We creep forward with caution, unsure of what we’re going to find. “Maybe you should go wait in the car,” Jackson suggests.
“Like hell,” I scoff.
Jackson groans and pushes me behind him in his attempt at being a protective big brother. He steps up to Henley’s front door and cautiously pushes it open. I peer over his shoulder and what we find has me feeling sick. Rocko certainly didn’t prepare us for this.
A gasp sails out of me as Jackson rushes toward Henley who lays beaten and broken on her living room floor. What the fuck is this? What happened to her? Who would do this?
Jackson scoops her up into his arms and as carefully as possible, he walks across the room to place her down on the couch. She looks terrible. Tears are streaming down her face and she looks to be in incredible amounts of pain. Seeing her like this kills me and I hate myself even more.
“What happened?” I demand, still peering around Jackson as he gets her settled on the couch.
She shakes her head and I don’t know if it’s because she’s not ready to talk about it or because she simply doesn’t want to talk about it to us. “What are you doing here?”
“Believe it or not,” I tell her with a slight shrug. “I got a call from Rocko saying that you needed help. We came straight away.”
“Rocko?” she grunts, just as confused as we were.
“Yeah,” Jackson says, helping her to sit up before reconsidering. “Come on, I should take you to the hospital to get looked at.”
“No,” she rushes out in that famous Henley attitude. “I’ll be fine. I just need help up and an ice pack. You don’t have to hang around.”
Jackson looks at her like she’s just lost her mind. “I’m not about to leave you alone with nothing but a fucking ice pack,” he demands. “Is there someone that you can stay with tonight? You probably shouldn’t stay in the house alone.”
Henley rolls her eyes, not liking being told what to do. “Yeah, can you call Tully? She’ll stay with me.”
“Tully?” I say taken back. “Tully Cage?”
“What other Tully do you know?” she throws back at me, making pain slice straight through to my soul.
Jackson steps in and looks back at me. “Go get her an icepack,” he orders. “Find some bandages too.”
I let out a sigh, but it’s not a bad idea. Despite her current state, I’m more than ready to fire back at her? Why am I the one getting her attitude? I’m the one who was wronged here, not her. She should be apologizing not trying to rip me a new asshole.
I make my way into her kitchen knowing exactly where she keeps her medical supplies. After all, I practically lived here and every time Jackson would get himself knocked around by guys like Nate and Jesse, we’d end up here, bandaging him back up.
I rifle around for everything I need and find a packet of peas before wetting a dish towel and taking it back out. As I walk back into the living room, I find Jackson booming with laughter and I scowl at the two of them getting along so well. “What are you talking about?” I ask, letting them know that whatever is going on here isn’t okay with me.
Jackson turns to look at me with a cringe. “Shit,” he says before looking down at his bare wrist. “Is that the time? I got to go.”
“Jackson,” I seethe in a panic, not wanting to be left alone here. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Bullshit,” he laughs. “I don’t want to be here for this showdown.” He walks forward and presses a kiss to Henley’s cheek before looking back up at me. “Clean her up. I’ll wait outside if you need me.”
I scowl at my brother’s back as he walks to the door and at the last minute, he turns and looks back at Henley. “Just remember, the trick with Kaylah is to go for the guilt trip. She’s a sucker for that shit.”
That little…
“Jackson,” I snap.
“Make her see the light, Henley,” he calls. “I miss hearing you two singing Taylor Swift at the top of your lungs while momentarily forgetting that you’re not as hard as you think you are.”
I glare at his back and Henley adjusts herself on the couch. “Can’t make any promises.”
“Well, try,” he says with a fond smile to the girl who ruined it all. “I want to introduce you to Elle.”
“Fine,” she says with a small smile and just like that, I know that Henley and Jackson are back on the same page while I couldn’t feel further away.
With a sigh, I decide to get this over with. I drop to my knees before her and hand her the packet of peas from her freezer. I get to work, trying to ignore the tears that begin pooling in my eyes. “Can we at least talk?” Henley asks, sounding hesitant.