Chapter 12
AADEN
“What the hell was Chase thinking?” I snap. My gaze stays on Leah in the front seat of my car, looking weak and vulnerable.
“I don’t know, man, but he was totally out of line,” Noah growls
I run my hand through my hair, my jaw clenching as the image of Chase on top of her plays over and over again in my head. “He’s lucky I didn’t fucking kill him.”
Noah watches me. “Dude, what’s up with you?
I’ve never seen you flip on Chase like that.
” I look at him, my eyes wide with shock.
Noah holds his hands up in front of him.
“I mean, I get it, yeah. That shit is fucked up. But we don’t know the full story.
I mean, it looked like she went up there willingly. ”
Rage surges through me. My nostrils flare as I move closer into Noah’s personal space. “Are you fucking serious? He just tried to force himself on my girl.”
“Your girl?” Noah questions with raised brows before his expression changes. He leans in closer with a sly grin, lowering his voice so only I can hear. “You fuck her yet?”
“What the fuck?” I snap, shoving him back by his shoulders. “What the hell is with you guys tonight?”
“Whoa,” Noah says, holding his hands up defensively. “Wait, you’ve got a real thing for this chick, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do,” my loud voice echoes around us.
Noah’s mouth drops open. My fists clench at my sides, and I’m two seconds away from taking a swing at my best friend.
Instead, I flick my hand in his direction, completely dismissing him.
I’m done here. “If that’s a problem, you can go fuck yourself. ” I turn and walk back to the car.
“Aaden?”
***
“Good morning,” I say as I walk in from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist. Leah is sitting up in bed, her brows drawn together as she watches me.
“What am I doing here?” she asks, her voice scratchy and rough. I don’t answer, afraid I’ll say something I’ll regret. She stares at my bare chest, her breaths coming faster. “Oh god, did we?”
“No,” I say as I walk over to my dresser. She lets out a deep sigh. I pull a pair of black sweatpants from one of the drawers.
“If my head didn’t feel like it was splitting open, I’d be really turned on right now,” she teases.
I spin around and stare at her, unable to fight the smile her words create.
But this isn’t going to be a great morning.
She doesn’t seem to remember what happened last night.
If she did, she wouldn’t be so carefree right now.
Knowing I’m about to drop a bomb on her, I motion with my hand for her to turn around.
She rolls her eyes and grins as she faces the window.
I drop my towel and pull on my sweats, then make my way to the bed.
It dips as I climb in behind her. I wrap my arm around her, pulling her to my chest. I need her in my arms, and I have a feeling she’s going to need the support.
“How did I end up in your bed, Mr. Stone?” she asks as she snuggles against me.
Fuck. I knew it. “You don’t remember?”
She shakes her head. “I remember dancing with Tyler, Madison, and Noah. And drinking a few beers.”
“A few beers?” I ask. “What’s your idea of a few?” There’s no way she only had a few; she was practically passed out. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath as the image of her lying on that bed flashes in my mind.
“I only had three.”
Three? No fucking way. “You must have lost count,” I growl against the side of her head.
My tone puts her on edge. She flinches, and her body stiffens. “Why? What happened?”
I take a deep breath, knowing I’m about to cause her pain. “Things got a little out of control last night.”
She turns over to face me, and I stare into her confused eyes, cursing Chase for what I’m about to tell her. “What do you mean?”
I rub my eyes with my thumb and finger. “Do you remember talking to Chase at all?”
I can see her trying to remember, her mind going over everything from the moment she arrived at the party to just a few minutes ago when she woke up in my bed.
“I remember dancing with him early on, but I don’t remember seeing him after that.”
Shit! “You don’t remember anything else?”
She shakes her head. “No. It’s weird. I don’t remember seeing anyone after that. I don’t even remember you showing up.”
My hands flex against her back, and I have to fight the urge to fly out of bed, track him down, and beat the shit out of him. Because the more she talks, the more I’m getting a bad feeling about what it is Chase may have actually done.
She pulls away, looking me in the eyes, and I can see the worry and panic setting in. “Aaden, what happened?”
I take a deep breath, pulling her in tighter.
God damn it, I hate this. “Chase crossed the line with you last night.” Her eyebrows draw together as she blinks up at me.
