“Now you listen here,” he said, gripping my arms tight in his hands. “I ain’t goin’ anywhere, Rox. Not until we’ve sorted this out.”
He leaned down to kiss me, and I turned my cheek, trying to push him away. His grip tightened on my arms, and he started shaking me.
“Corey, you’re hurtin’ me,” I said, pushing against his chest with everything I had.
The man was like a damn brick wall, and he wasn’t going nowhere.
“Quit your bitchin’,” he growled, clutching my chin in his hand and yanking it up towards him.
I let out a yowl as my neck pinched, and used my free arm to haul off and slap him. Hard. The next thing I knew, he had me pushed face first against the wall, tryin’ to tear my damn clothes off.
“Corey…” I begged. “Please don’t do this. You don’t have to do this…”
Tears were rollin’ down my cheeks, and I couldn’t understand why he was acting like this. It just wasn’t the Corey I knew.
He got frustrated and tore my shirt right in half, trying to push my jeans down my hips. I could feel his arousal against me, and I felt like I was going to vomit. I didn’t know what to do, so I did the only thing I could. I slammed my head back into his face, connecting with his nose.
“God dammit woman!” he shouted, gripping me by the hair.
He smashed my face into the wall, and I slid to the ground in a useless heap, black spots threatening my vision. The bell on the door dinged again, and then there was some shuffling and grunting sounds. But I was still lying against the wall, shivering like all get out.
I must have been in shock, because I couldn’t make my body cooperate. Then I heard Bentley’s voice behind me, and I could have sworn it sounded like a chorus of Angels right then.
“It’s okay, Rox,” he said. “It’s just me Bentley. He ain’t gonna’ hurt you no more, okay sweetheart?”
I heard him talkin’ on the phone for a minute, and then he was back behind me again.
“Roxy, Sheriff Beaudry is on his way. I’m gonna’ pick you up now, okay? I’ll be real careful.”
I sobbed and whimpered, and he picked me up and cradled me in his arms. For a minute, he just held me there like that, rocking me back and forth like a child as he whispered words of comfort.
I could hear the siren across town, and Bentley frowned as he set me down on the counter. Without even thinking about it, he whipped off his shirt and gingerly pulled it over my head.
It was warm and smelled like Bentley, which seemed to comfort me in a way. He helped me pull my jeans back up, and then he was smoothing the hair out of face, looking me over.
The bell on the door dinged again, and I could hear Sheriff Beaudry talkin’ to someone else for a couple minutes. Bentley was blocking my view on purpose, but I could tell they were handcuffing Corey, and from the sounds of it, he wasn’t even conscious.
“Geez, Bentley,” Sheriff Beaudry murmured as he walked up to greet us. “You sure did a number on him.”
Bentley’s jaw tensed. “Still wasn’t enough.”
“Are you alright, Miss Hart? I think you might need a trip to the hospital, to get your face checked out. Make sure nothin’s broken. But I need to ask you some questions, so we can do that now, or later on if you like.”
Bentley grasped my hand in his and pulled me tight, stroking my back with his hand while they waited for my answer.
“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” I said. “I just want to go home. So you can ask me whatever you need to now if you like.”
Sheriff Beaudry got out his pad of paper and started asking me all sorts of questions. I answered them as best I could, though I didn’t understand Corey’s reason for doin’ what he’d done tonight. He’d never been violent like that with me before.
Bentley was right beside me the whole time, silent, but always letting me know he was there with his touch. I couldn’t protest in that moment, and truthfully I didn’t want to. When it came time to go home, he told me he was taking me, and I didn’t argue.
Chapter Seven
Bentley
I took Rox out to my house, though I wasn’t too sure why. I just knew I wasn’t gonna’ let her be alone, and I had to fix up those cuts on her face.
I wanted to kill that son of bitch Corey when I saw what he was doing to her. It was a stroke of luck that I was even there, and I shuddered to think what would have happened if I wasn’t.
