Chapter 31
Each person talked over the other. There were threats of bodily harm, murder, and who knew what else. But I couldn’t stop shaking.
“Enough!” Colt barked. The room went silent. “This isn’t helping.”
Three other sets of eyes zeroed in on me. Each held an array of emotions. Dash’s were full of sympathy and pain. Ronan’s held agony and rage. But Trace, his were full-on murderous.
I tried in vain to get my body under control. My tears had slowed, but I couldn’t stop the tremors still wracking through me. Yet I was exhausted. As if the heaviest weights had settled over every part of me.
Colt stood, cradling me in his arms. “It’s okay, LeeLee.”
My head slumped against his chest as he carried me as if I weighed nothing. He quickly climbed the stairs, and Dash hurried ahead to open my bedroom door. I heard the telltale hiss from Briar as the guys entered my room, but I couldn’t find it in me to tell her to stop. I was already fading.
Colt laid me on my bed, but when he went to release me, my eyes flew open, and I clutched his T-shirt, my fingers fisting in the worn fabric. “Don’t leave, please.”
Pain streaked across his beautiful face. “I’m not going anywhere, LeeLee.”
Colt kicked off his shoes as someone else pulled mine off. He climbed into bed behind me, pulling me against him. I went easily.
The bed dipped, and Dash’s scent of pine and cedar filled my nose as his hand stroked up and down my back.
Colt’s lips ghosted across my hair. “I should’ve been there. You’ll never know how sorry I am.”
And then darkness took me under.
Heat swirled around me like a cocoon of bright sunlight. Everything about it was comfort and safety. Yet something was pulling at me, back into the realm of consciousness.
Awareness came in waves. A hand linked with mine, fingers interwoven. My cheek pressed against a muscled chest. Another hand holding tight to my ankle.
I blinked, faint sunlight filling my gaze. Sunlight and my human pillow…Colt.
“How do you feel?”
His voice was a husky whisper, and suddenly, Dash was shifting behind me, sitting up so that he could see my face.
Ronan pushed up from his spot across the foot of my bed, letting go of my ankle.
But it was Trace that had my jaw dropping.
He sat propped in a chair near my bed, Briar curled in his lap… purring.
“LeeLee?” Colt pressed.
I shook my head, pushing myself up against the pillows. “I’m okay.” The words came out more like a croak, giving away the rollercoaster I’d been on yesterday.
The memories catapulting through my mind made me wince. “I’m sorry about the meltdown.”
Pain carved itself into Ronan’s face. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I never should’ve pushed.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m just not used to covering the scars at home because there’s never been anyone to see them.”
A muscle along Colt’s jaw ticked. “You don’t have to hide them around us.”
Dash linked his fingers with mine again. “He’s right. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Unlike your mother,” Trace growled low. “She deserves to have her skin peeled from her body, nice and slow.”
The image of him stroking Briar as he spoke such violent threats short-circuited my brain. And why did Trace even care? He hated me.
Colt brushed the hair from my face. “Why didn’t you tell anyone what happened?”
I worried the corner of my lip. This wasn’t an easy one to answer.
“Sometimes, the unknown is far scarier than anything else. For a while afterward, she was better. She took me to a doctor after a couple of days, but I knew if I told them what had really happened, I’d end up in Child Protective Services. ”
Trace’s eyes narrowed. “And I’m sure she told you just how horrible that would be so you wouldn’t speak up.”
My lips pressed together in a firm line because Trace was right. My mom had let me know just what horrible things could happen to you in foster care.
Trace’s expression gentled. “She was manipulating you. Because she knew that if she was found out, her ass would end up in jail.”
My stomach twisted as pressure built behind my eyes. “She hates me so much, and I could never figure out why.”
He sat up, shifting Briar with him. “She hates you because you’re everything she’ll never be. Special. Smart. Kind.”
I stared at Trace, blinking as if trying to clear the mirage that was him being kind to me. “You don’t know that. You don’t know me.”
“I do. I know that you got straight A’s at your last school, even though you worked practically a full-time job on the side.
I know that you took in a stray cat that was injured.
” His finger flicked over Briar’s ear that was missing its tip.
“And I know that you were the best friend Colt’s ever had because he never shut up about you. So, I know enough.”
I swallowed hard.
Trace’s eyes glowed, the violet in his irises sparking. “Your mom was jealous and bitter and fucked in the head. And if you believe any of the lies she told you, then you’re an idiot.”
He stood, depositing Briar on the floor, and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
I stared at the place Trace had disappeared through. “What was that?” I whispered.
Dash chuckled. “Trace’s love language. Only he can call you an idiot and make it seem like the nicest thing you’ve ever heard.”
Ronan squeezed my ankle. “He cares. It’s just hard for him.”
“Why?” I asked.
Shadows swept over Ronan’s eyes. “I’m not trying to keep things from you, but it’s also not my place to tell.”
I nodded. “I get it.” I’d be pissed as hell if someone spilled my secrets without my permission.
Colt kneaded the muscles along my shoulder. “Why don’t we call off school today? We can do a movie marathon in the theater, and Baldwin can make us snacks.”
I shook my head. “I can’t afford to miss classes. I’m already behind.” And if I laid around all day, I’d just think about the past. Being distracted is what would help most.
Dash frowned. “Are you sure? Yesterday was a lot…”
I didn’t want to tell them that I dealt with nightmares and flashbacks on the regular. That would just upset them.
I curved my mouth into a smile the best I could. “I’m sure. School is just what I need right now.”
And the truth was I’d never felt safer than sleeping surrounded by those four guys last night. I just wasn’t sure what that meant…