Page 36 of Chaos at Westbrook High

Kai keeps me pressed against his front, his arms enveloping me as he shares a look with Damon. Even though I know I shouldn’t be this close to him, I’m grateful for the hiding place, clutching his sides and pushing my face into his warm chest. He presses his lips to my forehead, and I begin to cry, my tears bleeding into the fabric of his shirt.

Chapter 15

KAI

I can feel her heart beating through her clothes, a fast, erratic rhythm that does nothing to settle my own. She’s stopped hyperventilating, but she’s still shaking like a leaf. I still have no fucking clue what’s wrong or how to help her, so I just keep holding her, keep my arm wrapped tightly around her back, hers wrapped around my neck while she cries silently into my shoulder.

Once we got up to the penthouse, I carried her out of the elevator and over to the couch in the living room. I probably should have set her down then, but I wasn’t ready to let her go yet, so I sat down with her on my lap and hooked her legs around my waist. She didn’t fight me on it.

I don’t know how much time has passed since then because my phone is trapped in my pocket between our bodies, but it can’t have been more than a few minutes.

A dozen voices fill my ears at once, and I struggle to focus on what they’re saying, not missing the way Hailey grows even more tense against me.

“Baby, talk to me,” I say into her ear, rubbing my hand over her bare thigh when she starts shaking even harder. “Are you cold?”

She stiffly shakes her head, but she still doesn’t speak. She hasn’t said a single word. Not since she said my name in the lobby when I grabbed her.

Callie’s eyes meet mine over her shoulder, and we share a knowing, horrified look, my own hands shaking as I tighten my fist around Hailey’s hoodie. Callie knows I told Hailey about what Derek did to her. Fuck, I told her to ask him. I swear to God, if he did something to her, if he hurt her and had her running all the way to us of all people, I’ll kill him.

Hailey’s entire body locks up as I think that, and it’s only now I realize I’m squeezing her too tightly. I loosen my grip and lift a hand up to my neck, locking my fingers with hers. She holds onto me, her fingernails cutting into my knuckles when two of the live-in housekeepers rush over to us and start asking rapid-fire questions.

“What’s going on?”

“What happened?”

“Does she need anything?”

“Is she hurt?”

“Sweetie, do you need a doctor?”

Hailey flinches when one of them touches her shoulder, and I pull her away, glaring at the woman until she takes a full step back.

“I’m sorry, I?—”

Covering Hailey’s ears with my palms, I shout, “All of you shut the fuck up!”

The voices filling the room quickly cut off, and complete silence follows. I huff out a breath through my nose. I catch Wren, Levi, and Callie hiding their smiles on the other side of the couch, flipping them off before I glance at Damon. He doesn’t look as amused by me as they do. He hasn’t taken his narrowed eyes off the back of Hailey’s head since we sat down. I know he doesn’t trust her, even less so now, but he’ll just have to sit over there and deal with it. If he even tries to come near her right now, he and I are gonna have a fuckin’ problem.

Moving Hailey’s hood aside a little, I nuzzle in close and ask quietly, “Is that better?”

She nods, and I kiss her forehead, just like I did before I left her upset and alone in the coffee shop earlier tonight.

Fuck, I wish I hadn’t left her alone.

No longer crying, she breathes quietly against me, keeping one arm around my neck as she wipes the tears from her face with her sleeve. “Kai?” she whispers.

I breathe a sigh of relief at the sound of her voice. “Yeah, baby?”

“Does your penthouse take up the entire top floor of the hotel?”

“No. It takes up the entire top two floors. There are stairs behind you.”

She pulls her head back a little, still hidden from everyone else beneath her hood, her nose brushing mine as she cocks her head at me. I grin, and her face reddens at our current position, her head lowering as she looks down between us. I pull her chin up and lift her gaze back to mine, distracted a moment by how soft and beautiful she is, even with her tear stained eyes and mascara streaking down her cheeks.

“What happened, Hailey?”

I don’t expect an answer, and she doesn’t give me one, chewing her lower lip as she side-eyes the elevator. “Any chance you can slip me out of here?—”

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