Tino called me down to Murphy’s earlier, telling me that Corey had been in there. He was acting real erratic, starting fights in the bar and spewin’ all kinds of hate about Roxy. Bethany overheard him, and she made it worse by tellin’ him that Roxy and I were together, no doubt reveling in the drama she was about to cause.
Anyway, Tino was a bit worried and didn’t know what to do. I truly didn’t think much of it, since Corey wasn’t the type to hurt on women. But I decided to check on Roxy for my own peace of mind, only planning to walk by the shop before I headed home.
When I saw what Corey was doin’ to her, I completely lost my shit. I beat him into next week, plus an additional month for good measure. He’d be recovering from his little stunt tonight for a long while, hopefully locked up in a prison cell somewhere.
When we got to the house, I carried Roxy inside. She was exhausted from her ordeal, not even protesting as I tucked her into my bed. I grabbed my first aid kit, along with a glass of water and some Tylenol.
“You with me, Rox?” I asked, kneeling down beside her.
She moaned incoherently, and I pulled her hair back away from her face as I started to clean the cuts.
“I need you to open your eyes and talk to me. Just for a minute, okay?”
She blinked her left eye open, but the right one didn’t budge from being so swollen.
“There she is.” I stroked her palm in my cheek. “I just need to make sure you don’t have a concussion. Can you tell me how you’re feelin’?”
“Like shit,” she said. “But thanks for asking.”
I smiled and shook my head, satisfied that she was gonna’ be alright save for a few cuts and bruises.
“Alright sweetheart.” I held the glass to her lips and flicked a couple pills into her mouth. “You just take these and I’ll let you sleep.”
The minute I’d said the words, she swallowed the pills and closed her eyes again, drifting off into slumber.
***
Roxy
I woke up with a pounding head and every damn inch of my body was sore. I smelled like Bentley and I groaned, inhaling the scent before I sat up. I was in his bed.
I had some vague recollections of him waking me up throughout the night, but I was so tired I didn’t really even know what was going on.
I glanced at the clock beside the bed and cursed. Just as I swung my legs over the bed, feelin’ a spell of dizziness, Bentley was in the doorway shaking his head. He looked tired as hell.
“I gotta’ get to work,” I said.
“Already got it covered,” he assured me. “Amy’s at the store now. You’re takin’ the day off sweetheart, and I ain’t gonna’ hear any protesting about it.”
As much as I knew I should get out of there as fast as my legs could carry me, at the moment, I knew it wasn’t gonna’ be too far. I fell back onto the pillow and whined.
“Why’d you put me in your bed Bentley?” I asked, annoyed by the thought of all the women that had probably graced these very sheets I was laying on.
“I slept on the couch,” he said. “So you don’t have to worry. I was a gentleman.”
“That wasn’t what I was worried about.”
He frowned, and then shook his head as though he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“The sheets are brand new,” he said softly. “But even if they weren’t, you’re the only woman that’s been in this house in the last two years, Rox. Well, besides my mama anyway.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to look away. I didn’t know why I even brought somet
hin’ like that up. It was stupid of me, really.
Bentley came to sit beside me, and I shifted around nervously, rubbing my thumb over the blanket in a soothing gesture.
“Look at me, Rox,” he pleaded.
I shook my head, and he grasped my chin in his hand, gently bringing my gaze to his.
“I know now isn’t the right time, but I do wanna’ talk to you,” he said. “I want to apologize for everything. For the way I treated you, and try to explain things.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he stopped me, smoothing his thumb over my lips. I closed my eyes and let out a shuddering breath, devastated by that touch. It would be so easy to fall back into that routine with him. I had a hard enough time with my feelings for him without him lookin’ at me the way he did. No matter how much I tried, I’d never been able to bring myself to hate him.
“I know it’s gonna’ take some time,” he continued. “For you to want to hear it. And I’ve got all the time in the world sweetheart, I ain’t going anywhere. But you’ve just been through somethin’ real traumatic, and I wanna’ take care of you Roxy. Just spend the day with me and let me have that. No talk of the past or anything you don’t wanna’ talk about, okay?”
