“Fine,” I said and stood. “I’m going to go get something to drink.”
“Don’t leave.” Ryatt tugged me back down next to him. “Please.”
“Don’t leave the room? Or don’t leave the MC? I wasn’t planning on riding off because you don’t want to tell me what’s going on.”
Ryatt laced his fingers with mine, but his gaze locked on Cruz. “Cruz, Romeo, and Dozer found me.Rogue and Bullet came with the hearse. Even if I had my bike, I couldn’t ride.”
“Don’t lie to me,” I softly spoke.
“I don’t think you need any stitches,” Levi said, conveniently changing the direction of the conversation. No way was that the story. Anyone could’ve brought the hearse to Cruz, but they called for the meanest Hellers in the MC.
With road names like Rogue and Bullet what more did I need to know? Rogue and Bullet were intimidation and death.
“It’s not that complicated, McKelle,” Romeo said. “Shit was going down, and we wanted backup in case Kings decided Dozer and I weren’t much of a threat. Cruz was busy taking care of your boy.”
Levi continued cleaning his wounds. My heart hurt when she got to his wrists. Clearly, they’d had him tied up. The skin was raw. Blood stained the deep gouges in his wrists. She covered the wounds in ointment and wrapped them in gauze.
“Good news,” she said and smiled at him. “You’ll live. Ice and Tylenol for your ribs. If you get short of breath or the pain turns sharp, you have to go to the hospital. No alcohol with pain killers. When do you see your PO next because Romeo could get you a couple joints to take the edge off for tonight?”
“I’m good. I have to stay sober for Kiss.”
He would think of her now. Even with his own problems, he kept his promise to her. I squeezed his fingers.
“I might be fucked either way,” he said. “I can’t go back to the halfway house, and my PO is going to lose his shit. If I pissed dirty, there would be no way I skate by with a warning.”
“It’s too late to do anything tonight.” Romeo yawned. “I’ll come back over tomorrow.”
Levi cleaned up her supplies, leaving extra bandages on the dresser. “Keep his wrists covered for a couple days.”
I stood and gave her a hug.
Cruz opened his dresser drawer, grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of sweats for Ryatt, and tossed them on the bed. “I’ll walk out with you,” he said to Romeo. “I need to talk to Blue for a minute.”
Once they’d stepped out of the room, I was finally alone with Ryatt.
Before I could speak, he dropped the blanket and grabbed the clothes from the bed.
“Can you hand me Cruz’s bath towel?”
I lifted it from the hook on the back of the bedroom door. “Ryatt? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Not yet.” After he wrapped the towel around his hips, we shuffled down the hall to the communal bathroom. “We need to talk, and I need a shower.”
My emotions were at a boiling point. Not only had I been out of my head, fearing the absolute worst, but I couldn’t tamp down my need to have my hands on him to prove he was okay, and my lips on his so he’d know how much I cared.
Once inside the bathroom, he twisted the lock. His shoulders relaxed with a rough slow exhale. He cradled my face in his palms. “I know I’m a mess, but I need to kiss you.”
When his swollen lips touched mine, I opened my mouth. His kiss was gentle as his tongue tangled with mine. A sob broke from my chest. I wound my arms around him, rose onto my tiptoes, and I kissed him back.
He was physically broken, and I was emotionally wrecked. This was the kind of hurt we both needed. His tongue was in my mouth, and his hands were in my hair.
He kissed me until we were both desperate for breath. My kiss said what my words couldn’t. I had fallen hard, and I couldn’t imagine losing him when he’d become so important to me. I needed him. I needed to be loved by him.
Ryatt groaned and rested his forehead against mine.
“I know you weren’t telling me the truth.” I gently touched the bruising on his face. “What happened?”
He reached into the shower and spun the spigot. The echo of the water helped to drown out our voices. He dropped the towel from around his waist, then he fingered the edge of my shirt, and when I raised my arms, he lifted it.
