Page 113 of Things I Wish I Said
In my right mind, I probably wouldn’t have.
“Here.” Ryleigh takes my hand and turns it palm-side up, then places a couple pills in it, ignoring me completely. “I’m sure you’ll be stiff today. It’s just ibuprofen, but it should help.”
I accept the meds with a muttered thanks, along with a glass of water she fetches from the nightstand beside her bed, then toss them back, gulping them down along with the entire contents of the glass.
“Are you hungry?” she asks, and I shake my head.
My stomach feels like it’s been torched. Just the thought of food makes me sick.
“I’ll take some coffee, though,” I say, eyeing her cup. “If you don’t mind.”
“Course. Give me one second.” She rises from the edge of the bed, and I watch her go, my gaze lingering on her ass and then those stellar legs as she walks away before I ask myself what the fuck I’m doing and scrub a hand over my face.
I feel like the walking dead, and I’m stillchecking her out?
I need to get my shit together and have about a week worth’s of sleep, but what I need the most is a shower.
Ryleigh’s bedroom door swings open a moment later, and she appears, carrying two steaming mugs of coffee instead of the one I woke to.
Turning, she juggles them as she locks the door behind her.
“I left it black, since I didn’t know how you take it.”
“Black is good,” I say as she hands me the cup.
I lift it to my lips and take a few sips, relieved when she makes no immediate attempt at filling the silence.
It’s not until I’ve drained half the cup that she asks, “So, you want to tell me what the hell happened?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” I say, hoping she lets it drop. Sinclair doesn’t need to get involved in my mess. She’s already done enough.
“This is nothing?” She settles in across from me on the bed, crossing her legs to glare at me. “You called me to come get you in the middle of the night! It took me two hours to find you, and when I did, I find the front of your car wrapped around a tree and blood dripping down the side of your face like you were an extra in a horror film.” She waves a hand at me. “And when I ask what happened you tell me it’s nothing I need to worry about?”
“I don’t want to drag you into my drama, Sinclair. I fucked up and I paid for it. There’s nothing more you need to know. You have your own stuff to deal with. The last thing you need is the added stress of mine, so when I say it’s nothing you need to worry about, that’s what I mean. I’ve got it under control.”
“Yeah, it sure looks like it,” she snaps.
I take a sip of coffee, avoiding her gaze and doing my best to ignore the lingering nausea in my gut.
It doesn’t work.
When it becomes clear I’m not going to say anything else on the matter, Ryleigh sets her mug down on the nightstand and crosses her arms over her chest, turning the full brunt of her angry stare at me. “I’m going to ask again,” she says through gritted teeth, “and you better not fuck with me, Grayson. I want an answer because I refuse to believe you’re as reckless as it looks. What. Happened?”
I stare at her, the resolve hardening her eyes to amber. The tight set of her mouth tells me she won’t let up. Ryleigh is a fighter. She doesn’t cave just because someone wants her to, and she won’t give up until she has answers.
I sigh and lean my head back against the headboard. “Payback’s a bitch,” I say, repeating Dustin’s words from last night.
“I don’t understand. Who . . .” Her words trail off, and I see the moment she connects the dots, the moment her eyes brighten like starlight. “Dustin.”
I nod.
“So, this is my fault.”
“No.” I shake my head, ignoring the way it makes the room spin.
“Yes,” she drawls. “I was the one who pissed him off by interfering with his girlfriend. I stood my ground, and it’s because of me you came in and saw him push me to the ground. I’m thereason you snapped and fought him. Which means I’m also the reason he wanted revenge.”
“No, Sinclair.” I set my coffee cup next to hers and reach out, hiding the grimace the sudden movement causes as I place a hand over hers. “Don’t put this on yourself. This is on me. I never should have gotten involved with Dustin in the first place. I knew better, but I didn’t care. I could have taken you out of that kitchen and walked away, but I didn’t. I chose to stay and fight. Just like I chose to text him last night to meet up.”
