AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As if I could forget about it.
He’s the reason why we’re this close. Whatever Bree did was the trigger for this whole situation between us. Everything is intertwined, and I’m not entirely ignorant. I also know that it’s been a while since then, and I doubt that Carter will even remember her.
“She’sthe priority now,” I emphasize. “I don’t care about him.”
Ryder nods, accepting my decision. Besides, what am I supposed to do? Tell her to leave because my roommate might see her? Nope, I won’t do that. I prefer to stab myself before I even disrespect her in that way.
“Dad, no.” Bree’s firm tone catches my attention. “It’s not worth it. It’s been half an hour, and I didn’t see the guy… Fine. Can we do it tomorrow?” There’s a long pause. “No, I don’t have hopes to recover my phone. Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She hangs up and sighs. Ryder approaches her, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“Sweetheart, I know that you’ve been through hell tonight,” he starts to say in a sweet voice. “But we need to know what you want to do. We can take you to your apartment, or you can stay here. We just want you to be comfortable and safe.”
Bree thinks about her options for a minute. There’s a frown in her forehead, her teeth biting her bottom lip.
“I don’t know if I want to go back out there right now,” Bree speaks in an undertone.
A knot forms in my stomach, knowing what it means. Bree will stay over, and I need to prepare my mind to spend a long night on the couch.
“Okay,” Ryder concedes quickly. “Do you want to take a bath? We’re here for you, Bree.”
She nods.
“Thanks, Ry.”
He gifts her a smile, showing her his dimples.
“We’re your boys, remember?” He tries to lighten the mood, and it works because Bree smirks. “I’ll go prepare a bath for you.”
Ryder abandons the room, and I focus my attention on the girl that’s sitting on the couch with swollen eyes and quivering lips. Extending a hand, I help her stand up from the couch, guiding her to my room. I need to find clothes for her.
When we cross the door, her eyes glow with curiosity as they roam over the room. She has never been here, so I don’t doubt that she wants to know how I live.
Luckily for me, my room isn’t a total mess. There are some shirts on the desk chair and books out of the shelves. I have two lacrosse sticks in the bottom bracket and new gloves that I got for next season. I don’t have decorations on the walls, just a photo of my family that my mother gave me when I moved here. Three pairs of shoes are out of the closet, but I don’t bother to shove them back in.
The bedsheets are gray, and they’re tangled because I took a nap earlier. I think that my copy of the Sherlock Holmes Collection is under one of the pillows.
“You have a lot of books,” she notices, her fingers trailing the spines of the books in one of the shelves.
“I’m a bookworm, okay?” I confess dramatically, and she giggles.
I look for a black shirt in my drawer and a pair of sweatpants that are probably too big for her, considering her small height, but it’s better than her current clothes. Sleeping in jeans is not the definition of comfort.
“I didn’t expect you to have so many books.”
“Yeah, well, people shouldn’t leave me alone in a place where I can buy books,” I let her know.
“We should go to a bookstore one day,” Bree suggests, catching me unguarded.
I notice that she wants to have a conversation that distracts her from what happened tonight.
“Only if you let me pick one for you.”
“Fine,” she accepts without hesitating. I think she’s intrigued by it. “I’m curious to see how you would act in that environment.”
I smirk. “I fit in just fine.”
“Better than in the lacrosse team?” Bree questions, tilting her head.
