Page 61 of Hell & Back

“Why didn’t you let us bring you home?” she asked.

Fuck. He knew this was coming. “I just needed some space after being caged for so long.”

She bit her bottom lip and he knew he’d hurt her. He felt like such an asshole for blurting it out like that. She didn’t need to know details of his time with the Phantoms.

“I bet he’d love to get a shower and something to eat,” Tuck stepped in. His expression clearly said he was helping him out, but he wanted answers.

“Yeah. I’d love a shower.” He clasped his hands over his dick.

“I’ll fix you something to eat and bring it to your room.” Her smile was weak and hesitant as she walked away.

Darren couldn’t take it anymore. His dick was starting to throb and he needed to get to his room. Now. Maybe an extremely cold shower would help? He didn’t wait to see if Tuck was following him, he just walked off. He started stripping off his clothes as soon as he entered his room. By the time he hit the bathroom he was naked. He turned the shower on and stepped inside, not waiting for it to warm up. He did a quick scrub down and washed his hair. After being held in that filthy cell, having drugs forced on him and physically forced to have sex with Sadie, he’d felt mentally violated.

Feeling he was as clean as he was going to get, he turned the shower on as cold as it would go and sank to the floor. His dick was at full mast again and it was starting to get painful. The painlevel was only at a four or five out of ten right now, but past experience showed him it was going to get a hell of a lot worse. Damn it. He should have asked Bacon for some sleeping pills so he could stay asleep until the drug left his system. It couldn’t last much longer, right? A day or two?

“How are you?” Tuck asked from the other side of the glass. He was leaning against the counter, his arms and ankles crossed, watching Darren with a critical eye, as if by staring at him long enough and hard enough, he’d be able to see what he was holding back.

“Not good.” He scrubbed his face with both hands to keep from reaching for his dick.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“No. Not right now.” Tuck’s frown smoothed out and his shoulders relaxed.

Tuck was his best friend and they’d been through a hell of a lot together. He should be able to talk to him abut all this but he couldn’t. He was scared of what Tuck would say and do once he found out he’d cheated on Kylie. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that his friend would no longer want him to be a part of his and Kylie’s lives. By keeping his silence, Darren was only putting off the inevitable, making him a rat bastard for wanting to pretend she was still his for just a little longer.

“Are you sure?”

“I can’t.” He was starting to shiver and his dick was feeling numb. Maybe this was a good time to get out. If he was lucky, it would stay that way for a while.

“I really wish you’d talk to me. Kylie’s gonna want to take you home tonight so she can take care of you.” When Darren remained quiet, he continued. “We talked to Bacon. He told us what to expect when it comes to the drug.”

Darren closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the shower wall, the cold water hitting his face. “I can’t be around her right now. I need time and space. Please.”

It took Tuck a moment to respond. “All right. I’ll take her home.”

“Just like that?”

Darren opened his eyes as he raised his head and turned toward his friend.

“Yeah. Just like that. You need time, I’ll give you time, but not too much.” He dropped his arms to his sides as he straightened from the counter and turned toward the door.

Was it really that easy? Before Tuck made it out the door he asked, “Can you grab me some clothes?”

“Sure.”

Tuck came back and placed the clothes on the counter before leaving him alone to get dried off and dressed.

Darren pulled on the sweats, dreading how the material would feel against his dick. He reached for the shirt and pulled it over his head. Fuck, he was cold. He turned off the light and opened the door to find Kylie sitting on the side of the bed patiently waiting on him while Tuck leaned against the wall by the door, standing in a similar position as he’d been in the bathroom.

“I made your favorite.” Kylie’s sweet voice broke the silence. “Roast beef, swiss, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo. I also got you a can of Pringles and a Dr. Pepper.” She pointed to where the food sat on the nightstand.

It looked really good and he was starving. He couldn’t remember the last time those fuckers fed him. “Thanks, honey. It looks good.” He took a seat on the side of the bed with her, leaving space between them. This felt so unnatural, keeping his distance from her. Before all this happened, he would have had her pinned to the bed and buried inside her in no time.

He picked up the sandwich and took a big bite. “Fantastic. God, I can’t even remember the last time they fed us.” That was the wrong thing to say. Her eyes teared up, but she blinked several times to make them go away. That was his girl. She was tough. But was she tough enough to get past what he’d been through and forgive him? Did he even have the right to ask that of her?

“After you eat, we can go home. You can kick back and watch TV. We don’t have to talk, just veg out.”

He’d taken another bite before she said that and now he struggled to swallow it down past the lump in his throat.

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