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I look around at all the people near us. “Maybe somewhere a little more private?”
He takes a long swig of his beer, contemplating. For a minute, I think that he’s going to tell me no, but he agrees. He nods his head toward the stairs and I follow him up. We walk down a small hallway at the top of the stairs and he turns into one of the rooms, shutting the door behind me. I can tell by the pictures on the wall, this is Holden’s room.
I never thought I’d be in Holden Rivers’ bedroom of all places.
Holden takes a seat on hi
s bed and gestures for me to sit next to him. I decide against it and stand instead, leaning against the wall.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” He questions.
I take a deep breath, swallowing the lump in my throat. “About what you found today.”
“What about it?” He deadpans. He’s not going to make this easy on me.
“I just want to make sure you’re not going to tell anyone.”
He laughs humorlessly and takes another sip of his beer before he puts it down on his nightstand. “Why shouldn’t I?”
I feel like I’m on the edge of a mental breakdown. “Holden, please. I can’t have this getting out. If my mother finds out she will send me to one of those god-awful places, or worse. I’ll lose my place here, and I’ll have to become a stripper and my whole life will be ruined.”
I start to hyperventilate at the thought of it all. I slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the floor. Holden is at my side within seconds.
“Kayleigh, Kay, come on. Relax. Breathe.” He tries to calm me, but it’s no use. The anxiety attack has already begun and there is nothing I can do but wait it out. Holden grabs a bottle of water from his mini-fridge and hands it to me. I don’t open it, but I place the cool bottle against my forehead. It grounds me.
“I’m okay.” I breathe as the attack finally subsides. “Sorry.”
He looks at me with amusement. “You’re apologizing for having a panic attack?”
I chuckle softly. I guess that is rather silly, but I must stay focused. “I can’t have anyone else finding out about this Holden. I’m serious.”
He rubs his head with his hand, considering it, until finally he sighs. “Okay, I won’t say anything.” He says. A rush of relief washes over me. “But I have one condition.”
Fuck. “Ok. What?”
“I want to help you beat this.” He tells me.
I’m shocked. That’s probably the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth. Doesn’t he have better things to do than try to help me tackle an eating disorder. Do I even want help? Well, no. To be honest, I don’t.
“What if I don’t want to?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Then I’ll have to tell someone to get you the help you need.” Tears spring to my eyes at the thought. “No. Kayleigh no.” He says, trying to calm me. “I don’t want to see something horrible happen to you. You’re gorgeous, don’t you get that?” This time he doesn’t take it back. He grabs my hands and holds them tightly within his own. “Please, just let me help you.”
My heart is pounding, and I feel like it’s the only thing I can hear, despite the beat of the music vibrating the floor. I still don’t understand why him of all people would want to try to help me, especially with this. Still, if it’s the only way he’ll keep this mouth shut, I’ll have to agree. Perhaps I’ll just have to find better ways of hiding it. Make him think I’m recovering, meanwhile I won’t be.
“Okay. Help me.” I say, breathless.
He smiles broadly and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into him. It catches me off guard, but I hug him back, resting my head on his shoulder.
“We’ll get you through this Kay, I promise.” He whispers. I don’t respond, still shocked by this whole situation.
The two of us return downstairs. Brianna is talking to Taylor, and stops as soon as Holden wraps his arms around her from behind.
“There you are. Kayleigh wasn’t beating the crap out of you, was she?” She asks.
“Nope. We’re good.” I answer, faking a smile. Holden smiles back and winks when no one is looking.
Well, this should be interesting.
