“My jaw. But it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. None of this is fine.” I throw the shirt towardthe trash can and it lands short, hitting the floor. “Sit down. Let me see your hands.”
He sits on the edge of the tub. I turn on the tap and let the water run warm. Wet a washcloth and start cleaning the blood away.
“I’m sorry,” he says quietly.
“For what?”
“For ruining your sister’s wedding. For getting in a fight. For making you come downstairs in a bathrobe to collect me from hotel security. For all of it.”
I move to his other hand. “You didn’t ruin the wedding. But you’re going to tell me what he said.”
“JuJu—”
“What did Garrett say that made you lose control like that?” I look up at him. “Because you don’t lose control. You’re the most easygoing person I know. So what did he say?”
He looks down at his hands.
“He said you’d never put me first. That you were using me to make him jealous and that once this wedding was over, you’d realize you didn’t actually want me.” His voice is flat. Carefully controlled. “He said I was just convenient for you and that I was too stupid to see it.”
The room goes very quiet. I can hear water dripping from the washcloth into the tub. I look at him sitting there. Looking absolutely miserable.
“And that’s when you hit him.”
“That’s when I hit him.”
He fought for me. Lost control completely because someone said things about me that he didn’t like.
Garrett spent three years with me and never once defended me like that. Rodriguez has known me for five months and broke someone’s nose for me.
Before I can figure out what to say, there’s a knock on the door.
We both freeze.
“Juliette?” My dad’s voice. “Are you in there?”
Oh god. This is it. My dad is going to kill him.
“Just a second!” I call out.
I look at Rodriguez. He looks panicked.
“It’s fine,” I whisper, even though I have no idea if it’s fine. “Stay here.”
I swing open the door to find both my dad and Owen, standing there looking serious in their suits.
This is bad.
“Dad—”
“Is he here?” my dad asks.
“Yes, but?—”
“Can we come in?”
I step aside because what else am I going to do. They walk in just as Rodriguez appears in the bathroom doorway.
