Chapter Twenty-seven
I crawl through Marly’s window when the sun is cresting the horizon, painting the sky a deep shade of pink, the clouds parting and the rain finally coming to a stop after drenching us for nearly twenty-four hours straight.
I’m not going to lie, I fucking hurt. I’m certain I’ve got a broken rib, and the swollen, split lip has been giving me hell since I crawled out of the ring after the fight. I wasn’t going to go. I wasn’t but then Jake’s words had eaten me up all through the day and into the night. I couldn’t come here with that. I couldn’t let her see what this is doing to me.
So, I got the shit beaten out of me instead.
It’s still early and Marly is sleeping, curled into a ball as if to make herself as small as possible. I barely see her under all those sheets bundled on top of her, only her hair poking out from the top showing me she’s in there. It’s cold in here thanks to the window being left open and the lamp on the bedside table is still on, telling me she left the window open and the light on for me. And I didn’t come, not when I should have at least.
I limp toward the bed, my thigh screaming with the movement. I’d taken a brutal kick to it during my fight and the fucker has been aching since. The climb up the trellis didn’t help and when I got here, I almost used the front door instead.
Staring down at the bed, I watch her sleep, oblivious to my presence. I should shower but I don’t, I move the sheets and get in the bed beside her instead. I washed off the blood before I came and changed my clothes, but I know I’m not clean.
Moving slowly, I bring myself toward her, putting an arm around her as I mold myself to her back, inhaling that scent that is inherently hers and let it fade away the roaring thoughts. I couldn’t even race I was so fucked in the head from Jake laying it down for me.
But I should have known coming here would have chased away that anger. Marly has this aura, this purity that can chase away any storm.
My arm curls a little tighter, but the move stirs her awake.
She turns in my arms, her sleepy eyes dragging over my face before they flick open suddenly, wide awake as she takes in the bruises and cuts.
“River!” She cries, bolting up, the sudden movement jerking my body and pain flares across my ribs.
I hiss, gritting my teeth against the agony that attempts to tear me apart.
“Oh my god!” Marly scrambles out of bed, “What happened? We need to go to the hospital!”
“Shh,” I groan, breathing through the pain, “It’s alright, princess.”
“Alright!?” She shrieks, “This isn’t okay!”
When the worst of the pain eases, I roll onto my back and push up her bed, using the headboard to lean against. I am fucking exhausted.
“I’m okay,” I catch her eyes and nod my head to the space she just vacated, “Come lay with me.”
“River, your lip,” She crosses her arms over herself, covering the garage logo on the shirt with her arms, “And your jaw is bruised and I’m assuming there’s more that I just can’t see.”
“There’s more,” I confirm, “But nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”
“What happened?” She demands, her voice getting an edge to it I haven’t heard before, not quite anger, but something close to it.
I like it.
“I got into a…” I pause, choosing my next words carefully. I don’t want her knowing anything about the fighting rings, I don’t want her anywhere near it, not even the knowledge that it exists. “Altercation.”
“At the garage?”
“Come lay with me, Marly.” I change the subject, “Please.”
Her shoulders soften, “Can I clean up your face first?”
“I already did it.”
“Well, you didn’t do a good job,” She huffs, “Let me do it.”
“Then you’ll lay with me?”
“Promise,” She whispers.
At my nod, she darts from the room, and I listen to her feet slap against the floor as she races to wherever the first aid kit is and is back in under two minutes. She’s breathless from sprinting but doesn’t pause as she comes straight to me and climbs onto the mattress, resting on her knees.
She opens the kit and begins to pull out a few things before she finds what she wants.
“This’ll sting,” She warns me before she places a wipe against the cut in my lip. It’s instant and I hiss through my teeth, the cut and skin around it burning with whatever she just put on it.
She works on my face quietly, her concern for me pulling down her brows and I can’t help but reach up and smooth out the line that’s formed between them. Her hand pauses as she flicks her eyes up to meet mine.
“Did you sleep well, princess?” I ask as she pulls out a small white tub and opens the lid.
“Not really,” She answers quietly, “Hold still.”
She scoops a small amount of the cream onto her fingers and begins to rub it into my jaw, the flesh tender but not overly painful, just bruised I guess.
“Why didn’t you sleep?”
“I slept,” She answers quickly, “Just not well.”
“But why?”
“Because I didn’t,” She snaps and then freezes as if she shocked herself with the show of anger.
“Are you mad at me, princess?” My grin pulls on the cut on my lip.
“No.”
“Did you miss me that much?”
Joking aside, the guilt for standing her up is sitting on my chest. Enemy’s little sister or not, I don’t break promises.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” She says but I hear it in her tone, the hurt. Fuck, I’m such a prick.
“Come here,” I open an arm for her, “I’m sorry.”
She turns her head away, “You don’t need to be sorry; you don’t owe me anything. I just had a bad day is all.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I keep the space at my side open for her, but she doesn’t come to me.
“No, I don’t,” She answers, putting everything back into the kit and then throwing it down onto the floor.
“Then lie with me, Marly. And just breathe with me for a minute.”
She eyes me skeptically but begins to move slowly, “Where do you hurt?”
I point to my ribs, “You’re on the good side.”
Marly lowers herself slowly and when she’s close enough, I pull her to me, settling her against my side.
“Was it on purpose?” She asks me, her face hidden against my chest. I know she’s asking about the fight that caused these injuries.
“Yes.” I don’t lie.
“Don’t make me promises, River,” She says after a beat of silence.
“Why not princess?” I whisper.
“Because it’ll hurt even more when you no longer show up and we become strangers again.” Her sigh is loud in the silence after her statement, her hand moving across my abdomen and up so she can rest it across my steadily beating heart.
My eyes close and my own heart does a painful little thud. I can’t even lie and tell her I’ll keep coming, because one day, I won’t. So, I don’t lie, and I simply say, “Okay.”