Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
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?”