I rolled onto my back to find him lying next to me on his side. His hand shot out quickly and he pulled my ripped shirt up to cover my breast. “You need a different shirt.”
I didn’t care about my damned shirt. “It hurts to lie flat, too.”
He sat up and helped me do the same. We awkwardly sat facing each other in silence. My tears started falling faster again. I wished Roe or Wyatt were here.
“What do you need?” he asked, sounding at a loss.
“I want to be held.” I hated how pathetic I sounded, but I couldn’t stop hearing what Clay had said and I needed him to be wrong.
Reid reached for me and I leaned away.
“I don’t want you to hold me if you don’t want to hold me,” I snapped. “I don’t want something fake or forced.”
His hand fisted. “Everything I’ve done and will do with you is because I wanted to.” He reached for me again and grabbed me under the arms. He pulled more than lifted me to him until I was straddling his lap.
Wide-eyed, I put my hands on his chest before I could fall against him. His gaze dropped to my chest for a moment before he sighed through his nose. He averted his eyes toward the ceiling as he pressed me to his chest and leaned back against the headboard. My head rested just below his chin.
“Try to relax,” he said, and it was then that I realized how tensed up I was.
I adjusted to get comfortable by tucking my arms close and nestling my cheek against his chest until I found the perfect spot. It took a minute, but I eventually relaxed. “Were you at work?”
“Yeah.”
So Bram had called Noble.
“Bram’s going to kill Clay,” I said.
Reid’s hand began moving up and down my back.
“Is it strange that I’m relieved by that?” I asked.
“No.” There was so much assurance behind that single word that I believed him.
“Are they going to do it here?”
Reid’s hand went still on my back. “They took him somewhere else and I didn’t ask where. I didn’t ask anything because I’m not a Haven’s Rebel.”
I supposed I didn’t want to know all the details, either. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to get too involved, like Reid. I just didn’t want to waste any more energy on Clay.
Closing my eyes, I listened to Reid’s heartbeat and breathed in his smell. He went back to running his hand up and down my spine.
Just as I was about to doze off, I thought I heard Roe’s voice.
“Lottie!” He sounded like he was in the living room.
I startled.
Reid’s hand on my back pressed down on me. “It’s just Roe and Wyatt.”
Before he could finish telling me, they came rushing through the bedroom door. I pushed against Reid’s chest to sit up as they approached the bed.
“Are you all right?” Roe asked as both his and Wyatt’s eyes dropped to my chest.
I followed their line of sight and realized my breast was out. I pulled the sleeve up to cover myself. “I know I need a new shirt.”
Roe frowned at Reid.
Reid sighed. “I know this looks bad.”
