with a timid smile.
I glanced back at Mac. She was in sweats, a baggy T-shirt, and sneakers. Her hair was still up in a messy bun, but her face was washed clean of makeup. She was looking at my ripped dress with wide eyes.
“It’s fine.” It wasn’t. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this. I didn’t want anyone to know. It had been hard enough to call her. “Did you bring clothes and shoes?”
She continued to stare at me, her face going a little pale.
“Mac?”
She shook her head as if to help her focus. “Uh—yeah.” She patted the bag she’d brought.
“I’m going to move to the back to change,” I said as I slowly and stiffly moved to get out. The adrenaline had worn off and everything hurt.
Wyatt stepped back so I could open my door. He noticed my sock-covered feet that went to the wet ground as I slid out. Then his eyes traveled to my red and already bruising knees. Lastly, he saw where my dress was ripped.
His mouth slowly fell open slightly. “What happened? Mac wouldn’t say.”
That was because Mac didn’t know. All I had told her was, I need help. I can’t go home. My clothes are ruined and I don’t have any shoes. Can I borrow an outfit from you? Please don’t tell anyone. Especially not Roe, Wyatt, and Reid. I hadn’t been able to hide my crying, and I was pretty sure that was why she’d agreed to help me right away instead of overwhelming me with questions.
Wyatt’s face was so stricken with worry. I was so used to being on my own—bearing the pain alone—that I didn’t know how to handle it. I stared down at the ground as I put my hand on my hurt ribs. “I’m going to change in the back. You can get in so you’re not standing in the rain.”
It wasn’t an answer to his question, but he didn’t push.
It hurt to lift my right arm. I had to open my car’s rear door with my left hand, which was a little awkward. After I climbed into the back, Mac handed me some clothes similar to the ones she was wearing. As I took them, Wyatt got into the driver’s seat. He and Mac exchanged a look. I didn’t have it in me to wonder what it meant, but I had a feeling I knew what they were thinking. I got busy taking off my dress. I had to move slowly as I pushed through the pain in my ribs and my arm that Clay had twisted behind my back. My elbow was killing me, too.
I got my arms out of the sleeves, but I struggled getting the dress over my head.
“Here, let me help you,” Mac said just before I felt her pull the dress off the rest of the way.
I took it from her and laid it over my lap to cover my exposed lower parts. “Thank you,” I said numbly.
Mac let out a curse as she stared at me. I lifted my arm to try and look at my ribs. A bruise was already blooming; though all I could see of it was where it wrapped around my side to my back, that was enough to tell it was big and ugly.
“Do—?” she started to say as her gaze traveled up to my neck, reminding me that those bruises weren’t covered with concealer anymore. “Do we need to go to the hospital?”
Her words made Wyatt, who up to this point had kept his gaze forward to give me privacy, turn in his seat and look at me.
I shook my head as I stared down, not wanting to see his expression as he saw what I’d done my best to hide for years. “I’m fine.” My weak voice made me sound like a liar. I couldn’t care about that right now.
I grabbed the shirt Mac had brought me. It was big and gray and soft. I put it on despite how much my body protested the movement.
“Your elbow is bleeding,” Mac said.
“I’m fine,” I said again, grabbing the black sweatpants next.
Just before removing the dress off my lap, I glanced at Wyatt. He was still staring, clearly mad and with many questions burning in his pretty blue and green eyes.
“I don’t have underwear on. Can you look away?” I asked.
Both he and Mac exchanged another glance before facing forward.
I tried to move quickly to get the pants on. Once I did, I felt a little bit better. “Were you able to bring shoes?”
“Yes,” Mac said, pulling them out of the bag along with a pair of socks.
I took off my wet socks and replaced them with her clean ones. The shoes she’d brought were the kind that slipped on, which was perfect. Bending hurt.
“Thank you,” I said, and climbed out of the car.
They did, too, and waited in the rain as I collected my keys, phone, and wristlet. They silently followed me, clearly unsure what to do, as I walked toward the hotel’s entrance. I wished they wouldn’t follow, but I didn’t want to be rude and tell them to leave after helping me. So I let them trail behind me as I went inside and up to the front desk.
