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“You’re hurt.” The words come out raspy and clipped after clawing their way through his clenched jaw.
I don’t even know what to say to that.
Of course I’m fucking hurt. You left me. I needed you, and you left me.
But when Wes reaches out and runs a thumb over my bruised cheek, I wince and realize what he meant.
“Ugh.” I turn my head away and hiss, “What do you care?”
“So, uh …” Lamar mumbles as he and Quint tiptoe around us. “If y’all need us, we’re gonna be … avoiding the hell outta this conversation. Deuces.”
He throws a peace sign up on their way out the door, and suddenly, it’s just me.
And Wes.
Who is still staring at my freshly slapped cheek.
“Who did this to you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Fucking tell me, Rain.”
“Fine! You did this to me, okay? You. If you had been here, none of this would have happened!”
Wes drops his eyes, the lids stained purple from exhaustion.
Just like mine.
“I’m sorry.” His voice is soft and sincere and makes me want to do stupid things like kiss his violet eyelids, so I turn and walk to the counter to put some space between us instead.
I sit on the dark gray surface next to the medical supplies. It’s better over here. I feel like I can almost think now. Almost.
“I’ve never felt sorry for anything I’ve done before … but I’m sorry for this.” Wes’s eyes lift, and the remorse I see in them is all the apology I need.
I want to run to him and kiss the pain off his face, but I can’t. I’m paralyzed by his presence. All I can do is hold my breath and stare as he crosses the room like a ghost.
“I don’t expect you to understand what it’s like to fear something that doesn’t make any sense”—Wes takes a step toward me. Then, another—“but this”—he gestures between us with the flick of a finger—“this scares the shit out of me.”
Step.
“I was trying to protect myself.”
Step.
“But when I saw that broadcast today …” Wes shakes his head as the color drains from his face. “It made me realize that there’s something I want to protect even more than myself.”
Wes erases the gap between us with one final stride. His body comes to a stop between my dangling legs, and his palms find a home on my trembling thighs.
“I know you think you’re safe here, but you’re not. You taking care of Quint … all these witnesses …”
Wes cups my face just below my busted cheek. I close my eyes and lean into his touch even though it makes everything hurt that much worse.
“Piss off the wrong person, and they can make you disappear with one phone call, Rain.”
I pull my eyes shut tighter and shake my head against his palm.
No one here would do that. Would they?
