Page 8 of Duke
I raise my voice, so they can hear me over the water. “You can come in. We’re just finishing up.”
She picks up the shampoo from the shelf, pausing before she starts. “Something about closing my eyes makes me dizzy.”
“I won’t let you fall. In fact, why don’t I deal with your hair? Maybe if you put your hands on the glass in front of you, you’ll be able to keep your bearings better.”
“Good idea,” she murmurs as the door opens. Bear and Duke file in, immediately taking in the two of us. Lennon is quiet as I work the shampoo through her long locks, and the guys take advantage of that, firing what feels like a million questions at me with their eyes. Does she remember what happened? Was she assaulted? Is she gonna be okay? I give a slight shrug, along with a grimace of uncertainty, unable to answer much of anything. I mouth them a completely honest, “I don’t know.”
A few minutes later, we’re done with both shampoo and conditioner and ready to exit the shower stall. Lennon hasn’t spoken since Duke and Bear joined us, but I think it’s mostly the result of having way too much on her mind.
Bear holds up a pair of panties and one of his T-shirts. “I thought she could use something to change into.”
Duke clears his throat, not to be outdone, and holds up her hair dryer as well as something in a small plastic package. “I’ve got the hair dryer, and apparently these were on the grocery list. Figured I’d bring them up here while I was thinking about it.”
Aha.My lips curve into a grin. “Those would be the hair ties I requested.” I hold up a finger. “But please say you’ll still put your hair up with the pencil sometimes. It’s so fucking sexy.”
My smile falters when Lennon’s eyes ping nervously from one of us to the other. I would have thought at least the hair ties would make her happy, but she wets her lips, and I swear to fuck it looks like she’s going to cry. “What’s wrong?” I tug her body to mine, unsure what’s setting her off.
“Nothing.” She sucks in a breath, wiping her fingers under her eyes. “This has all been a lot, and I—” Shrugging, she shakes her head. “Just… thank you. No one was there to help me the last time something like this happened.”
SIX
DUKE
What the hellis Lennon talking about with “the last time”?My heart squeezes hard in my chest. I glance to my side, seeing Bear having much the same goddamn reaction. Mason, though—his level of surprise is not in line with ours. He obviously knows shit about her that we don’t, and whether that information came to him minutes ago or weeks ago, I have no idea.
Mason wets his lips, then presses them together with a shake of his head. I read theWe’ll talk laterclear as day in his eyes. Doesn’t fucking help that I want to know right fucking now, but I tamp down the irrational urge to demand more information for Lennon’s sake. Because I don’t want to cause this girl an ounce of grief. I don’t want her to hurt another second in her entire life, but I’m really fucking scared that what she went through tonight has done damage.
I don’t know how I’ll live with myself knowing she somehow was drugged, taken, and… abused… all right here under our goddamn noses. But how did it happen? Where the fuckwasshe? My inner self screams with fury, but outwardly, I keep it contained. Controlled. Because that’s what I’m best at. And in this case, it’s necessary. It would be bad to have me lose it right now, not with Bear’s current behavior being so unpredictable and Mase’s switch too easily flippable. I pass a few towels to him in the shower stall and wait, watching Lennon carefully for clues.
She bends and wraps one towel around her head and hair while Mason dries off her body with another and wraps it around her before hurriedly securing a third towel around his waist. I hover at the shower opening, holding a hand out to her as she steps toward me. “Feel better?” I scrape my teeth firmly over my lower lip.
Our eyes connect. I don’t like the turmoil I see there. She draws in one breath and then another before nodding. “Yeah. A little. I still don’t feel right.” She holds a hand up. “And before you ask again, I don’t know what the hell happened. It’s mostly a blank.” Her eyes flick to Bear. She looks like she wants to say something to him about his earlier tirade, but she doesn’t… and boy is it written all over his face that he’s seriously regretting losing his shit. Taking a breath, her head swivels toward me. “Can you help me dry my hair?”
I nod, ushering her over to where I’d set the dryer on the counter, and we spend the next few minutes getting her hair semidry, then Mason helps her into panties and the T-shirt Bear had brought for her.
“Lennon,” Bear mumbles, running a hand through his already disheveled hair, his exhausted face drawn and tense.
Yep. Saw this coming.
Her gaze finds his, her brows raising at the apology already present in the big guy’s gruff voice. “Yeah?”
He comes to stand in front of her, placing his hands on either side of the countertop, gingerly leaning part of his weight on his right hand. He winces, and my brow furrows. Don’t like that one bit—especially not with a fight tonight—but it sure does fuckin’ explain things. “Baby, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I was frustrated, and the last person I should have taken it out on was you.” His chest rises and falls quickly as he stares into her eyes. “I was scared.” For several quiet, heartbreaking moments, she searches his gaze before audibly exhaling. Grasping his head between her hands, she tugs him closer until their foreheads touch.
I get Mason’s attention, jerking my head toward the bedroom. Giving a quick nod, he leads the way out, shutting the door behind us to give them some privacy. “Something is wrong. His arm. Those prescription meds he said he had and that he’s out of. He’s—”
“Taking shit he shouldn’t be.” With regret, I voice the earlier thought that’d run through my head out at the pool house.Jesus, was that really earlier this evening?“Mase, I have serious doubts he’s seen an actual doctor at all. And I’d bet a lot of money at Daddy Pierce’s poker table that his old man is the supplier.”
Pacing, Mason winces. “If Bear’s been taking narcotics or something similar, and all of a sudden he’s run out, that explains the erratic, mean behavior, the pain he’s in— He’s going through withdrawal. With some of that shit, it happens pretty fast. How much you wanna bet that’s what he stayed to discuss with his dad?” Mason shoots me a disgusted grimace. “That evil fucker. The only good thing about him is Bear, and it seems like he’s determined to fuck him over. If his coach—or worse, scouts—get wind of what’s going on…Fuck.Bear shouldknowbetter,” he hisses, stopping at the side of the bed and turning to face me.
“I agree. I say we sit him down soon.” I pause, my teeth clenching. “You know, when we’re not overwhelmed with our current shitstorm.”
Mason’s eyes are as dark as sin, a wild chaos in them that worries me. “Yep. As much as I hate to say it, and as fucked as Bear’s situation is, we’ve got other things to talk about.”
I exhale heavily. “I need out of these fucking clothes. I’m gonna do that real quick, then I’ll tell you what Warren had to say.”
“Deal. I’ll find something to throw on, too.”
It doesn’t take either of us more than two minutes. I’d stripped and put on a pair of shorts. Mason hadn’t even bothered with shorts, just lost the towel and slipped into a pair of boxer briefs. Hopefully I can focus despite his choice to run around in his fuckin’ underwear, because we’ve got shit to discuss.
