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“Give me the towel.” He doesn’t grab it, just holds his hand out.
With a sigh, I give it to him. It’s not like he hasn’t seen my naked body before.
“Fuck, baby.” His fingers feather over my left side, where a large, ugly bruise has already formed.
Averting my gaze, I stare at the sink. I just can’t look at what he did to me right now.
“Did he kick you?” Cal asks.
“Y-yes.”
“Did you hear anything crack?”
“What?” I can’t help the panic in myvoice.
“I’m just trying to make sure you didn’t break a rib.” He examines my side as gently as I can.
“I didn’t hear anything crack, no.”
“And you’re sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”
I nod. I’m still on my parents’ insurance, and I have no clue how I’d explain those bills to them. That’s a mess I’d like to avoid. They’ll just worry more than they already do.
“We’re going to need to keep an eye on it.” Cal straightens, stroking a hand over my wet hair.
“Iwill keep an eye on it.”
He shakes his head. “There’s no way we’re letting you out of our sight now. He’s not touching you ever again.”
I roll my eyes. “Why, because you’re the only ones who’re allowed to hurt me?”
His lips twitch, turning upward ever so slightly. “Yes. But we’dneverhurt you like this, Athelia. Ever.”
“I know.” It’s one of the only things I’m actually sure of.
“Now tell me why he hurt you.” Cal takes the hoodie from my hands and positions it so I can easily stick my arms through the sleeves. He pulls it down until it’s settled over my shoulders. It smells nice—juniper and cedarwood with a hint of him.
“I don’t think you’ll like that,” I tell him, glancing down. The hoodie falls to my mid thighs, and something warm curls through me at the realization of how much bigger he is than I am.
“Just tell me, baby.”
“He saw the hickey,” I whisper, glancing up.
For once, Cal is the one who looks horrified, not me.“What?”
“He didn’t want me to have sex with anyone else. I tried to cover it up, but then…” I gesture at my neck. “The makeup wore off.”
“He hurt you because I… because I gave you that hickey.”
I nod.
The color drains from Cal’s face at my confirmation. “Athelia, I’m so sorry. I never would’ve… oh my god.”
The guilt in Cal’s eyes sends a wave of satisfaction washing over me. I’ll never forget that mere hours ago, I was trying to scrubhimoff my skin. After all the pain he’s caused me, he deserves to feel this.
And I deserve to rub it in.
“For the record,” I say, stepping back. “I never chose him.”
