CHAPTER 9
Mirabelle
“You’re getting tired, huh?” Rowan asks softly.
I jerk up, sitting up on his couch, the comforter I’d dragged out from his bedroom curled around me.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“I mean, it is getting pretty late, and we were woken up at the asscrack of dawn,” he says, closing his laptop and setting down his pen on top of the stack of papers on his dining table. “You don’t have to apologize.”
It’s been a really long day. I don’t think I’ve spent this much time outside... well, as long as I can remember. Most of my day was spent sitting quietly while Rowan went over all the different protocols Griffin would be expected to know.
“But I had a nap earlier, so I shouldn’t be tired, not if you’re not tired yet,” I say, rubbing my eyes and stifling a yawn.
Rowan brought me back to his trailer in the early afternoon for some food and to clean up all the scrapes I got. My legs are covered in bandaids from the suspiciously well-stocked first aid kit he pulled out from under his sink.
Considering the way Jett hurt him this morning, I assume he’s no stranger to treating himself.
Rowan left me for a couple of hours before coming back from dinner. Apparently, he successfully showcased the “progress” he made with Griffin to the other trainers. It sounded like they were all very surprised.
“If you’re tired, you’re tired. No need to stay up for my sake. And no offense, Sugar, but you look about ready to pass out.”
I don’t even bother trying to hide my yawn this time.
“How about you head to my room and get some rest?” He asks.
I worry my bottom lip between my teeth as I glance nervously at the door.
“I’m scared of?—“
The two of us jump in our seats when an all too familiar banging shakes the walls of Rowan’s trailer.
My heart starts racing, and my hand comes up to touch the collar that’s still resting around my neck. It feels like it weighs a thousand pounds right now.
This is exactly what I was afraid of.
“Fuck,” Rowan hisses, shooting me a terrified look. “Go to my room and close the door, Sugar.”
“But—“
“Remember the rules,” he snaps.
My feet are moving, dragging his comforter behind me before I realize what I’m doing. I cast an almost betrayed look of concern over my shoulder and watch as his hands tremble as he reaches for the door.
I go into his room, closing his bedroom door but leaving it a crack open so I can still see part of the front area of the trailer.
“I’m coming, I’m coming, hold your horses,” Rowan calls. He’s trying his best to sound annoyed, but I can hear the waver of fear in his voice.
The moment Rowan unlocks the door, I hear it crash open.
“You pathetic, cheating,shitstain!” Jett roars.
I catch sight of the two of them tumbling to the floor before I hear the terrifying sound of fist against flesh.
Rowan lets out a gasp of pain that’s quickly cut off.
I quickly reach up and cover my mouth with my hand, trying to hold in my whimper of fear.
