My face twists into a cringe and I take her hand, gently removing it from her head to examine her lump. “You’re going to need to ice that,” I tell her, taking in the deep purpling bruise that spreads right through the lump and around her eye, something that she wouldn’t even come close to covering up with concealer. “How are you feeling? Do you have a headache? Do you need a painkiller or something like that? I’m pretty sure King put some on the bedside table in your room with a bottle of water.”
Her eyes widen. “King was in my room while I slept?” she asks, not even swooning at the idea of being in his arms like the usual, chirpy version of Ember would have done. “Just tell me he wasn’t being a creeper while he was in there.”
“He carried you inside and put you into the bed so you weren’t passed out by the pool and in the sun, but don’t worry, he was extra careful with you. Very respectful for an asshole like King. We just didn’t want you to wake up out there and be scared.”
“So, you chose to put me in a room that I’d never been in before, in a house that I barely know that was just … I don’t even know what happened. Burgled? Home invaded?”
I cringe. “Sorry,” I say. “I guess I didn’t really think that part through. I just wanted you to be comfortable, and I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to call your parents or not, so I wanted to wait it out until you woke up, but then it was getting late and the exhaustion got me and I kinda crashed.”
“It’s fine,” she grumbles, twisting her face in pain as she attempts to adjust herself on the pillow. “It’s probably best that you didn’t call them. They would have just worried and then you would have had them on your doorstep with an ambulance and the cops demanding a statement. They would have found a way to put the blame on you even though you literally couldn’t help it, and they would have said that I can’t hang out here … you know.”
I press my lips into a tight line. Maybe her parents would be right to distance her from me. I’m bad news and she deserves better than that.
Her mouth drops open before quickly closing it again. “So, it’s all true then? It’s not just some crazy dream?”
“Unfortunately,” I mutter, hating the images that replay in my mind on repeat.
Ember sighs and carefully relaxes into the pillow at a new angle. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.”
My heart breaks for her. I hate that she’s been dragged into this bullshit, and because of me, ended up getting hurt. “Here,” I say, pulling myself out of bed and trying to keep my voice quiet, knowing her head would be throbbing and aching in the worst kind of way. “Let me check my bathroom. I might have some painkillers in there.”
I skip into the bathroom, trying to keep it quick as I’m more than aware that I’ve skipped over the explanation far too many times, but her health is far more important right now. As soon as she’s comfortable and not hurting, I owe her the truth, or at least, the parts of the story which I can tell without exposing Dynasty.
I hurry through to the bathroom and scrounge around through the cabinets before finding what I need and grabbing a glass of water. I help to get her comfortable and go as far as holding the glass while she swallows the small pills.
The second the glass hits the bedside table beside her, she shoots a heavy glare my way. “No more excuses,” she tells me. “Sit down and tell me what the fuck happened before I go insane.”
I give her a tight smile and make my way around to my vacated side. I scoot back in under the blankets, trying not to jostle the bed too much. I turn to face her and try to be strong. Telling Cruz’s mom yesterday was easy, but breaking the news to Ember is like walking across hot coals. “From what we can gather,” I start, “it was a home invasion. The guy scaled the gate while we were outside and tripped the silent alarm, which we would have known if we were inside and I had my phone on me. Grayson watched the security footage last night and told me that he’d tried to get into the house from the front, but the door has an automatic lock so that’s when he came around back.”
Ember groans, her eyes widening as she remembers exactly what I’m talking about. “Skip this part,” she begs. “I know what happens here.”