Page 38 of The Masks We Wear

An eerie and shadowy feeling overwhelms me with every step I take closer to the bedroom. The air doesn’t feel right in here. I have a painful feeling in my gut that something is terribly wrong and the unease and sheer worry that I have for the girl I’ve treated like shit recently sinks its sharp claws deep into my skin, drawing blood and searching to engrave itself in my bones.

I hear a groan come from the bedroom and hurry, walking slowly and silently enough so as not to tip off whoever could be in here. When I make it to her bedroom, I press my back againstthe wall and slowly, ever so slowly, peek inside. The sight that I find tears my heart clean out of my chest and squeezes it to ash. Brody lays on her bed in a towel, the tanned skin of her thighs exposed, while a man in all black pins her down by her throat and strangles her. Her face is turning red and her eyes are starting to roll to the back of her head.

I snap immediately, all logic and reason escaping me. I would once consider myself to have been the most rational man I know, but one look at Brody in the position that she’s in has me ready to walk into that gray area I try my best to keep out of. I see red, scarlet and angry with a need to see more in the form of blood.

Brody

I’M SEEING STARS ANDnot the rock kind. Spots blur my vision as the man above me squeezes my throat tighter and the realization that I am going to die in this hotel room, murdered nonetheless, creeps in. My eyes start to flutter shut and just when they’re about to close completely, the man is torn away from me and I suck in a giant gulp of air.

I turn onto my side, curling into a ball as I gasp for air and sobs start to wrack my chest uncontrollably. I hold my throat where his hands just were, my hands trembling as shock sets in. I hear grunts and destruction at the foot of the bed but I can’t bring myself to pay attention to them, I’m too overwhelmed with the fact that I almost just died.

A set of hands land on me and I scream, afraid that it could be him coming to finally finish me off but when my eyes widen and land on the person placing gentle hands on me, I sit up and let her wrap her arms around me while she hugs me to her chest. I cough as I sob into Selene’s chest and she whispers reassurances and comfort into my ear. Two more figures come into view but the whole time, the grunting and groaning noises never goaway. Ivory’s face appears with Aria’s and the looks of worry on their faces are enough to send me spiraling. The shock fades as I realize they’re making those faces because this really did just happen. This man just broke into my room and tried to rob and kill me.

“Come on, B. We’re gonna get you out of here, okay?” Aria says in a soothing voice as she takes me from Selene’s arms and into her own. Ivory assists her in ushering me out of the room and Selene stays behind, talking in low voices with someone in the room. I can’t bring myself to focus on anything aside from my panic.

They take me to one of their rooms and Aria quickly tosses me a pair of navy-blue sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt. I dress myself with shaking hands and trembling limbs. I feel the pitying looks my friends are giving me like hot coals on my skin. When I’m dressed, Ivory wraps a fuzzy plush blanket around my shoulders and rubs my arm affectionately, “The police are on their way, B. It’s gonna be okay, Harvey handled him.”

Harvey? Harvey was there? My brows furrow and a frown sets into place on my face as more tears stream down my cheeks silently. The last thing I want is pity from Harvey and if he saw me like that or if he saw…something…I squeeze my eyes shut and sob uncontrollably. Ivory and Aria hold me and I take comfort in their embraces. We may have fought earlier and I may have thought they hated me, but they’re here for me when I need them the most and they’re still sober or at least, sober enough to be here for me. “I love you guys,” I whisper through choked sobs.

“We love you too,” Aria reassures.

Ivory nods, “We know things haven’t been easy and we haven’t been much help lately but we’ll always be here for you.”

I nod, sobbing and sobbing and I don’t even know how much time passes. I get lost in the memory of what just happened tome, the fear of my life slipping out of my grip, my friends and how loyal they are after everything we’ve been through recently, and Harvey. All roads lead back to Harvey Taylor. If I would’ve confided in him earlier, would he have come into my room? Would I have gone to his? If so, would what just happened to me still have happened?

