AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nah. I’ll do it. Be safe.”
“Will do. Call me later. We need to talk about this.”
At my nod, the door shut. Not once did Kody move. She stayed buried in my chest, her arms around me. Her eyes were closed as the sun beat down on us. The day was nice. It wasn’t too hot or too windy. It was perfect, just like her.
“I think I could stay like this forever.” She tilted her head back to look at me. “I’m going to make you dinner tonight. A special dinner. You’re always taking care of me. Tonight, it’s my turn.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cook. Do you know how?”
She laughed. “I can make a few things. I used to bake all the time. Not that I was really any good at it.”
“Tell me about it inside. You shouldn’t be out here. Neither of us should. Someone could still be watching.”
The smile was forced as she nodded and let me lead her to the door. She knew something was wrong and that it was bad. A part of me wanted the truth to die right here. Right between me, Rian, and Rush. No one would ever know, right?
Wrong.
The video was trending. We’d be lucky if it wasn’t on the nightly news. If I kept this from her and she found out, we were done for. She’d never trust me again, even if I did delete it. I couldn’t bear that any more than I could fathom telling her she’d been assaulted, and the bastard had recorded it for all to see.
Chapter 32
Kody
I thought I’d seen every expression Jase had to give. I’d seen him happy, sad, angry, curious. This emotion, this one was different. He was beyond worried. Beyond furious or nervous. He was defeated, slightly pale. He looked sick, and from what I’d witnessed earlier, whatever Jase was keeping to himself was out of protection for me. A million thoughts kept repeating. Ones I didn’t want to face. Ones I was too afraid to think about, and the more time that ticked on without him approaching me about it, the worse my own worry grew.
“How is it? You’re very quiet. Do you not like it?”
Jase stopped cutting into the last of the chicken breast, glancing up to me as if he’d only just realized I was still in the room. “Yes. It’s very good. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s okay.”
“It’s not. You made dinner all by yourself while I worked. I haven’t said two words to you the entire meal. There’s no excuse for that. I’m an asshole. It really is very good.”
I outstretched my hand across the table, watching as he put down the utensil to hold it. The contact had him breathing out deeply. It was neither a comfort or relief to see how hard he was taking this secret. “Are you ready to share the bad news? I think you’ve held it in long enough. It’s time for me to take on the burden too. What is it?”
“Kody.” His eyes lowered from mine, resting blankly on the table before me.
“It’s Tiffany, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“It’s the reason Rush’s lip was bleeding. You hit him while I showed Tiffany where my restroom was. He did something to her. He crossed the line, didn’t he?”
Jase’s eyes closed as he reached for our hold with his other hand.
“No. That’s not why I hit him. He hasn’t done anything to her that I know of.”
“Then what is it?”
That was not the answer I had expected. I’d been preparing myself for hours on what could have possibly upset Jase so much. It obviously revolved around Rush, but if not Tiffany, then what?
“Do we have to talk about this right now?” His lids opened. He lifted my hand, leaning forward to place a kiss on my fingers. “I’d much rather take you to bed and hold you.”
“Hold?” Faster my thoughts spun. He hadn’t used that term since I’d gotten home from the hospital. “This is about me. You’re worried whatever this is will upset me. What is it? Is it the news? Did they say something again?”
“No.”
“But you’re not denying it’s about me.”
