Page 70 of All Our Ghosts

“You’re lucky she’s fucking alive, Nash! Do you know what happened to her? Before you ran off to god knows where?” He snarls, taking a step towards me. “Do you?”

“I went to Fisher’s,” I say almost defeated, my gaze never leaving Kadence. “So yeah, I know.”

“You drove to Alabama?”

I nod.

“You know what was in the reports, but you don’t know what she experienced,” Cole says as if he knows something I didn’t. I saw the hospital records and the photos of her skin. I even read the police report from the night her world changed.

“Does she know you know?” He asks.

I shake my head. “No.”

Cole lets out a hollow laugh, glancing back at Kadence. “This is on you. Everything that happened tonight is on fuckingyou.” He turns back to me. “You don’t leave. Again.” He bites through a clenched jaw. “You make this fucking right and youlether tell you what happened.”

“You don’t think I know that?!” I boom, tired of his lecturing. “You don’t think I know that the reason she’s half dead in that bathtub right now is because of me? I don’t need you to tell me that, Cole, I fuckingknow it.You didn’t have to carry her lifeless body through the fucking forest to get her here!”

“Hey!” Wolfe’s voice interrupts. “Cole, get the fuck out.”

I glance over seeing him in the doorway. His face is stone and his jaw locked. “What the fuck do you want?” I sneer at him. “You wanna tell me how much of a fucking idiot I am too?”

Dex narrows his eyes at me before tossing a glare to Cole.

“Take a walk, Cole,now,” he growls, not warning him again.

Cole moves past me, smacking his shoulder into my own before leaving the room.

“You two need to get it the fuck togethertonight,” Dex seethes. “Whatever the hell is going on with you two is damaging the club and it’s going to get someone fucking killed.”

“Tell that to him.”

“I’m telling that to you, Nash,” he counters. “Neither of you seem to have a coherent thought when you’re having a pissin’ contest about who is more high and mighty.”

“I know I’m not high and mighty, Wolfe.” I turn to him. “Do you?”

Dex tilts his head. “Who the fuck do you think gave her the keys to the truck?”

Guilt flickers in his eyes, and I feel it in my chest. “Why did you do it?”

Wolfe moves to the bathroom doorway, watching her in the tub for a few moments before turning back to me. “Because you two are the most stubborn fucking humans I’ve ever met and I’m the one who told her not to give up on you.”

My brows furrow. “Why? Why not just move in on her yourself? You two looked pretty cozy at the club.” I shake my head, regretting the words as soon as they fall from my mouth. When the fuck did I become so fucking insecure?

Dex shakes his head “Because I’m not the one she’s in love with, Nash.” He says it as if it should be so obvious to me but all it feels like is a punch to the gut. “You know she went searching for you after you left?” Wolfe crosses his arms over his chest, leaning against the door frame. “Took her to Moon thinkin’ you might be there. She stood up to Layla for about five seconds before Layla started suggesting she work at the club to get your attention.”

I card my fingers through my hair, gripping the root. “Why the fuck–”

“Because she loves you. I don’t know why and I don’t even think she realizes it. I don’t know what happened between youtwo that you both are now tethered, but she does and she was ready to give that up because you ran.” He pauses. “Kadence needs sturdy, Nash. She needs someone to stand by her when shit gets tough, not someone who runs away when a minor inconvenience shows up in his path. She had that and worse… and sheran.”

My eyes find her again through the doorway. The water has probably cooled off by now and I know I need to get her out of there, but I’m frozen. She doesn’t deserve this. Doesn’t deserve the constant flip flop of emotions I deal with.

“When that car is fixed, what do you think she’ll do?” He asks, getting my attention. I hadn't thought that far. I knew she wouldn't go back to Florida, but maybe she would leave all of this behind, and right now, I wouldn't blame her if she did. "If you want her to stay, you have to show her that. Quit runnin' because she never gave up on you and I have a feeling she won't wait around again for you to come back if you do."

I consider his words as Wolfe pushes off the frame and moves towards me. "Be that rock for her because I can't--" He pauses, forcing my gaze to his. Something in the way he says it sounds like Wolfe wants to be that for her. "I won't be your stand-in anymore, Nash."

Dex moves past me. “Get her changed, get yourself changed and get her in bed. Lang will be here soon.”

I watch the door shut behind Dex. Was she in love with me? Better question: was I in love with her? I had never felt this conflicted over someone before. I never felt as angry as I did the day I left. I should have let her explain, should have stayed even if what she had to say hurt.

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