There was an elderly gentleman behind the desk. He smiled as we approached. “Welcome. How can I help you?”
“Reservation for Kendry.” I had called from outside and reserved a room.
His gray brows rose at hearing my name, but there was doubt in his eyes. My grandfather’s company owned the hotel. As a member of the Kendry family known for its wealth, I didn’t exactly look the part at the moment. My hair was a mess and I was wearing last night’s makeup. Not to mention my cheeks felt like they had permanent tear streaks going straight down them.
“I’ll need a credit card and ID,” he said.
I pulled mine out of my wristlet and handed them to him. He read my name on my driver’s license and his eyes went wide. He quickly checked me in and handed me my cards and room key. “Here you go, Ms. Kendry. Elevators are around the corner. Please let me know if you need anything during your stay.”
I tried to give him a parting smile, but just ended up nodding. I opened the little booklet the key card came in and read the room number. It was on the tenth floor.
Wyatt and Mac followed me into the elevator. Nearly all its walls were golden and mirrored inside. In them, I could see Mac and Wyatt standing behind me as we rode up.
Mac let out an ugh. “Wyatt, you’ve never been this quiet in your life. It’s freaking me out.”
When he didn’t respond, my eyes found him in the mirrored wall in front of me. He was already staring at me, his face hard and serious. Mac sighed and began biting her nails.
I could feel their need to ask questions. The tension of it weighed on me until we got into the room, which was just a regular one with two queen beds. I took in each one before picking the one closest to the window. I went over to it, toed off my shoes, and climbed under the covers. The only way I could be somewhat not in pain was to lie on my left side. That was perfect. I wanted to watch the rain.
“Lottie,” Mac said hesitantly as she came to stand in front of me, blocking most of the window. “It’s clear that something bad happened to you. Well, it looks like it’s been happening for a while⁠—”
“I can’t talk about it, Mac,” I said tiredly.
Wyatt took a seat on the foot of the bed I was lying on. “Why can’t you talk about it? Did the boyfriend do this?”
Mac looked taken aback. “Boyfriend?”
“She’s not with him by choice. It was set up by their parents,” Wyatt briefly explained.
“What?” Mac sounded confused.
“Weird rich people thing,” Wyatt said as if that explained it.
I snuggled my head farther into the pillow. “I’m tired.” I was hoping they’d catch the hint and leave. I really didn’t want to answer questions and have to lie to them. I really didn’t.
“Do you need anything?” Wyatt asked.
I shifted in the bed, trying to get in a more comfortable position. My ribs smarted, making my breath hitch. “Do you possibly have painkillers on you?”
“If you give me your keys, Wyatt, I’ll go get her some,” Mac said. “I need to step away from this for a minute anyway.”
Wyatt handed them over without hesitation.
I felt the urge to apologize. “I’m sorry, Mac.”
“No. Don’t be. It’s my issue. I just need a minute,” she said before walking out.
I wanted to ask what was wrong, but didn’t feel like that would be fair of me when I couldn’t give her any answers to her questions.
Silence blanketed the room for a minute, and I could feel Wyatt’s stare.
“Maybe I should call Roe,” he said quietly.
“No.”
He let out a frustrated sigh through his nose. “Then can you answer me one thing?”
I waited for him to voice his question with a little bit of dread in the pit of my stomach.
“Was it the boyfriend?”
“No. I haven’t seen Brandon since last night.”
He looked pensive and it was obvious he had more questions. I could feel myself going stiff with anticipation. Then he stood, toed off his shoes, and climbed up into the bed. He lay next to me with an arm behind his head. “I’m going to lay here with you, if that’s all right?”
I nodded and shifted again, struggling to avoid any pain.
Wyatt obviously noticed that. “Would you be comfortable lying on my chest? I don’t know how you feel about being touched right now, but using me like a human pillow might give you some relief.”
At that point I would’ve done anything for a break. The moment I went to scoot toward him, he closed most of the distance. I laid my cheek on his chest and went to put my leg over him like I had done with Roe, but stopped myself.
“It’s okay,” he assured as he grabbed my leg by the back of my knee and rested it across his pelvis. “Better?”
