Page 25 of Now Streaming

“Who did this?” He was proud of how calm he sounded, considering all he could think about was how much he needed to destroy the bastard, slam his fist into a face again and again.

Min shook her head, her forehead on her knees. “The police are coming to process the scene. The hotel is going over their security footage, but they won’t have anything tonight. But the police said on the phone that they won’t be able to release my room until they’ve gone over it thoroughly, and the hotel is at capacity. Everywhere is booked for the convention, and I can’t get a hold of a friend I know is here. I don’t know what to do.” She took a shuddering breath, watery eyes meeting his. “They destroyed everything. I only have what was in my backpack.”

Hayden looked down the empty hall, wondering where the police were, but then focused on Min. He held out his hand.

“Come on.”

“I’m not really in the mood for company right now, Hayden.”

“Well, too bad.” He reached down, grabbed her by her upper arms, and easily pulled her up to stand. She stumbled at the sudden movement, not expecting it, and Hayden wrapped his arms around her to steady her, one hand buried in her hair and the other locked around her waist in the tightest hug he could manage. He didn’t want to examine why, but suddenly everything in him needed to hold her.

He felt her tense, felt how surprised she was at the physical contact, and then she melted against him, letting him take her weight. With a sob, the tears came. He held her while she cried against him, her tears wetting his shirt. Stroking her hair, Hayden murmured in her ear that he had her, that she was okay, that they were going to deal with this together. He didn’t really know what he was saying, but he knew he meant it.

Her sobs turned to hiccups, and he pulled her even closer to him as she quieted. He turned his face into her hair, feeling her breath on his skin, feeling her pulse calm from the hand he had on the nape of her neck. After several long moments, the sound of a throat clearing interrupted them. Hayden looked up to see two officers had joined them in the hall.

“Hi, sorry to interrupt. We’re here to process the room.”

Hayden nodded as Min’s head came up and she pulled away from him, wiping her eyes. Or at least she tried. Hayden kept his arm around her, his hand on her waist, not letting her back up too far. She shot him a bewildered look before turning to the cops.

“Do you need me for anything?”

“No ma’am, we have your statement. We’ll call you and let you know when we’re done processing.”

She nodded, then looked around, clearly at a loss for what to do.

“Come on.” Hayden bent and scooped up her backpack. With a nod to the officers, he pulled Min across the hall to his room, keeping his hand at her back as he unlocked the door and ushered her inside.

Hayden led her to the bed and gently pushed her to sit on it. She was overwhelmed, and a little numb, he thought. After the huge shock she had found in her room, he couldn’t blame her. She had had just as long of a day as he had, and he felt dead on his feet. He couldn’t imagine how she felt coming back to that scene in her room.

To that fucking video.

“What do you need?” He was already grabbing a bottle of water for her, twisting it open before handing it to her. Once he saw her take a sip, he kneeled down at her feet and started to unlace her shoes. She didn’t even react, which showed how completely out of it she was.

“Nothing. Everything. The only clothes I have are the ones that I’ve been wearing all day and FlameThrower’s outfit. Christ, I don’t even have anything to sleep in.”

Her breathing was coming faster, probably on the verge of a panic attack. Hayden took her now bare foot into his hand and squeezed it gently.

“Hey. Look at me.”

Her big brown eyes locked on his, stealing his breath away.

“The cops are going to find who did this. The person is going to go to jail, hopefully sometime shortly after I break all of his bones. You are going to continue with the tournament and the convention because you love it. And you are not going to let this asshole ruin it for you. Now breathe.”

She took a deep breath, her eyes never leaving his.

“Again.”

She took another one, and he could see her shoulders start to relax a little.

“Good girl.” He put her foot down, and then went to the dresser, pulling out a shirt and some sweatpants. He handed them to her, then walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower to hot. Satisfied with the temperature, he walked back into the bedroom to find her still sitting on his bed, staring at the clothes he had handed her.

“Min. Take a shower, wash off this day, and I’ll order us some food. Sound good?”

She lifted her eyes to his, and he was hit once again with how vulnerable she looked. Without thinking about it, he reached out, brushing some of her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail back behind her ear.

“You’re going to be okay, Min.” He willed his strength to flow into her, through the barely there touch of his fingers in her hair.

Finally, she nodded, taking his clothes, hugging them a little while she stood and slowly made her way to the bathroom.

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