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“I’m puttin’ someone on you when you go back to work,” he says. My heart swells. I’m glad he’s doing all this, and it means a lot to me, even if he doesn’t see it. He’s comforting me in more ways than he knows.
“Thank you.”
“I know I dropped a bomb on you last night,” he says, scooting closer to me.
“It was a shock.”
“I just needed to say it. I don’t expect to hear the words back from you. Hell, I didn’t even know that’s what I was feelin’ for you until you were gone.”
“You put a gun to my head,” I remind him. That angers me, and I turn my head to look at him, but all he does is nod.
“I’m not gonna say sorry. If that video was real-”
“It was old.”
“Still not sayin’ sorry. I reacted to what I saw,” he says calmly. I should hate him for the way he talked to me that day, for what he did to me but deep down, I don’t. Am I angry? Yeah, I am.
“I’m still mad at you,” I remind him.
“Fair enough.” He shoves off the bed and walks to the door, leaving me alone with the food he brought. I dig through the bag and pull out a biscuit when the door opens, and Tarek sticks his head in before shoving it all the way open.
“You decent?” I pull the sheet up a little to cover my chest.
“Yeah,” I tell him. He strolls over and sits in the corner of the room on a chair that faces the bed.
“He’s a mess,” he tells me.
“I know.”
“He wants blood.”
“So do I.”
“You plan on gettin’ it?” he asks. I shrug.
“If it comes down to it,” I reply. Tarek nods his head.
“Good. I don’t know if Cage wants you havin’ this just yet, but I think it’s wise.” He stands from the chair and walks toward the bed before setting a gun on the nightstand.
“What’s this for?”
“Protection. Twitch caught you off guard once, yeah?” I hate even thinking that he caught me so vulnerable. It was my fault for drinking as much as I did. I should have known better, but I didn’t. Instead, I was too fucked up to fight him back.
“Cage isn’t going to like that,” I warn him, nodding toward the gun.
“He planned on givin’ you one anyway. I might as well do it now,” he explains.
“Thanks for that.” Tarek nods.
“You need anything? I know Cage isn’t the easiest person to deal with right now. I’m sure he’s also closed off, but that’s just who he is. He doesn’t do well in situations like this,” he tells me. I already know that. I’ve seen it firsthand.
“I’ll be fine. I’m just going to eat, and then I’ll be out there.” I nod toward the door. Tarek nods before heading for the door. I watch him leave and close the door behind him. I wonder what Cage would say if he knew he was in here giving me that gun. I bet he’d lose his shit.
I eat my biscuit, but my stomach keeps protesting the food, so I give up. I’d rather have a little something in me than nothing at all. My nerves are still shaken from everything that happened. I can’t get the smell of blood out of my nose or stop seeing Scott’s face as he fell forward onto me. I feel like I’m stuck in a twilight zone, which is repeated in my head. Shaking the thoughts away, I shove out of bed and walk to the closet to find some clothes I’d left here.
Once dressed and my hair piled on my head, I head into the main room. I get stares and looks from the guys, but the girls just smile my way like nothing ever happened. Maybe the guys didn’t share what happened with them.
Ignoring the stares, I walk to the bar, climb up on the stool, and sit. One of the girls offers me a beer, but I nod toward the good shit. She smiles and pours me two shots, setting them before me. I take one down just as the door opens, and my stomach drops.
