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Ryan's hand went to my head, gently running his fingers through my hair. His other hand rested on my lower back. I closed my eyes and took in the comfort he so freely offered.
"Kenna can go ahead home,” Officer Barnes said. “We may need her to come back and answer more questions, but for now, she’s all set to go."
"What do you mean she may need to come back?” The deep timber of Conor’s voice let me know he was on the edge and ready to take a plunge. “That fucker beat her, and she's the one answering questions? What the fuck is going on, Griff?"
I opened my eyes but stayed in Ryan's arms.
Finn put a firm hand on Conor's shoulder. "Conor, calm down. Griff is just doing what he has to do. We'll get Kenna through this. Let's just go before you end up arrested."
Conor shook his head in disgust but did turn away. With that, we all made our way out of the police station—Ryan and my brothers pissed, and me feeling completely defeated.
24
MACKENNA
A week later . . .
Stepping out of the shower, I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror. I was relieved that the bruising on my face had started to fade and was no longer noticeable with concealer. It had been over a week since I had to defend myself from Brad and then again in a police station interrogation room. Even though the bruising had faded, I still felt defeated. I hadn't heard from the detective or anyone from the police department since that day, but I had a sinking feeling something was coming.
I was still staying at Ryan's house because there was no way he or my brothers would let me be alone, and to be honest, I wasn't in a hurry to go back there after what happened. I knew Finn had arranged to have the carpets cleaned and the apartment tidied. Also, Finn and Conor went there to make sure everything was back to normal, as well as to grab me more clothes, my journals, and my guitar. I had only played once since I'd been staying with Ryan. I just hadn't had the energy to play.
Ryan, being the wonderful man that he was, had been trying to make me feel better, but I couldn't get past the fact that I was defending myself to the police. Today, I had plans to go to lunch with Chrissy while Ryan trained with Conor and Finn. Even though all this was going on, we still had lives to live, and Ryan had the fight to train for.
I quickly noticed the time and saw that Chrissy should be here soon, so I rushed to dry off, get dressed, cover the remaining bruising, and dry my hair. It was only a few minutes after I finished my hair that I heard the doorbell.
I ran to the side table, grabbed my phone, and headed toward the front door.
Looking out the peephole—trust me when I say I would never make the mistake of not checking first—I saw Chrissy standing there. I opened the door, gave her a big hug because I'd missed her pretty face.
“Hey,” I said. "Are you ready to eat?"
Chrissy answered by grabbing hold of my hand. She pulled me out the door and gave me just enough time to lock up.
"Let's go. I'm starving!" It felt so good to see her.
Well, to really see her.
I'd seen her a few times this week when she stopped by Ryan's, but with Conor and Finn, so we hadn't been able to talk privately, and I had so much I needed to talk to her about. I was sure she was going to ask about Ryan, considering she found out the same time as Conor and Finn. It didn't take long for us to pull into the diner across from the gym. As soon as we took a seat at a booth, the waitress handed us our menus.
While I was looking over the menu that I didn't need to read because I knew before we even got here that I was ordering a juicy burger, I felt Chrissy staring at me. I glanced up from the menu and.
"What?"
She immediately jumped. "Don't 'what' me! I've been waiting over a week to be alone with you so you could give me the details on you and Ryan. Spill it."
I set the menu down on the table and gave her a smile.
"There's not much to tell," I said jokingly.
She wasn’t having that! Chrissy pointed her finger at me and said, "Oh no, there is a lot to tell, so start talking."
"All right, all right.” I put my hands up, surrendering. “I will tell you everything."
I went on to tell Chrissy how when I arrived in Florida, and we had the first dinner where Ryan drove me to her place. I told her how we kissed that night, but Ryan walked away, not wanting to ruin his friendship with Conor.
As I spoke, Chrissy laughed. "It looks like Conor is okay with it now."
"He seems to be okay with me having a relationship with Ryan, but at the time it was all happening, neither Ryan nor I knew how Conor would react. He didn't take it well when he found out at the hospital, but I think with everything that happened with Brad, Conor felt that was more important at the moment."
