"I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do it, I'll clean it up," I rush out in a panic. As I fumble about with the broken shards of the cup, Marissa kneels down, grabbing my hands, trying to stop me.
"Nova, it's okay, I got it. Let me do it," she tells me.
I shake my head. "No, I made the mess, I'll do it." A shadow falls over me, and I glance up to see Wrath, Ice, Nitro and a couple of the other guys heading over. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to knock it off. I’m gonna clean it up," I rush out in a panic again.
"I got the kid," I hear Wrath tell someone, and I quickly look over to see Mason climbing off his chair to head over, but Wrath is on him before he has a chance to make it over here, telling him something that seems to calm him, and a second later he and Wrath are back at the table.
I go back to trying to grab at the cup shard. "Oh," I whisper out, yanking my hand back as one of the shards slices through my palm.
"Hey, Dragonfly, stop." Ice grabs my wrists, lifting my hands and turning my palm up so he can take a look at my cut. I try to pull my hand away and shake my head, but he grips me tighter. "Stop, come on, let’s get you upstairs." He pulls me up and to him, guiding me toward the stairs, and I have no idea why I'm letting him.
"I need to clean up my mess," I try to tell him, but he just pulls me to him tighter.
"No, you don't. I'll take care of it in a little bit."
"No, we can't leave it, Mason—"
"It’s fine. He's with Wrath and nowhere near the broken cup. It will get sorted, please don't worry," he tells me in a gentle voice. I relax into him and let him lead me back to my room.
Chapter Seventeen
I hadn't meant to come racing into the clubhouse the way I did, causing the door to slam against the wall and give the women a fright. I need to talk to Prez and VP, I have something they are going to fucking love, but she completely freaked out when she broke the cup and I knew I needed to take care of her first. I don't know why. It's not like we've spent any time together. Or at least not that she knows of.
I know she's having nightmares, Wrath told me they usually happen just after I leave her room. I watch her sleep for a couple of hours, then I take off hunting. I know I sound like a fucking stalker, and hell, maybe I am? But there is something about her that makes me want to take care of her. So, I sneak into her room when I know she's asleep and sit on the chair in the corner for a few hours, watching her rest. Seeing her at peace helps me relax before I go hunting.
As we reach her door, she tries to pull away from me, but I hold her to my side. "Just relax," I tell her. Not that it helps.
She pulls her key from her pocket but fumbles trying to get it in the lock. I take the key from her and unlock her door, letting her through the threshold first before following her and guiding her to sit down on the bed. "I'll be right back,” I tell her, as I head to my room and grab the first aid kit from the bathroom before making my way back into her room.
She hasn't moved, she's still sat on the end of her bed, her head dipped low as she focusses on her hands. I kneel in front of her, opening the first aid kit and placing it beside me on the floor. "Hey, Nova." I lightly touch her wrists, not wanting to startle her. She slowly lifts her eyes to mine, the tears almost ready to spill over. "I'm just going to give your hand a clean, okay?" She gives me a small nod but doesn't say anything.
As I run an alcohol wipe over the cut, I expect her to flinch or try to pull her hand away, but I get no reaction, it's like she doesn’t even feel it. I finish cleaning up her hand then wrap a bandage over it, covering the cut with a plaster first. "You should get some rest, baby. Can you scoot back for me?" I ask, indicating for her to climb further back onto the bed. She looks at the bed, then up at me, before moving up the mattress and laying down.
I grab the throw from the bottom and place it over her. "Get some rest and I'll be back in a little bit." I go to leave, but she grabs my hand.
"Thank you for cleaning up my hand, and I'm sorry about the cup," she says in a quiet voice. I shake my head at her, like any of that matters. "Where's Mason?" she asks, worry clouding her beautiful face.
"He's fine, baby. He's with Wrath, he'll take care of him for a while, so get some rest and try not to worry." I lean down and place a small kiss on the top of her head. "Now rest," I tell her before leaving her to sleep.
The room is almost empty when I get back downstairs, aside from a few club girls, Marissa and Mason. I'd already sent Nitro and Wrath a text on my way back, telling them we needed to meet in Church, and I'm guessing they are already in there waiting for me.
I do a pit stop at the table with Marissa and Mason. "Hey, buddy, you okay?" I ask him. He looks up at me and gives me a worried smile.
"Is Nova, okay?" he asks, sadness filling his voice.
I place my hand on his shoulder and give it a little squeeze. "Yeah, she just needs a little rest. Don't worry, okay?" He doesn't say anything, just nods up at me before dropping his head back to his drawing book, but he doesn’t pick up his pencil, he just stares at the page. "I gotta go into a meeting, we'll be out soon, I promise." He doesn’t move, but Marissa gives me a smile and a nod.
I slip my phone into the box outside the door then head into Church, and everyone stops talking and turns to watch me walk to my seat.
"How is she?" Nitro asks.
"Resting, but she's pretty quiet. I've cleaned her hand, it’s not deep so I don't think it needs stitches but if you could take a look later, Doc?"
"Yeah, of course, I'll check it out when she gets up," he agrees.
"We all saw the overreaction, didn't we?" Wrath asks.
I feel like I want to defend her, but I don't know what to say when Tongue pipes up, "To you it was an overreaction, to her, she felt like she needed to react like that. She doesn't know how we're all going to react, she felt like she needed to get her apologies in before someone lost it with her." We all stare at him, not sure what to say.
