Page 8 of Dusty and Dented
Chapter Seven
Andy’s head hurt.Shelay still as she tried to remember why she felt so bad.Then she remembered.Travis was dead.She’d gone to his funeral.Her chest ached and her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton.She shouldn’t have cried herself to sleep, but it had been the only thing she’d been able to do.Once the tears had started, she hadn’t been able to stop.
She tried to push herself into a sitting position, but there was an unfamiliar weight over her.She frowned and tried to think if she’d done anything, or if anything had happened to make it hard for her to move.It took a moment of running everything she’d done through her mind before she remembered.She’d been here, crying and not wanting to deal with anyone, when Dagger had come into the room.She remembered him talking to her.She remembered refusing to listen, even giving up on answering and hoping he would just go away if she ignored him.But he hadn’t.Instead, he’d lain on the bed beside her and held her until she’d fallen asleep.
Was he still there?Was he still here, holding her?How long had she slept?
“I hope you’re feeling better after your nap.”Dagger’s voice was gentle.As if she might startle or run if he was too loud.His arms loosened around her.
“A little,” she said, lifting her head and shoving the blanket off it.Her throat was so dry she had to swallow before speaking again.“You don’t happen to still have that water you wanted me to drink before, do you?”
“Yeah, just a sec.”He moved the arm that had been wrapped around her and twisted around to grab a bottle off the nightstand then brought it back around.“Here you are.I wanted to make sure it was here if you wanted it.”He twisted the cap, breaking the seal before handing it to her.
Andy pushed herself upright, took the bottle and tipped it back.It took her a moment and several drinks, but she finished the bottle and handed it back to him.
“Thank you.”She tilted her head as she watched his face.“Why are you here?”She had to admit, at least to herself, that she hadn’t expected him to do anything but ignore her.She’d wanted him to ignore her.It was what she was used to, and she knew how to handle that.
“I couldn’t take the sound of your heart breaking any longer.Not without doing something, anything.”He pushed himself up the bed so he leaned against the wall, but didn’t make any move to leave.
“So, you decided to come hold me?”She frowned, trying to understand.
Even Travis would have just left her alone.A sharp pain shot through her chest as she thought about her brother.For a moment she wondered if she would end up in tears again, but none came.Either she’d cried herself out for a while or she was too dehydrated to produce tears.Considering how much she’d cried over the last week, neither would surprise her.
“It wasn’t my plan when I came in.I was just trying to get you to stop for a minute and drink something, but you were inconsolable.You were determined to be left alone.”He shrugged.“I couldn’t take it.I did the only thing I could think of.I held you to show you in some small way that you’re not alone.Even if it feels like you are.”
Andy didn’t know what to think.She did feel alone.She had ever since Raven had shown up at her door and told her about Travis.She didn’t see how someone wrapping an arm around her for a couple of hours would change anything, but she didn’t say it.He was trying to be nice and she couldn’t tell him how alone she still felt, even with him sitting right beside her, his long legs stretched out on top of her bed and crossed at the ankles.
“You took your boots off,” she said with a frown as she stared at his stocking feet.
“Yeah.I wouldn’t put my boots on your bed.That’s rude.”He watched her, his eyes wide with surprise.
She lifted one shoulder and let it fall without saying anything.She wasn’t used to someone being so considerate.Travis might have come in and curled up on her bed with her ...not if she was crying, though.But he wouldn’t have thought twice about climbing in with his shoes on.She’d gotten on him more than once for it.
Then she remembered she would never have to remind him to take his dirty boots off her furniture again.It felt like someone had ripped part of her body away.She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and exhaled.She didn’t even bother trying to keep herself from trembling, as she didn’t care if the man still sitting beside her knew how she felt.
Dagger knew what she was going through.Hell, he had an element of it himself.Even if he wasn’t as close to Travis, her brother had been his friend.Or as Travis had kept trying to convince her, his brother.
She didn’t understand how Travis could consider these men brothers, especially since he hadn’t known most of them until he was grown.But then, she didn’t have anyone she was as close to as him.Maybe that was part of why this hurt so much.
“Enough of that.”Dagger’s voice pulled Andy from her thoughts.
“Of what?”
