Page 76 of The Scars of Us

Wrapping my towel around me, I walked into my bedroom, ready to thank Ryker again for being so considerate. As I opened my mouth to speak, I immediately closed it when my gaze landed on him. He was sleeping on top of the comforter of my bed.

My heart warmed at the sight of him sleeping so peacefully. He had said earlier that I deserved more than him, but he was wrong. He was perfect for me; if anything, I didn’t deserve him.

Not wanting to wake him, I quietly grabbed clothes to change into for bed and went back in the bathroom. He was still asleep when I came out, and I gnawed on my bottom lip as my thoughts attempted to ruin everything.I’ve never had a guy spend the night in my bed before. I don’t know if I can do this. Sleeping over at his house was one thing, but at mine is another. This is more personal, more intimate.

Sitting cautiously on my bed, careful not to wake Ryker, I studied him as my mind warred.Ryker won’t hurt you. Look at everything he’s done for you. You already broke your rule anyway.

My decision made, I slipped under the covers. The movement caused Ryker’s eyes to open. He blinked several times before his gaze met mine. “I didn’t realize how tired I was,” he yawned. “I better get going.”

“You wanna stay?” My tone was hopeful, yet nervous.

“Isn’t that against the rules?” he asked with a teasing grin.

Rolling my eyes, I smiled. “You’re right. I guess you should go, then.” I started pushing him off the bed for emphasis.

Grabbing my arms, he pulled me into him. “You know I like breaking rules, especially yours. I’ll stay.”

Letting go of me, he stood and kicked off his shoes. I was entranced by the rippling of his muscles as he removed his shirt and stripped his shorts off, leaving him in only his boxer-briefs.Dear lord, thank you for this man.

Joining me under the covers, he wrapped me in his embrace, spooning me. I felt his hot breath on my neck right before he placed a kiss there and whispered, “Night, Warrior.”

Laying my arms over his, I snuggled back into him. The smile was still on my face as I drifted into sleep.

Kaiya’s screams woke me in the middle of the night. Gasping for air, she sat up and clutched her throat as tears ran down her face. I tried to rub her back once I sat up, but she jerked away as soon as I touched her.

“Hey, it’s just me, Warrior. You’re safe,” I murmured softly, trying to soothe her.

Her eyes were wide with fear as she looked at me, examining every inch of my face, making sure it was really me. Finally, she leaned into my body and sighed before starting to sob again.Fuck, I hate when she cries.Pulling her into my lap, I attempted to comfort her, just like earlier that day. “Shh, baby. Don’t cry. I’m not going to let him hurt you ever again.”

Heavy footsteps pounded outside the door, getting louder with every step. Bursting into the room, Kamden flipped on the light, and his eyes darted from Kaiya in my arms to my face. “What did you do to her?” he seethed, his teeth gritted and fists clenched as he approached the bed.

“Nothing—she had a nightmare,” I defended. Kaiya had her face buried in my chest. Her tears dripped down my skin as she continued to cry uncontrollably.

“Let me have her,” he demanded, motioning with his hands for me to hand her to him.

I felt like I was having deja vu from the night she was attacked. I shook my head. “Nah, I’m good. I’ve got her.”

Kamden’s nostrils flared as we stared each other. “You and me,” he gestured stiffly, the anger evident in his tone and body. “We need to have a talk.”

“Not right now we don’t,” I countered, not backing down.

He stuck his jaw out defiantly. “In the morning.”

“Fine,” I clipped.Leave already.

He angrily stalked out of the room without another word, leaving me alone with Kaiya.Finally.Softly stroking her hair, I whispered words of comfort and rocked her gently. I didn’t know how long we sat there like that, but I didn’t care. She needed me, and I was going to do everything I could to be there for her.

Once she finally pulled away, her face was splotchy and her eyes were red. Moisture streaked her cheeks as she gazed up at me, still loosely holding her throat.

“Wanna talk about it, baby?”

She scanned over my face again as she bit her bottom lip, deciding whether or not to tell me. I expected her to say no, but she shocked me by nodding and letting out a heavy breath.

“We were seventeen. Kaleb had been more aggressive than normal for a few weeks, so I’d been avoiding him as much as possible, staying late at school, hanging out at Nori’s, partying, going anywhere but home. That really pissed him off, and…” She paused as a sob broke through. I rubbed her back while she took some deep breaths to calm herself. Her voice was still shaky when she spoke again. “He… he took it out on me one afternoon when no one else was home. He took off my clothes, and started touching me, which I was used to already, but then… then he started taking off his clothes, too,” she softly cried, choking back another sob.

My body was a volcano ready to erupt with rage.How could her brother, her twin no less, do that to her?

“He’d never done that before, and I put two and two together, knowing what he planned to do. Usually he just took my clothes off, but he’d caught me having sex with a guy from our school, found out that I’d given something away that was supposedly his, so he wanted to take it back. I mean, it wasn’t the first time that I’d had sex, but it was the first time Kaleb had found out about it.”

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