My head wanted to tell him no, but my heart was screamin’ yes. And as usual, my heart won out in matters such as these.
“Okay Bentley, I’ll stay for a little while. At least until I feel better, anyway.”
He grinned like a kid on Christmas before quickly trying to cover it up with a nod.
“Good. Cause’ I already made you breakfast.”
Chapter Eight
Roxy
When Bentley said he made me breakfast, I wasn’t expecting an eight course buffet. He’d worked real hard on it, tryin’ to make me happy.
And after the night I had before, I got so emotional from such a simple gesture I nearly started bawlin’ my eyes out right there. But I managed to keep myself in check, at least for a little while longer.
But now we were just sittin’ on the couch together, watchin’ tv like a couple of regular old friends. Except I wasn’t listenin’ to a damn word that was comin’ from the speakers as I stared at the screen blankly.
Bentley’s scent was all around me, invading my senses and drivin’ me crazy. He kept movin’ around beside me too, like he was real uncomfortable, and neither one of us would look at each other. I guessed when he asked me to spend the day with him, neither one of us realized just how difficult that was gonna’ be.
I still loved Bentley Daniels. I knew it in that moment, as much as I tried to deny it before. And us sittin’ there pretending that we could just be friends was ludicrous. It was the most unnatural thing in the world. Because all I wanted to do was have him touch me and hold me. But I knew I couldn’t ever let myself go back down that path again. And things were gettin’ too complicated between us again.
I stood up, prepared to tell him I was gonna’ go home. But he was quick to jump up and intercept.
“I know, Rox,” he said, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “Things are real awkward between us, and I hate that. I wish I knew what to do so they weren’t.”
“It’s okay Bentley.” I mustered up a smile. “You’ve done enough. I appreciate you helpin’ me out last night. I can’t thank you enough for that, but I really should be goin’ now.
He bowed his head and sighed, looking defeated. “I understand Roxy, I do. I just… would you come for a walk with me? I wanna’ show you somethin’, if you’re feelin’ up to it.”
He looked so damn vulnerable asking me that question that I couldn’t say no. But I couldn’t say yes either. It didn’t feel like I could get my mouth to cooperate at all actually, so I just nodded.
Bentley led me out to his truck, and when I shot him a curious glance, he just shrugged and waited. I jumped inside, and he drove us on out to the trailhead of a popular local hiking spot. Only, I knew it wasn’t just a hiking spot. Especially not to Bentley Daniels.
I’d moved to town after the accident had happened, but I’d heard all about it of course. Maybe it was that brokenness inside of Bentley that I recognized and drew me to him, I didn’t know. I just remember thinkin’ how I wanted to know more about him. And I wanted to make him smile. Cause’ that boy never smiled.
He jumped out of the cab and waited as I joined him on the footpath. For a minute, he just stared ahead, rooted to the spot like he couldn’t move. And as I glanced up at him, there was an expression on his face I’d never seen before. It devastated me.
Before I could think of anything to say to comfort him, he started walking, leavin’ me to catch up to his side.
We walked for a ways before veering off the footpath and into the brush. I was still wearin’ my cutoff shorts and Bentley’s shirt, and he took notice real quick, swinging me up into his arms. I wasn’t about to protest though, because I had no intentions on gettin’ all cut up just to prove a point.
Bentley walked for several minutes through the overgrown brush, me bouncin’ along in his arms the entire way. I heard the rush of the waterfall before we saw it, and could smell the clean scent of water in the air.
Bentley stopped about five feet before the edge, just close enough so that we could see the water below, but not close enough to fall. I didn’t think that was unintentional either as he clung to my arm, makin’ sure I didn’t go nowhere.
For a while, we just sat there in silence, him starin’ down at the water while I waited. I knew better than to push somethin’ like this. If he wanted to tell me, he’d find the words when he was good and ready.
And eventually, he did.
