Page 56 of Fight For Us
I didn’t take anychances while we walked the short way back to the hotel. Olivia shined her flashlight ahead of us and I clenched an empty beer bottle, ready to use it as a weapon if I needed to. Thankfully, we made it back to the room in one piece and locked every lock on the door.
“This room feels like a palace compared to that bar,” I said, trying to break the tension. I sat on the edge of the bed and patted the spot beside me. “Come sit. You’re shaking.”
“Just the adrenaline,” she said, sitting beside me. “It’ll wear off.”
I yanked the comforter out from under her and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not and neither am I.” I groaned and reached down to take off my shoes. She followed the movement with her eyes.
“I’m sorry about what they said. You know, about your leg.”
Tossing my shoes aside, I leaned back on my elbows. “Don’t worry about that, Tiger. I’ve heard much worse.”
“That’s horrible. Why are people so awful?” She wrapped a strand of hair around her finger and chewed her lip.
“Not all. Unfortunately, assholes make up the loudest of the bunch.” I pushed up and grabbed the now warm bottle of sparkling wine from the bucket of melted ice. “Drink?”
“Why not?” she said. “My nerves could use it.” I twisted the cap and brought the bottle over. We took turns sipping in silence.
“Earlier, when you went to the bathroom,” she started. I knew where the question was headed. “Did I say something that bothered you?”
I took another swig and passed it to her. No time like our wedding night for a load of trauma dumping. “No, Tiger. You didn’t upset me.”
She swallowed a sip. “What was it then? I could see the change in your expression. Your whole body sagged.”
“It’s a long story, but Dylan—my best friend—he died about eight years ago. It’s been a while since I’ve talked about him.” Even saying his name out loud again brought too many feelings to the front of my mind.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “You must miss him so much.” I cleared my throat and she passed me the almostempty bottle.
“I do. He was more like a brother to me than a friend. He loved the shit out of Lilly too, even if he only got to be her uncle for a short time.” I thought about how Dylan always gave her piggy back rides and brought her toys even when we told him she had too many. He was one of the only people who didn’t give me shit for marrying Sav when I was nineteen. He’d do the same in my situation.
“I bet she loved him.” Olivia smiled softly and reached out her hand. I went to hand her back the bottle, but she reached past it, settling her palm on my forearm. I stared at the plain gold band, an heirloom from my mother, and my chest swelled.
“Yeah. Everyone who knew him loved him.” I played with the ring, running my fingertip over the band. “You need a better ring than this.”
“Changing the subject?” she asked.
“No, not really. Just saying.”
“I like this ring. It’s simple and it was your mom’s, but if you want to buy me something else I won’t object. Seems silly though.” She reached for the bottle and took a long sip.
“Silly?”
“Yeah, no reason to buy a big diamond when this isn’t even real, right?” She shrugged and put the empty bottle on the floor. “Anytime you want to talk about Dylan, I’m here. We’re friends. And about earlier, I’m fine. Or at least I will be. I’ve handled worse and lived through it.” My stomach bottomed out and I grimaced, not knowing how to respond. She climbedup on wobbly feet and stretched. “I’m going to take a shower. Hopefully it’s at least clean-ish in there. Be right back.”
She grabbed a few items from her bag, walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
I sat there stewing in my thoughts. One part of me wanted to barge into the bathroom, yank the shower curtain open, and show her how not fake this was for me while the other part wanted to curl up in a ball and forget this day ever existed. What I felt for her got more and more real everyday, but clearly she didn’t feel the same way. The last thing she needed tonight was another man mauling her like a fucking horny bastard anyway.Finemay be her favorite word, but one look and I knew she was anything but.
I pulled out my phone charger and checked my phone for messages before plugging it in. As I lifted my eyes from the screen, Olivia came into the room in another of those tiny tank tops and shorts. Her hair dripped water onto the front of the fabric, making a wet spot spread right above her tits. Because of course that would happen. When she caught me staring, she cleared her throat.
“Shower’s not too bad, it you need one.” I did, but I didn’t want to grab my seat from the car. Probably should have thought of that when we carried the bags inside. I remembered my crutches though.
“I’ll just wash up. I can shower in the morning.”
“Okay.” She bent down to grab her charger from her bag, and the curve of her ass peeked from the bottom of her shorts. Fuck. Why did she have to have such an amazing body? “Have you heard from your parents?”