I nodded. The position did provide a little bit of relief, but it was only when his arm came around my shoulders that I was able to relax. That shield feeling I’d felt when I’d danced with him last night returned. Tears filled my eyes. I didn’t have the strength to hold them back and they dripped onto his shirt.
I sniffled. “I’m sorry.”
His hand squeezed my shoulder gently. “It’s all right. Cry as much as you need to.”

72%

I brought my hands to his chest and fisted the lapels of his blazer. I pulled on him as I went to my tiptoes. His hand that had been dealing with the joint grabbed onto the fence right next to my head, stopping me from pulling him any closer. Even on my tiptoes, I still couldn’t touch my mouth to his.
“Roe,” I pleaded.
He stared down at me with a blank expression as I offered myself to him. “What do you want from me, Lottie?”
I moved a hand up until it was behind his neck and my fingers were in his hair. I held my mouth as close to his as possible. “Kiss me. I want you to kiss me.”
My plea was the key to the shackles that held him back. His mouth slammed down on mine. Him kissing me was everything I had imagined and more. His lips were soft but dominant. He didn’t kiss me like Brandon. Roe didn’t have to force anything. I submitted willingly. It was almost euphoric, being held and kissed by a man who made me feel safe. It gave me room to just desire him and feel everything he was doing to me.
He nibbled at my lips before he brushed over the gentle bites with his tongue. Just when he was about to do it again, I met his tongue with mine, inviting him, luring him into my mouth. He followed, tasting me, stroking me.
His hand at my hip traveled to the back of my knee and lifted, bringing my leg to his hip. I pulled on his blazer with the hand that still held his lapel and fisted his hair with my other. Needing him closer, I rolled my hips.
He cursed against my mouth before both of his hands went to the backs of my bare thighs under my skirt and he lifted me up. My legs wrapped around his waist. I moved my hand from his blazer to cup his cheek, and I pulled away just slightly to catch my breath. “I lied. I don’t want you to stay away from me,” I said against his lips before kissing him again. “I hit him. He was hurting me, and I hit him. I got scared and I came running to you.”
He pulled away slightly. “What? He hurt you?”
“He just grabbed my arm. I…injured it yesterday, and when he grabbed me as I tried to leave, it hurt, and I smacked him across his face.”
He looked pleased to hear that I’d hit Brandon. “How’d you injure your arm?”
I hesitated to answer. I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t want him to know the truth, either. “I was wearing socks and my feet slipped on the tile in the kitchen. I landed hard on my knees and elbow.” That was the truth. I’d just omitted a few details.
“Was that before or after you called Mac yesterday?”
“How—?”
“We were all over at Reid’s watching a movie when you called. I saw Mac’s phone before she answered it. She left the room after she heard your voice and when she came back, she asked Wyatt for a ride home. Thing is, Wyatt never came back to Reid’s or home last night. He didn’t get in until this morning.”
I looked away from his all-seeing blue eyes and wiggled so he would set me down. As soon as my feet were on the ground, I said, “Wyatt spent the night in a hotel room with me.”
Roe didn’t immediately respond, as if he needed a few seconds to wrap his head around what I’d just said. “Did you sleep together?” He seemed more curious than upset, which was how I’d assumed he’d feel.
“As in actually sleep, like you and I did the night prior? Yes. If you’re asking if we had sex, no. He stayed with me so I wouldn’t be alone.”
“Why did you have to stay at a hotel last night?”
“Because…” For once I didn’t have a lie in the chamber, ready to fire. I had no idea what to say. “Because I can’t be home right now. I’ll be staying in a hotel for a few days.”
He knew I was avoiding answering and thankfully he didn’t push. “Why didn’t you call me?”
I sighed. “Despite what I want, it doesn’t change anything. It still doesn’t. I’ve just realized I can’t stay away, either.”
He frowned at that.
Before he could think more on what I’d said, I added, “Wyatt said he’d stay with me again tonight.”
“Did he?” he said, sounding a little irked. He stepped toward me, making me back right up against the fence again, and I had to fight not to wince. He grabbed the chain-link with both hands on either side of my head. “And how do I get invited?”