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“Will you stay with me?”
Forever.
“All night,” I promised, bringing her in for a hug. The dam broke and her cries soaked my shirt through.
I’m going to murder this fucking creep.
We left Cliff Falls and made a route for the frat house. It was early enough by party standards, and a decent crowd was still here when I rolled in. I parked us in the garage and dismounted to help her off. She removed her helmet and a fierce yawn worked through her.
Dumping the helmets, I led her inside and kept her as close as possible.
“James!” Callum called before I could leave the room. Bex inched into my side as he approached. “Where have you been, bro?”
I leaned down. “Go down that hall—” I pointed. “—and take the first door on the left. Guest suite. I’ll meet you in a minute,” I whispered to her. She nodded and followed my directions.
“Who’s that chick?” His head jerked in her direction.
“None of your concern, Cal.”
“I guess I can’t be too mad if you were gone hittin’ that,” he congratulated.
“Boundaries, dude.” I folded my arms to keep control over the agitation. “What I was doing with her isn’t important. Something came up. I just need to be with her right now. You can issue whatever weird retaliation later.” I pushed past him, and he didn’t try to stop me this time.
There were people in the hall leaning against the walls and their conversations created a hum in the air in contrast to the music. I didn’t return their glances as I opened the door. Bex was on the bed with her back facing the door. When the latch clicked, she sat up and turned to me. Her face was stained with tears, and her nose was reddened.
“Hi.” Her voice was small and trembled. She wiped the back of her hand across her face. “Will you lie with me?”
I nodded and unlaced my boots, kicking them off to a corner in the room. I reached for my belt but looked up at her. “Okay if I…?” I murmured while motioning to my jeans.
“Yeah, that’s fine.” She averted her eyes. I slid my pants off and left my shirt on, nothing too scandalous. When I passed the foot of the bed, her eyes flicked up to my waist. “You wear a lot of black,” she stated, and I hummed a laugh in response.
Pulling back the covers, I sank into the bed next to her. I kept a reasonable space between us, but she aborted that plan when she rested her head on my shoulder. Her leg slid over my thigh, and everything caught in my throat. Every protest, every encouragement. I accepted the affection.
“What did I do for this to happen?” she asked as the sniffles started increasing. “I haven’t hurt anyone. I’ve never treated someone so horrible, so why do these shitty men pop up in my life?”
Unsure of my role here, I remained silent. I doubted she needed advice or answers right now.
“I can’t exist in peace. There’s a man stalking me and killing women because of me. How do I even navigate that concept?” Her sobbing increased; her body shook as her anguish released. “I feel so guilty, Jaiden. They shouldn’t have died over this.”
I shifted to my side. Cradling her in my arms, I pressed my body into hers. Her hands balled into fists and grabbed my shirt. She wailed harder as I brushed my fingers through her hair. Her chest heaved with each breath that supplied her cries.
I closed my eyes. Quiet tears slid from my nose and into her hair. Her agony clawed at my heart and ripped it to shreds. I wanted to fix it. I would fix it.
“Why?” Her plea was muffled, and it brought more rounds of tears. I pressed my lips to her temple, holding her tighter still. More tears dripped from the tip of my nose and slid down her cheek.
“I don’t know, baby,” I whispered against her skin. “You’re okay. I’m here for you, always.” She hiccupped as she gasped. I hummed as I stroked my hands along her. My nose threatened to run as my broken heart continued to pour. Her hair was soaked in my tears when her outbursts quieted bit by bit.
Her cries stuttered after several minutes, and her hands relaxed. She went still in my arms and deep breaths replaced the shaking.
“Bex?” I whispered, but a quiet snore was the only response. Relief washed over me. I stroked her back as she lulled deeper into sleep. Her skin was sticky and splotchy, and she looked exhausted. I wiped my forearm over my eyes and took a deep breath.
She needed something else to wear. I planned for that after checking in, but then she asked me to stay. I looked from Bexley to the clock on the side table. It was past midnight, and she’d been working all day on her courses. I looked at her again, and she still had the decadent skirt on.
I could leave her in it…I held the thigh she had wrapped around me, and I traced a light, soothing pattern over her skin. My hand moved from her knee and went up, and up…and up.Fucking hell, make me a Puritan.
I untangled from her briefly, grabbing my pants and running upstairs to my room. I pulled basketball shorts from the dresser and took the stairs by two as I made my way back to her.
The door closed without disturbing her. I moved the covers back and slid the basketball shorts under the skirt she wore. Unzipping it, I pulled the fabric off and dumped it in the corner with my items.
