Chapter 14 Wyatt
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Wyatt
I have no interest in these teams, but here I am lounging on the couch watching Thursday night football anyway.
Kane is working at the bar tonight, so I offered to stay home with Oliver. I love hanging out with him. He’s my little buddy and has been since he was tiny.
He’s fast asleep now, and I’m all alone downstairs. I like football, but the Broncos aren’t playing tonight. Therefore, I don’t really care that much.
My phone vibrates on my lap with Becks’ name popping up on the screen. I can’t come up with a positive reason why she would be calling me, especially at this time of day.
I mute the television and answer the call. “Hey, Becks. What’s up?”
“Your brother isn’t answering his phone,” she says, bypassing any greeting and getting right to the reason for her call.
I have to laugh a little because that’s just her. Some might think she’s abrasive. I just think she isn’t full of bullshit.
“Don’t laugh, Wyatt Taylor,” she scolds in a motherly tone. Becks is older than me, but I don’t actually know how old she is.
“My apologies, Becks. You know I love you.” She makes a gruff noise of agreement over the line. “Kane is at the bar tonight.”
“I figured.” She lets out a heavy breath. “I guess you’ll have to do.”
I should probably take offense, but instead, I’m biting my cheek to keep from laughing again. No one wants to see an angry Becks. I’ll go deaf if I have to deal with that over the phone.
“Way to make me feel loved.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Her voice grows more serious. “There’s a young woman who was in a DV situation tonight. I don’t want to spill her dirty laundry without her permission, but I think the club could help.”
I can hear her teeth grinding when she pauses for a second. “There’s reason to believe she’s still in danger, so some protection might be in order.”
I’m clenching my fist so tightly in my lap that my nails start to dig into my palm. She’s not outright saying it, but the person who hurt this young woman must have already been released by authorities, or they were never caught in the first place.
I glance down at my watch. “I’m at home with Oliver right now, but I’ll talk to Linc and Kane when they get home. Does she need help tonight?”
“No, she’ll be safe here overnight.”
“Good… good.” I nod my head absently, even though she can’t see me. “As long as you can get her on board with having some shadows watching over her, we will figure it out.”
I shouldn’t be making promises for the entire club without consulting anyone else, especially Kane. Domestic violence is a big hell no in my book, though. Even if I’m the only one watching over her until she’s safe, I will figure it out.
But I know Linc and Kane well enough to know they’ll be on board. Linc and I had to watch our dad beat up our mom for years.
She might not have been a great mom, but she didn’t deserve what he did to her. Kane didn’t see the abuse firsthand, but he saw what it did to his two best friends.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Becks says. “Thanks, Wyatt.”
“Of course. We will make sure whoever hurt her won’t get a chance to do it again.”
The game now seems insignificant. There’s far too many emotions and nervous energy coursing through me, so I start pacing around the living room, waiting for the guys to get home.
The door from the garage finally creaks open a little after one in the morning. There are a lot of perks to owning a bar, but the super late nights can be tough to deal with.
Kane and Linc saunter in, looking exhausted.
“Hey,” they both mumble, peeling off their jackets.
“Do you happen to know why Becks called me five times tonight? I know she’s allergic to texting, but a quick message for clarity’s sake would have been nice,” Kane says, leaning back against the kitchen counter.
“I talked to her a few hours ago. There’s a woman at the hospital who was beaten up by her boyfriend or husband… I don’t really know all the details.” I sigh, running my hands through my messy hair.
Kane and Linc have both gone rigid, hanging on every word I say.
“Becks couldn’t tell me a lot, but she was worried about this woman’s safety once she’s discharged.”
“How long is she going to be there?” Kane asks, snapping into leader mode.
“I think she’s getting out tomorrow.” I glance at the time on the stove. “Or later today, I guess.”
“Is she okay?” Linc asks.
I shrug. “Good enough to be released after one night. Bad enough to warrant being there in the first place.”
Linc has a pretty killer resting bitch face, but he looks ready to murder someone. My face might not show the same expression as my twin’s, but the turmoil building inside of me is the same.
Kane speaks up again, drawing our attention back to him. “I’ll call Becks in the morning. At least we know this poor woman is safe for tonight. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
“Agreed,” Linc says with a curt nod.
I knew they would react this way, but it makes me love the bond I have with both of them even more when seeing their hearts in action.
“I don’t want to invade this woman’s peace more than it already has been, but I want her to be safe,” I say.
Kane nods. “We will respect her space but keep an eye on things at the same time. Whether it’s one of us or one of the other guys from the club, we will have someone there when she gets home tomorrow.”
Linc and I lock eyes, nodding in unison. Memories that we don’t want to relive are threatening to creep up in both of our minds, but we’re fighting to keep them at bay.
Kane grips my shoulder as he walks by. “Let’s get some sleep. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?” With that, he makes his way up to his room.
I turn back to look at my brother. “You want to talk about it?” Things like this always bring back our childhood, making the wounds seem fresher.
He shakes his head. “No. I just want to make sure she’s safe.” His eyes close for a heavy beat. “You?”
I think about it for a minute. As much as he doesn’t want to discuss this himself, I know he would listen if that’s what I needed.
But I already feel drained from processing all of this for the last few hours, while I waited for them to come home. I really don’t feel like diving into all of it more tonight.
“Maybe some other time.”
“’Kay.”
We make our way down the hallway. “Love you,” I say, stepping into my room.
“Love you,” he says quietly before clicking his door closed.
Ten minutes later, my teeth are brushed, clothes are changed, and I’m lying on my bed staring up at the ceiling.
As tired as I am, I don’t think I’m going to get much sleep tonight.