It’s better this way.
You know it’s better when others punish you.
You know it isn’t the same when it’s you, Crew.
The voice rang so loud in my head. It was all-consuming. The other men were loud, yelling as they held me up, refusing to give me a chance. It was all I could hear. My weak cries, their anger, his voice in my head telling me to accept it.
Then silence.
Ringing in my ears.
My body dropped, another raw squeak from me echoing in my ears.
Everything ached. My jacket was pulled to an awkward angle, half on, half off. I heard a couple of shouts, catching my attention enough to fully open my eyes. When I did, I gasped.
“I said get off him, you assholes! I don’t care what he did or didn’t do or what the fuck ever, just get away!” Price stood taller than I’d everseen him before. From my place on the ground, he looked like a giant. Or an angel.
Perhaps a demon, with the way his elbow swung out, striking one of the guys in the face. My ragged breathing drowned most of what he was saying, but it was enough to make them all walk away. I looked like an idiot, slumped on the ground after getting my ass handed to me. I tried to look away, tugging on my hood to hide myself.
“Hey.” Price crouched in front of me, his brows furrowed as he looked over me. “Do you need a hospital? Are you okay? What the hell was their deal?”
Too many questions. My head was pounding. Cramps were starting in my stomach, making me groan. “No hospital.” I clenched my eyes shut once more as I tried to find the will to get up. “I just need to go home. Thanks.”
Price put his hands on my shoulders as I tried to stand. “Don’t try to get up yet. I think they got you pretty good in the head.”
“Ya think?” I swiped a bit of blood from my lip with the back of my palm.
“I’ll drive you home. You walked, right?”
After the night I just had, I wasn’t too keen on that idea. “No,” I huffed. “I’m fine. I’ve gone home in worse shape.”
One of his palms rested against my cheek as he turned my head from side to side. “Yeah, like that doesn’t worry me at all. Come on, I’ll even cook for you. I bet you haven’t had dinner yet.”
I was starting to think clearer, and the fog I was stuck in was slowly lifting. “You don’t need to cook for me, Prince Charming. You do it all the time at work.”
He rolled his eyes at me, scoffing just above his breath. “I do it all the time at home, too. This’ll be no different.”
I stared at him, refusing to give up just yet.
The tip of his tongue peaked out from his lips, swiping across them as he thought. “Is it Willow? Will she freak out if I show up?”
Shaking my head, I thought back to the goo-goo eyes Willow had for Price at the restaurant. “Not sure. I know she thinks she has a chance with you, but I don’t know what she’d do if you showed up in our kitchen. She isn’t even home right now, though.”
“All the more reason to let me take you home.”
“Nope.” I tried standing again, only to be nudged back down.
Price loomed over me still, shaking his head. “Jesus, just let me get you home. You haven’t even tasted my cooking yet, and if Willow isn’t home, then I want to make sure you’re okay.”
He looked genuinely worried. The sad, puppy-dog eyes he was giving me punched me straight in the heart. And his heated palms felt nice against my shoulder. With a sigh, I finally relented. “Fine. I’ll show you where to go.”
Thankfully,I had years of experience when it came to being someone’s punching bag. By the time I’d instructed Price to pull into the parking lot, the fog I was fighting had lifted for the most part. The pain settled in more, but it was easy to ignore.
I’d survive the bruises that would come from this. My ego and confidence were not so good, though. The entire ride home, my cheeks flamed with embarrassment. I prided myself on my strength and ability to take and take without breaking. I wasn’t porcelain. I wasn’t ceramic. I was steel; my threshold for pain was nonexistent because I had never hit my limit. I wasn’t allowed to.
Nothing could have prepared me for tonight. The pure, fiery rage I heard in their voices played on repeat in my mind. Had I been so caught up in my shit that I hadn’t noticed what was going on around me?
I’d inadvertently turned a blind eye to the world I had chosen to stay in. Been ungrateful, and it burned more than any slap they could deal me.
