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But as I stood there, emotion overwhelmed me. I didn’t want to lie. I wanted someone to hold me as I cried. I wanted someone to tell me everything was going to be okay. Tears streaked down my face as I looked up at the sky.
“Ten?” My head whipped around at his voice. Kyland.
I swiped at my tears and turned to see him walking toward me. As he came close enough that I could make out his features, he hesitated, his face contorting first in confusion and then in anger. “What the fuck?” he hissed out, moving to me quickly and tilting my face up toward the moon, toward the light.
“Who did this?” he demanded.
“Kyland,” I choked out, all the fight draining out of me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his solid, safe body. I melted into him, holding the front of his shirt in my fists as I cried. I cried not just for my battered face but because this could happen again. I cried because I was scared and hopeless and because even though Kyland was holding me, and despite all we’d shared, I sensed a withdrawal of his emotions. I sensed him stiffening as my tears fell and I clung to him.
“Who did this to you?” he repeated, only his voice was calmer this time.
I sniffled and wiped at my cheeks as I pulled back. “Just some guy,” I whispered.
“A guy at Al’s?”
I nodded. “I wouldn’t get in his car and he didn’t like that.”
He didn’t say anything, his jaw tense, his gaze focused somewhere beyond me. “Did you get his name?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter, Ky. Jamie Kearney knocked him out and then drove me home. He said he’d make sure that guy didn’t bother me again…” I trailed off. I had no idea what Jamie planned to do, if anything.
Kyland didn’t speak for several beats. Finally, he nodded. “That’s good.” He smoothed a piece of hair behind my ear. “I’m so sorry I can’t do anything. I’m sorry I’m so useless,” he said.
I hesitated at the tone in his voice. “You’re not useless, Kyland. Don’t ever say that.”
He gazed down at me, a look that was raw and pained on his face. “Go inside and put some ice on your eye,” he said. “Do you have any Tylenol or anything?”
I nodded. “I thought maybe I could come to your house?” I said hopefully, wanting nothing more than for him to hold me.
“That’s not a good idea,” he said, his words short. “We can’t do that anymore.”
“Why?” I asked, my voice cracking as a ribbon of hurt wound through me.
“Because I sold my bed. I’m sleeping on the floor.”
Oh.
“That’s okay. I’ll sleep on the floor with you.”
I need you, Ky.
He shook his head, his jaw hard again. “No. You won’t sleep on the damn floor, Tenleigh.” He let out a long, controlled breath. “No, you won’t sleep on the floor. Go inside your trailer and get in bed. I’ll check on you in the morning, okay?”
I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to beg him to stay with me, take me with him, something. I pictured my mother in that auditorium screaming at Edward and I looked down at my feet, a sudden understanding of some of the deep pain she must carry inside her damaged brain. “I saw you earlier with Shelly,” I said. “I waited for you to walk me home, but you were with her.” I couldn’t hide the accusation in my voice. Was I expecting too much?
He regarded me silently for a few beats. “Sorry, Ten, she just wanted to show me the car her brother fixed up for her. It was nothing.”
My eyes moved over his features for a minute. I didn’t feel better. “Okay,” I said. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Go inside. I want to hear the door lock behind you.”
The lock was useless and we both knew it. If someone had a mind to, they could kick it in without even trying too hard. I turned and walked on wooden legs to the door of my trailer, unlocking it, and opening the door. I glanced behind me before I stepped inside. Kyland was standing just a little distance away, still and watching me. He nodded and I hesitated, feeling something like fear at the resolute expression on his face. I didn’t know what it meant exactly, but I sensed it wasn’t good.
I closed the door behind me and locked it, sinking down on the couch, and then I put my face in my hands and sobbed.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Tenleigh
Kyland did come to check on me the next morning, but his demeanor was distant, distracted, almost cold, and it did nothing to comfort me. I was desperately hurt. The pain in my body was the least of my aches.
