Chapter 18
REED
“Thanks, man.” I say to Kalix as he puts my key in my hand and hands me Lexie’s bag.
“No problem. How is she?” He asks, standing in the doorway.
“She’s sleeping right now on the couch. I’m going to wake her up soon so I can get her cleaned up and make sure she eats something.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Will do.” I say “Uh, don’t tell Lainey about this. I’m not sure if Lexie would want her to know.”
He nods, “Got it.”
I shut and lock the door behind him.
Putting her bag down on my bed, I start pulling out all of her products. Face care, hair care and her fucking hideous, fluffy pink slippers with matching robe.
I line all her face products on the bathroom counter and put her shower items on the edge of my tub.
She’s probably not going to feel like taking a shower, but I need to at least wash her off and do her face routine before bed.
I grab the hair tie and brush and head back into my living room. I lift her head enough so I can sit down and gently place her head on my lap before attempting to gently brush her blonde strands.
She opens her eyes as I’m trying to put her hair in one of those bun things that she wears sometimes.
“What are you doing?” She asks groggily.
“I’m putting your hair up so I can give you a bath.” I say.
She scrunches her brows in confusion as I finish up with her hair. She tries to sit up quickly but puts her hand to her forehead and say’s. “Ouch. Everything is spinning.”
“Here, drink some of this and take these.” I grab the glass of water off the side table to hand to her and pour a couple of ibuprofen in my hand.
She sips on the water and takes the medicine before looking around the room. “Um… Where am I and how did I get here?” She looks at me with confusion etched on her face.
“My apartment. I found you and brought you here.” I sit back further into the couch and place one arm behind her on the back and one on the arm rest.
“You found me?” She shifts her body facing mine.
“Mhm. What do you remember last?”
She rubs her fingers over her temples. “I uh… I was playing beer pong. I don’t understand why everything is so fuzzy and my head hurts. I only remember having one drink.” She shakes her head.
My heart starts to race. “Did you make your own drink or set it down anywhere?”
She tilts her head down like she’s trying to think.
“Umm. Was it Raine? No… Johnny did. I never put my drinks down at parties.” She whips her head up.
“Oh my god, do you think he drugged me?” Her eyes start to well up.
I pull her against me as I think of all the different ways I could murder the son of a bitch.
“Yeah.” Is all I can say. My fingers vibrate in anger as I kiss her forehead and rub her arm soothingly.
“But… why? Why would he do that? He always seemed so nice.” She says through her sobs.
That snaps me out of my murderous thoughts momentarily.
She doesn’t even know the worst part of it yet.
I lift her chin so she looks up at me and swipe at her tears with my thumb.
“People are fucking assholes. I need to tell you something. You’re going to be pissed and upset, but just know that he will be handled. ”
She scratches her brows again and more tears fall down her face. I watch as something clicks, “No… he didn’t?”
I shake my head, “He didn’t. But when I found you, he had taken most of your clothes off.”
She starts to sob even more, “You didn’t call the police?” She says almost irritated and tries to back away from me.
“I broke his nose and threw your vomit on him. I would’ve killed him if Kalix didn’t pull me off of him.”
Her eyes search mine as she scrunches her nose and wipes the tears on her cheeks. “You’re serious.”
“You’re damn fucking right I’m serious. I promise you he’s not going to get away with this.”
She nods her head as more tears fall down her face. I get up and then crouch down on my knees in front of her. My tall height makes us almost eye level this way. “We should really get you cleaned up and put some food in your stomach before you get some rest.”
She shakes her head, “I don’t have any of my stuff for my nightly routine.”
I smirk, “Already taken care of, Honeybee.”
Her lips tilt briefly before she lets out a sigh, “I don’t even want to know how you did that.”
I shrug, “I have my ways.”
She squints her eyes at me, “Don’t I know it.”
I get up off the floor and say, “I’m going to go run you a bath.”
She leans back on the couch and closes her eyes, “Okay. I’ll be here trying not to die.”
“Not happening on my watch.” I say and hear her sigh as I enter the bedroom.