My breathing becomes harder the tenser she becomes.
Suddenly, her eyes widen, and all of the color drains from her face.
My heart drops as I watch her begin to fit the pieces together.
She pushes herself up, clutching at the sheets, a wild look in her eyes.
I pull myself up to sit next to her. I have a feeling I’m going to need to calm her down.
“What do you mean?” she asks, her body starting to tremble. My heart rate has tripled within the last few seconds, watching her grow increasingly concerned. “Did he—"
“No!” I demand, making my voice as firm as possible. I reach over and grab her hand, squeezing it for support. “No, it didn’t get that far.”
“Why can’t I remember this?” she asks, her chest rising and falling rapidly as tears fill her eyes.
“You were out of it, baby. I’m pretty sure Chase slipped something into your drink.”
Her eyes dart around the room, trying to come up with something that will explain what the hell happened. “He—drugged me?” she says, her voice going higher. I clench my jaw as I watch her start to break. “How far did it go?”
I take in a deep breath, hating every minute of this. “Not far. You were only alone with him for a few minutes. He didn’t have time to do much.”
“Much!” she shrieks, backing away from me.
Fuck. I squeeze her hand, gently rubbing my thumb against her fists to try to calm and comfort her. “I saw the two of you going up the stairs together when I arrived. When I walked into the room, he was lying on top of you. I heard you telling him to stop.”
A strangled sob slips from her throat, and she covers her mouth with a shaky hand. I close my eyes as the image of her lying underneath him flashes in my head. “His hands were all over you.”
“Oh god,” she gasps. My eyes fly open when she pulls her hand from mine and drops her head into her hands.
Her tears flowing freely now. I can’t hold back anymore.
I wrap my arms around her and pull her into my lap, her body shaking with her sobs.
I kiss the side of her head, stroking her hair, doing anything to let her know that I’m here and she is safe.
“I promise you, Leah, it didn’t go any further than that. I swear.” I press my lips to her head, rocking her gently in my arms. My arms tighten around her as she trembles uncontrollably. “I’d never let anyone hurt you, baby. I fucking promise you that.”
Fuck, Chase, how could you do this? To her, to me?
To all of us? She buries her face in my chest, curling into a ball as I pull her closer.
“God damnit,” I growl softly, hating that she’s hurting and it’s because of my friend.
And me, because I wasn’t there to stop it before things went as far as they did.
After what seems like an eternity, she finally stops crying. I soothed and rocked her the whole time. She manages to pull herself away from my chest and wipes at her puffy eyes and cheeks. “I’m sorry.” She sniffles. “I must look like shit.”
I take her face in my hand and lift it to look her in the eyes. “Even puffy-faced, you’re still beautiful.”
She tries to laugh, but her nose is blocked up, and she can hardly breathe. I move her aside, climb out of bed, and go into the bathroom, returning a moment later with an entire roll of toilet paper. I hand her the roll, and she gives me a small laugh as she takes it from me.
“Thanks.” She blows her nose and clears her throat.
“Hey,” I say, squatting down in front of her. I need to clarify one more thing. “Were you really worried about what happened between us last night?”
She blinks up at me, lifting her shoulder and letting it fall. “No, not really.”
I brush my thumb against her cheek, taking in her reaction.
She doesn’t seem too sure, and that bothers me.
She has to know I’d never hurt her, and I certainly would never take advantage of her.
“Leah, all I could think about was getting you out of there and getting here safely. Sex never crossed my mind.”
“You mean to tell me you didn’t even take a peek once we were alone here?” she asks, giving me a genuine grin. Thank fuck!
My lip quirks. “Well, I did have to get you into my T-shirt. Maybe an innocent peek.” Her face turns red when she glances down, seemingly noticing the shirt for the first time.
I can’t say I don’t enjoy seeing her in my clothes.
But honestly, I wasn’t thinking about that last night.
I was too focused on taking care of her and making sure she was safe.
“Hey.” She glances up at me again. “I wasn’t thinking along those lines at all last night, as you can see.
” I point to a chair in the corner with a pillow and blanket. “I slept there all night.”
Her eyes widen. “You didn’t have to do that.”
I gently run my fingers over her cheek and smile. “Come on, I’ll make you breakfast.”