“We used to come here all the time,” he croaked. “Me and some of the boys from school. Bein’ stupid and just doin’ what boys do, I guess. Jumpin’ off into the water below.”
He cleared his throat and cracked his knuckles, like he was ready for a fight. A fight with himself, from the sounds of it.
“Jake always wanted to tag along,” he rasped. “And I told him no of course. I was three years older, and I thought I knew it all.”
A dry laugh erupted from his chest, and he squeezed his brow before scrubbing a hand over his face.
“I was his big brother. And I was supposed to protect him, Rox. But I didn’t. When he followed us up here that day, some of the other guys started givin’ him shit, because they always saw me do it and they thought it was funny. I didn’t say nothin’ either, cause’ I was mad at him for always tryin’ to follow me around like a lost puppy dog.”
“He saw us jumping into the pond, and he wanted to do it too. I told him no, and socked him in the arm and told him to go on home. I embarrassed him, and then to make matters worse, Frankie Calloway started teasing him sayin’ he was too chicken shit to jump.”
“Well if you knew Jake…” A sad smile spread across his face. “That was the last thing you ever wanted to say to him. He was stubborn as hell. And he always had to be right. Thought he could do anything he set his mind to, and he set out to prove it that day.”
He swallowed visibly as his head fell to his knees, and I started rubbing his back, trying my best to comfort him in some small way. I didn’t know why he was sharing this with me, but I was grateful he was. From the sounds of it, he probably hadn’t shared it often over the course of his life.
“So anyway, Jake sauntered up to the edge of the cliff, preparing to jump. And I just stood there like a dumb shit, not sayin’ anything. I thought the worst that would happen was that he’d piss his pants or somethin’ in fear on the way down.”
“But I could tell he was scared, even though he tried not to show it. He turned to look back at me as he stood there, and then he lost his footing. God Roxy… I will never forget that look in his eyes. The look of sheer panic right before he went over. He was lookin’ right at me, like he was pleading with his eyes for me to do something. To help him. Because I was his big brother, and that was my damn job.”
Bentley started shaking and I wrapped my arms ar
ound him, wishing more than anything I could take away that pain for him.
“He didn’t even scream,” Bentley rasped. “All I heard was the branches snapping below, and then the sound of his breath bein’ forced from his lungs as he landed on the ledge. I ran over, hoping I was wrong. That he’d made it into the water somehow. But he wasn’t Roxy. He was lying there on that ledge, and there was blood comin’ from his head, and his leg was bent all unnatural like, and I just thought I was goin’ fuckin’ crazy. Because no way was that my baby brother, lyin’ there like that, and I couldn’t get to him.”
“I couldn’t get to him,” he repeated, sounding even angrier. “I didn’t know how to get to him Rox. And I kept tellin’ myself that maybe if I hadn’t been so scared, too chicken shit myself, I could have saved him. If I just got to him in time.”
“Bentley…” I shook my head, unable to stop the tears that were streamin’ down my face. “You can’t think like that. It wasn’t your fault…”
“I didn’t tell my parents,” he said. “When the paramedics showed up, the boys told them he tried to jump and he fell. And I just never said differently, Rox. They never knew what really happened that day. I told myself it was because they wouldn’t want to know how bad it was. That I was protecting them from seeing it the way I did. But really, I was protecting myself. Because I knew they were gonna’ hate me for it.”
“That ain’t fair, Bentley,” I rasped. “You were just a kid yourself. It was an accident.”
“That’s what everyone kept sayin’.” He shook his head. “But I didn’t agree with that. It was my fault he was there that day. My fault for letting the boys goad him into jumping. It was all my damn fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I repeated, sounding stronger than I felt. I wanted to be strong for him right then, to show him somehow it wasn’t true. “And from the looks of it Bentley, you’ve been punishing yourself for a real long time. And I didn’t know Jake, but from everything I heard about him, he loved you Bentley. And I don’t think he’d want you to feel like that, now would he?”
Louisiana Sky (Love in Belle Pont #2) Page 3
