Tori marches out of the hospital room and into the hall, breathing flames of fury and looking so damn beautiful, she takes my breath away. Even with God knows what on her t-shirt and her half-skewed hair bun.
My heart’s been in my throat all morning. I need to talk to her. Want to wrap my arms around her and explain.
I was frantic to find her, racing back to her sister’s house only to spot Kat’s truck in the parking lot of the diner. Since then, well, Kat giving birth took precedence.
In the hall, I pause at the nurse’s station to swipe an extra set of scrubs. “Tori, wait.”
Reluctantly, she slows down, but doesn’t turn to look at me.
I get it. I fucked up last night. Just… I need to explain.
Jogging, I catch up to her and drag her into an empty room and close the door behind us. It’s quiet here on the maternity ward, and I don’t bother turning on the lights. I’m half-afraid they’ll be too harsh and startle her.
“Here.” I hand her the scrubs and wave to her top. “You, uh, you got some blood on you. Thought you might want to change.” Her nostrils flare, and I smile. “Don’t be stubborn. Take it.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
I love this. Her fierceness.
My smile widens when she snatches it outta my hand. She doesn’t bother turning around. Just whips off her t-shirt and is halfway into the scrubs when she steps into the sliver of sunlight peeking through the window blinds.
Just like that, my humor dries up.
“What the fuck is this?” I run my finger over the purple marks on her arm. It looks like a hand wrapped around her. Slowly, I turn her to the other side where I find a matching bruise. “Is this from—” I should’ve killed him last night instead of breaking his nose.
She shrugs out of my hold, and though her stance is strong—legs apart, chin up—her voice wavers. “When you went out back to check on Cody, your wife and Jamie threw me out of the house.”
“She’s not my wife.” I stalk closer, backing her up against the wall, and cup her face. “Baby, he touched you?” It pains me to say those words. She tries to look away, but I tilt her chin up. “Don’t hide from me.” I take a breath. “Did he touch you?”
The scrubs wrap around the front of her chest and forearms. Slender pink straps from her bra peek up over her shoulders. She’s so vulnerable like this. Bare and half-clothed. The thought of James hurting her makes me want to punch a hole through the drywall.
Those big hazel eyes water, so much emotion brimming between us. A single tear spills over her lashes. “Yes. He dragged me out of the house. Threw me down on the ground.”
I’m almost grateful I don’t have my shotgun because at this very moment, I’m tempted to use it on that asshole.
“Motherfucker.” I take a breath to calm down before leaning closer. “I’m so sorry he hurt you and that I wasn’t there to stop him.” If I ever see that lowlife again, I will end him.
Like a dam that breaks, her choked sob nearly does me in, and I whisper more apologies. Whisper how much she means to me. How much I love her.
“Then why didn’t you say anything last night?” She’s wiping her cheeks and I stop her. I deserve to see each drop fall. To feel every bit of her pain. “Why didn’t you call me afterward? Or come over? Or something? I felt so stupid watching my phone, thinking you’d call.”
Misery overwhelms me to know I did this to her. “God, I’m sorry. Cody broke his arm and—”
“What?” Her small fists land on my shoulders, her eyes huge saucers.
Remembering what happened, seeing my son crumpled on the ground, hits me with a wave of helplessness. “He fell off the swing set, and we weren’t sure if he also lost consciousness. After the doctors set his arm in a cast, they wanted to keep him here for observation overnight. My phone died, but as soon as he was discharged this morning, I got him comfortable at home and came to find you.” By the time my cell charged in my truck, I was almost home and wanted to talk face-to-face with Tori. “My mom’s with him now.”
A trembling hand covers her mouth. “Oh, my God. Is he okay?”
“He was pretty shaken. Hell, I was too.” The last twenty-four hours have been pure madness. From nearly breaking my hand on James’s face to carrying Cody into the ER and watching Tori deliver Kat’s baby, my emotions are wrung out.
She hugs me, and I close my eyes. I know she still has to be hurt from what happened last night, but here she is, comforting me. So with my nose in her silky hair, I tell her what’s been eating at me, gnawing at me. “I should’ve said something last night. I wish I could rewind the whole evening and do it differently. At first, I was pissed that James knew so much about you that I didn’t. I was straight-up jealous.” Insanely jealous. Out-of-my-mind jealous.
I trace her shoulder with my lips. Up her slender neck. Behind the soft lobe of her ear. “I hated the idea of him touching you, baby. Being with you. Loving you.” Even now, I have to close my eyes to stave off the anger.
This possessiveness is new to me. I’ve never been a jealous guy or felt the need to mark my territory. But I’m different with Tori. I want her in a way I’ve never wanted another woman.
I need her to forgive me for my missteps last night, but I have to know. “Why didn’t you tell me? About that shit in college? About the way James screwed you over?” That monster threw her in a goddamn closet while his wife gave him head. No wonder Tori gave me the hairy eyeball at the beginning of the summer. I’d have trust issues too after that experience.
Her tears wet her flushed cheeks, and I kiss them away. One by one.
“I felt ashamed, Ethan.” She hiccups and shakes her head. “It was all so humiliating. Jamie turned into such a creeper after we broke up, stalking me. Sending me flowers. Trying to talk to my friends about me. I let what happened with him suck me into a downward spiral that I never really recovered from. Failed out of school. Couldn’t get my shit together. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to be near my sister. To regroup.”
Fuck, it hurts to hear all the ways he tormented her. “Last night I was reeling from shock that this friend I looked up to and respected had not only cheated on his wife, but was a scumbag to you. He had me completely fooled.” I’d known James through Felicia since she and Allison grew up together, but he and I became tight when he helped me renovate my house. At the time, I’d thought he was someone to admire. Someone I should emulate. What a fucking joke.
Years later, when he told me he was “struggling with temptation,” he made it sound like he’d only been flirting around, not cheating. Not that I condone either behavior, but clearly he was sugarcoating the truth.
Tori chews on her nail. “Why didn’t you know about my driving record? Didn’t you do a background check?”
“That was Logan’s doing. He said he had it covered and that you were cool. I should totally kick his ass for lying to me, but I can guess what he was thinking. That he liked you as a person and knew Kat and Brady and trusted them.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve said something when he brought up my internship at the law firm.” Her lips twist, and her eyes cast down. “All of this stuff in my past was so embarrassing, and I didn’t want you to see me differently or think I couldn’t handle watching Cody and Mila. Didn’t want you to see me the way my family does.”
That gives me pause. “What are you talking about? They love you. Did you see the same woman I did today? Delivering Kat’s baby in a pick-up with nothing but towels from a diner, hand sanitizer, and a turkey baster? You’re a hero, honey. I’m not sure I would’ve been so even-keeled, and I’ve delivered a dozen foals over the years.”
She laughs through her tears, the realization of what she did shining in her eyes. “I did do that, huh?”
“You kicked ass. I’m so fucking proud of you.” I drag my lips against hers, moaning when she opens to me. I’m ready to make all kinds of promises to this girl when the door bangs open, and we pop apart.
A nurse wheeling in a very pregnant woman glares at us, and I laugh as I help Tori put on her scrubs. “Sorry ’bout that, ma’am.” Grabbing Tori’s hand, I drag her out, because we need more time to talk.
