Page 78 of Unloved

I’d happily let her do either.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“I’m fine, princess,” I answer immediately, and Bennett drops my arms, grumbling something under his breath as he steps back.

Holden starts to walk Tyler out the door, but not quickly enough as the little idiot turns around to us and spits out, “Better add ‘Get an STD’ to that stupid sex bucket list of yours.”

Ro’s face drains of color. I want to tell her that I saw the list, that it’s nothing to be ashamed of—but she’s embarrassed, clearly upset. And that’s more than enough for me.

But I also want to hit him again, so I snap forward. Bennett is surprisingly quicker for all his size, jerking me back.

“Stop,” he commands, quiet and steady. “Holden, get him the hell out of here.”

Holden does as he’s told, but Ro still looks borderline ill.

Wrapping my arm around her shoulder doesn’t seem to shake her. Even as she patiently cleans up my blood from the one or two hits Tyler managed to get in, she barely breathes, eyes distant.

By the time we emerge from the bathroom together, Bennett looks distressed.

“Go home. Make sure Rhys drinks some water before youleave him in his room. I’ll be there soon to deal with it,” Bennett snaps. As if handling the sad, drunken Rhys situation and breaking up a fight in the living room wasn’t enough, I can see something else has clearly happened to fray the edges of his careful control.

But I’m too worried about Ro to ask, so I nod and take her hand as we go down the back staircase and outside, rounding the house toward Sadie’s car parked down the street.

We’re barely past the yard before I try to stop Ro.

“Princess,” I say, but she doesn’t even pause her stride. “Hey, Ro, wait.”

Coming to a sudden stop with my hand wrapped around her wrist, she looks up at me, eyes glassy.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed about whatever he was talking about.”Real subtle, Fredderic.“You can talk to me about it. I’m not—I want to know.”

It’s not the right thing to say, but I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t stop wishing I knew his address to add a few more injuries to the count for making Ro feel like this.

“Just drop it, Freddy,” she sighs, tugging her hand away.

It makes me feel alone, that trickle of abandonment playing at the edges of my mind. I try to shove the voices back, already trying to tell me what apathetic idiotI am.A whore. A brute.

“Rosalie—”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it, Matt,” she snaps, and I almost flinch. “Especially not with you.”

Her words might as well be fucking knives for how they land. Swift kicks to the stomach would be preferable.

But instead of letting any of it show, I nod and slip a tiny smile onto my face as we walk to the car.

The ride is silent.

Even Sadie doesn’t play any music.

I wasn’t expecting a text back from Ro—I even thought she might dump me off on another tutor after my display last night. So her last-minute agreement to meet up with me at Brew Haven has me jumping out of bed and throwing on a hoodie and sweatpants lightning fast.

Thankfully, I woke as early as Bennett, surprisingly—early enough to hear the whispered conversation in the hallway and wait until the front door closed to make my entrance.

“You’re up early.”

It’s more of an inquiry than it is a true statement, because Bennett isalwaysup early. He looks upset, but nods while continuing to stare at the front door like he’s trying to make some sort of decision.

“Didn’t know you even came home last night, let alone with a houseguest,” I say, sliding on my shoes by the door, carefully tying the white laces. Even now, nearly two months later, it’s hard to erase the memory of that string weaving around Ro’s hair, looping the lace and the feel of the frizzy curls against my palms.

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