Chapter 8 Hawk
EIGHT
hawk
I held Kendra’s hair as she vomited, and I realized that I would rather be here than sitting at home wondering what she was doing with Connor.
“I’m so sorry,” she said as she wiped a stray hair from her face. “I didn’t really eat dinner and then had too much wine.”
“Here,” I said, and wiped her face with a cloth I had found on the bathroom closet shelf.
“Ugh, I don’t usually expect my friends to hold my hair at the end of the night.”
Friends. She always knew when to send the dig. Boss. Friend. Wingman.
Hey, Kendra, newsflash, I don’t want to be your friend. But if that’s my only option, I’ll take it.
I averted my eyes as she changed into her pajamas right in front of me, biting back a groan. Jesus, this woman had no idea that even sick, she was fucking incredible.
It was why there were so many Connors and Tylers waiting in the wings for her. It was why I tortured myself supervising her dates.
She pulled a twelve-inch purple vibrator out and tossed it in the middle of the bed.
“I guess it’s another night with Lucifer.”
“You named your vibrator Lucifer?” I asked, barely able to contain the snort.
“Um, yeah, not only is he huge, he’s only in the mix because the rest of humanity failed. And oh my God, have I tried.”
If she fucking turned that thing on while I was here, I might fucking die.
The vomiting session clearly hadn’t removed the alcohol from her bloodstream, since she was still in a state of mind where she would flash around her sex toys. And while I would never take advantage of a woman who was so clearly shitfaced, I would be taking home plenty of spank bank material.
Kendra’s apartment was only slightly more than an efficiency. I made my way to the galley kitchen and found a glass to get her some ice water. When I found my way back to her bedroom, she was curled up in bed, facing away from the doorway.
Oh, shit. Was she crying?
“Kendra?”
She sniffed loudly and rolled towards me. “Yeah?”
She was fucking crying. And it made me want to find Connor and end him. How the fuck can such a jackass make this woman cry?
“What can I do?”
She squeezed her eyes shut tight, blinking, and then those powder blue eyes opened, and fuck if it wasn’t pain reflecting at me. Jesus. Who hurt you, Kendra?
“Can you just lie with me for a bit?”
“Okay.”
I crawled into her bed, and she scooted back towards me. Fuck, her ass grazed my dick. My God, I struggled not to be affected. She trusted me.
“You know, there’s a reason why I want to change the contracts.”
“I figured as much. But is it personal?” Should we be having this conversation while she’s drunk? No, but fuck if I wasn’t going to get as much information from her as possible.
“Yeah. But I’ll never have to see him again.”
Yeah, until I find out who he is and go to prison, because I single-handedly ended his ability to hurt anyone again.
She paused and then let loose.
“I never even told my sisters.”
“I tell my sister everything.”
I felt her sigh. “I should have. It would have at least earned me some grace.”
And then she sobbed in my arms for several minutes while I waited for her to tell me what she wanted to.
“You know, in a lot of ways, it was probably my fault.”
I stilled, frozen. No. Thank Christ I couldn’t see her face.
“Ken—”
“We were together for a few months, and I tried to end it.”
I let the silence hang between us. I wanted the story, but I hated that her pain had caused it.
“I tried to end it, and he wasn’t done yet. So, he locked me in his house.”
I pulled her closer, knowing where the story was going, but wanting to deny it at the same time.
“Did he rape you?”
“What is the definition of rape? Everything he’d done to me, we’d done before.”
“Kenny, did you say yes?”
Her body shook as she sobbed in my arms. “No.”
And that was the last word I understood from her. But I did know that I was ready to kill the person who had hurt her. As much as I wanted to put a boot in Tyler and Connor’s ass, that was nothing compared to what I wanted to do to the nameless and faceless bastard who hurt her.
Eventually, she stilled, and her breaths came more evenly. My brain on the other hand was reeling. Other than my sister, I had never met a woman as smart and strong-willed as Kendra. And some motherfucker took advantage of her.
It wasn’t lost on me that while she’d been hurt by another man, she was still trying, still dating, still in her bed with me as her comfort.
She might have named her dildo Lucifer, but she wanted more.
Fuck, I wanted to be the man who made her trust again.
I wanted to give her a reason to trust again.
As she slept next to me, I had so many things that I wanted to ask her. But I also knew that I only got the information because she was drunk and vulnerable. Fuck.
I pulled my phone out and sent my sister a text.
Me: So, what do you do when you take a woman home, and you’ve ended up so far in the friend zone that you hold her hair while she pukes and then comfort her when she cries?
Colby: You don’t want to be in the friend zone, correct?
Me: Is there a way to be there temporarily?
Colby: She’s an employee, isn’t she?
I both hated and respected my sister for being able to figure it out so quickly.
Me: Yes.
Colby: Where is she right now?
Me: Asleep in my arms.
Colby: Sorry. This is going to hurt. There is no way you don’t get hurt with this one.
And how the hell are you texting me right now?
That’s what I loved the most about my sister but also hated. She spoke the truth. Even when it was the last thing I wanted to hear.
Me: One-handed. I’m good with one hand, remember?
Colby: Asshole. Don’t joke about dicks with me. Just because I don’t like them, doesn’t mean I’m one of the guys.
Me: Cole…
Colby: I don’t know. I’ve got nothing here. Be patient??
Me: Should I stay all night? Or sneak out now that she’s asleep.
Colby: How drunk was she?
Me: Drunk enough to show me her vibrator named Lucifer.
Colby: Shit, now I need to meet her. But based on that, it’s going to be awkward in the morning. You think she needs to be watched?
Me: No. I think she’s good.
Colby: Leave a bucket, some ibuprofen, and a glass of water. Slip out and then text her at 10:00 tomorrow morning.
Me: Why 10:00?
Colby: Because who the fuck is awake before then?
No, I didn’t ask Colby about what Kendra said about her assault, but maybe that was because I hoped one day that Colby and Kendra would be able to form a different relationship. One where Kendra could decide what level of personal information she shared with my sister.
And yeah, it seemed like Kendra hadn’t told anyone what happened to her. Not her sisters, not her friends. She hadn’t trusted anyone with this information. So, no. I didn’t think she wanted to blurt it out to me. While we were friends, she still worked for me.
It was the wine that caused her to say it, not because she wanted to confide in me.
I guess I would just need to get her comfortable enough to tell me when she was sober.