The door to Aria’s room opens and I jump, afraid that it could be my attacker, but when I look up I find Selene with a startled and very worried expression on her face and a disheveled looking Harvey who has a look of torment on his. His eyes roam over me desperately as if he’s looking for signs of something and his eyes hover over my cheek and my throat a little longer than the rest of me. His face contorts into an expression of pure rage and I watch him as his eyes finally meet mine. It feels like we’re the only two in the room because I am completely unable to take my eyes off him and I feel this primal need to be in the safety of his arms. His eyes soften as he pushes past Selene and stops in front of me about a foot away. He reaches out to touch me but hesitates, remembering what just happened to me.

I take him in. The split and bleeding knuckles on his large hands, the drying bloody cut on his bottom lip. The splatter of blood on his cheek and bare chest, all of it. He must’ve been the one that came in the room and pulled him off me, he must’ve beaten him bloody. He could’ve stopped at tearing him off me but from what I heard in the room, he lost control. He lost control because ofme. More tears pour out of me as his softened expression watches me closely as if I could break at any minute and he wants to catch all the pieces and glue them back together. Before I can think better of it, I push out of my friends’ arms and into his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist and sobbing into his warmth.

He hesitates before wrapping his arms around me and holding me tightly. He grounds me with his touch, his warmth,the slow breaths he takes into his chest, and the rapid pounding of his heart. He cups the back of my head to him with one hand and allows the other to rest on my back. I may have been furious with him before but all thoughts of anger vanish in this moment because Harvey Taylor just saved my life. Whether he did it for me or for his job and reputation, I can’ bring myself to care at this moment. All I can care about is the blanket of protection his arms shield me in.

“It’s okay, Brody. The police arrested him, he’s gone,” Harvey’s voice lowers as he tries to reassure me.

I nod, staying silent. Selene interrupts, “They wanted a statement from you, but I told them to call tomorrow.”

There’s nothing that can be done, nothing to do. I force myself to take a gulp of air and step out of Harvey’s hold, keeping my eyes on the floor. Harvey’s hands fall slowly, as if not wanting to leave me. “Thank you. All of you. I’m sorry you all had to get woken up. You should go back to bed. I don’t want to ruin your night,” my voice comes out shaky and scratchy, hoarse from crying.

They all give me looks of concern that make me want to fall apart at the seams. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s night, especially not Harvey after he just saved my ass. “Brody-,” he interrupts.

I shake my head, “No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”

He frowns, “You aren’t fine.”

I’m about to argue when Selene speaks first. “It’s okay, Brody. What you just went through was really scary. You can stay in one of our rooms if you don’t want to be alone.”

I don’t want to be alone, but the idea of being anywhere away from Harvey right now scares me. I glance at him and he assesses my expression and just knows immediately what I need. “She can stay in my room. It’s safer for her there and I have two beds. That’s if you’re comfortable with that, Brody.”

I nod almost immediately. I don’t want to keep him up all night and ruin his night, but I also don’t think I can stand to not be near him right now. I need the safety and comfort only he can bring me. Selene studies us and for a second I think she knows everything that’s happened between us, but she inevitably nods. “That’s probably for the best.”

Harvey drapes his arm over my shoulder and starts to usher me out of the room, close to his side. I lean into him as much as possible and he allows it. This is the closest I’ve ever felt to him, the most intimate we’ve been and he’s seen me naked twice and done unspeakable things to me. We continue until we make it to his already open door, and he waits for me to enter before following behind me. He closes the door and says quietly, “Do you want it locked or unlocked?”

“Locked,” I almost whisper.

He locks it and I continue to one of the two beds, sitting on the edge. The shock has worn off and in its place are lingering effects of fear. What if Harvey had been a minute later? What if he actually killed me and Harvey had found my dead body? Seeing something on my face, Harvey walks over to me and kneels before me on the floor, grabbing both of my hands in his. “Hey, look at me.”

I look into his black eyes, the bottomless pits I can lose myself in every time I glance at him. “I would never have let anything happen to you,” he declares and I can see the conviction in his eyes, in the hard set of his jaw and the flare in his nostrils.

I nod, “I know.” Just two words but they mean something much greater to both of us. I can see it in his eyes and how they soften when they look at me. My eyes lower to the dried blood on his lip, “Are you hurt?”

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