AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Kegan, go. I’ve got this. Please just meet us back at the hotel. Please trust me,” she begs.
“Fuck!” I scream. I grab her and kiss the top of her head. “I don’t wanna leave you. It makes me feel weak.”
“You saved me, let me save you.” She pulls away and starts to walk down the hall. “Get him out of here, Lane!”
He pushes me out the back door and I fight the entire way. I left her to clean up a mess that she’s sobbing about. It’s fucked up. I’m fucked up.
“Come on, we need to get back to the hotel,” Lane says, pulling out his phone.
“Fuck you! I should be helping her, not fucking hiding,” I yell.
He hangs up the phone and nods his head. “If you stayed and someone saw what you did, you’d be front page headlines tomorrow. And how exactly would you want boss lady to cover that? You’re Kegan Donovan, drunk, and covered in another man’s blood. Doesn’t matter if you were protecting her, brother. They wouldn’t see it like that. She’s protecting you.”
I shake my head, scrubbing my face. “That’s the fucking problem. I should be protecting her. Instead, I’m hiding outside like a fucking pussy. That’s not what a man does, that’s what a coward does and I’m no fucking coward!”
I turn to go back in, but Lane grabs me. “Stop, the car is here. Get in.”
I try to fight him, but he pushes me in and climbs in behind me. The driver races us to the hotel and Lane has me flip my shirt inside out. He pulls off his jacket and hands it to me.
“Button that up and keeps your hands in your pockets. Don’t look at anyone. Keep your head down until we get into your room. Got it?”
I don’t say anything I just nod. All I can think about is seeing Lorelei pressed against the wall and how I left her to clean it up. I’ve never felt that kind of rage before. I didn’t care if I killed him.
The car stops and we climb out. I shove my hands in my pockets and keep my head down, following Lane to the elevator. The higher it goes the more my anger is returning. I’m in the safety of the hotel and she’s handling a mes
s she shouldn’t need to.
The door opens and we walk out. We get to my door and I pull out my keycard. We get inside and Lane presses his phone to his ear as he walks to look out the window.
“Who are you talking to?” I ask.
He holds up a finger and I lose it. I’m done fucking waiting. I’m done being told what to do. I pick up a chair and throw it across the room. Lane hangs up the phone and sits down on the small couch.
“I fucking left her!” I shout.
I pick up a lamp and smash it against the wall. I continue throwing things, anything within reach, as I scream. I fucked up. She’s been protecting me, protecting all of us from the second she stepped foot on the bus. She did it when I was a complete asshole to her. Yet, the one time she needs me I’m too late, and then forced to once again let her protect me. I’ve never felt like less of a man than I do right now. I feel defeated.
I stop throwing things and lean over, resting my hands on my knees as I breathe heavily. I glance at Lane and he has his fingers steepled in front of his mouth, his elbows resting on his knees.
He raises an eyebrow, and his hands fall apart. “You done?”
I stand tall and run my hands through my hair, still trying to catch my breath. “Fuck you.”
“You’re drunk and you feel like you let her down. Own those feelings, brother, but don’t take out your shit on me. All I did was save you from a career destroying moment. If I didn’t come down the hallway, what the fuck would have happened? You wouldn’t have listened to Lorelei when she told you to go. You’d be in fucking hand cuffs,” he says.
I sigh as I sit across from him, dropping my head back to look at the ceiling. “I’ve never felt this way about someone before. All I want to do is make her mine.” I close my eyes and her tear-stained face is all I see. “And I left her. I walked away like a fucking pussy.”
“You didn’t leave her, Kegan. You left the situation. She asked you to trust her, so do that,” he says.
I open my eyes and look over at him. “Who were you talking to?”
“Remi,” he says.
I jolt forward and slap my hands on the coffee table. “Don’t make me fucking ask, tell me,” I growl.
He shakes his head and crosses his arms. “All he said was they are all on their way back. He said it was all taken care of and everything is good.”
I should feel relief, but I don’t. I feel like a failure.
