Page 8 of Surviving Slater
He nodded.
The urge to lose my temper and yell at him for hurting me before took all my self-control. I wasn't going to allow him to see how badly it had hurt. Granted, we hadn't been dating, it had been casual between us, but the connection had meant something to me.
I shook my head and dropped my gaze, unable to look at him. Every time I looked at him, my heart sped up and I felt more alive. I hated feeling that way about him. The moment he entered a room, somehow I could sense him. He had a way of blocking out everything else when he was around. It was an addictive feeling.
Trying to be the better person, I looked up at him, burying any feelings about him deep down.
"I appreciate your concern," I said, sounding more business-like, which helped keep my emotions under control, "but I'm not yours to worry about." I paused for a moment, trying to find the right words to get my message across without showing him my true feelings. "Matthew is being a very good friend at the moment and that's what I need."
I didn't tell him I only saw Matthew as an older brother-figure. For some reason I refused to tell him that. Maybe a childish part of me hoped he was feeling jealous as well.
Not that it would make any difference.
We'd had our chance and it was gone. Now we had to find a way to be around each other without causing tension or awkwardness. There was a very good chance Sin and Taylor would sort out their issues. And that meant that no matter how we felt about each other we were going to be seeing each other whether we liked it or not.
I didn't say anything else before I left him standing and watching me as I headed to Matthew, who had been watching the exchange.
"Everything okay?" he asked when I walked up to him.
"Yes, everything is fine."
Chapter Three
For the nextfew days I shut any thoughts of Slater down. I concentrated on supporting Taylor as much as I could. I could see the fear that lingered in her eyes. It would take time for her to deal with the aftereffects of her kidnapping and attack. Her wounds on the outside began to heal but I was more worried about the emotional ones that no one could see.
The doctor had told her to take time off and take it easy but she made no attempt to go back to school. I was really worried about her; she seemed broken and unable to find a way back to normality.
Things between her and Sin hadn't gone quite the way I had expected. The look on his face when he had left her hospital room had left no doubt that things hadn't worked out. It was hard not to feel sorry for him when I had seen the devastation in his eyes.
Despite my own issues with Slater, I still hoped somehow they would work things out. I wanted her to be happy and I was convinced the only person who could do that was Sin. My opinion of him had changed drastically. It was hard to believe when they had first met I had warned her he would break her heart.
I knocked on Taylor's door. There was silence. I debated whether to leave her alone but I decided she couldn't just spend all day in her room alone. There was a chance she was sleeping but I opened her door anyway.
Her room was dark, the thick curtains keeping the afternoon sun out. She lay on her side with the blankets up to her chin. Her eyes were open.
"Hi," I said softly, taking the tone a mom would speak to a young child, because she looked so vulnerable. It hurt to look at her and remember what she'd been through before and now.
She didn't answer. I bent down to her level and her eyes met mine.
"Are you okay?" I asked softly. I reached out and brushed some stray hair out of her face.
She nodded, but she wasn't. If she was, she wouldn't be hiding in her room.
"Why don't you take a shower and get dressed and we can go out for something to eat?" I told her, wanting to help her face her fears.
She frowned and pressed her lips together.
"We can take Matthew with us," I added. It wasn't like we really had a choice. After what had happened, and even though they had Eric in custody, Connor and Matthew weren't taking any chances with her safety.
"I can't," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not ready."
I smiled encouragingly. "That's okay."
I hated seeing her like this. It made me angry that the actions of one person had reduced her to this. She had fought hard to get through the horror of her childhood, only for everything she'd gained to be taken by the kidnapping.
"You ready to come out of your room?" I asked, hoping I could at least get her up and about in the apartment. Connor and Matthew were worried about her. The truth was we all were. Sin was calling Connor regularly to get updates on her because she refused to take his calls or answer his messages.
"Maybe later," she sidestepped.
