Woods

I watched Della leave and wondered if I’d done the wrong thing letting Tripp see us like this. Her hair had been mussed, her lips swollen, and the look of satisfied female was oozing from her. I wanted Tripp to see that she was mine. That she wanted to be mine. But maybe that had been wrong. I hadn’t thought of Della’s reaction to this or how she would feel.

“I guess that clears up her confusion from yesterday,” Tripp said after closing my door and walking inside.

What did he mean? “What confusion?”

Tripp shrugged and sank down onto one of the leather chairs across from my desk. Then he cocked an eyebrow. “You didn’t do anything in this chair, did you?”

I rolled my eyes and sat down on the edge of my desk. “What did you mean by that comment? What confusion?”

“The part where you dropped her like a hot potato yesterday and left her completely confused and unsure of herself. Even so, she sat around obediently in a pair of sweats and your damn hoodie all day and even slept in it.”

She had slept in my hoodie? I started to smile when the fact Tripp knew what she slept in registered in my brain and I scowled instead.

“How the f**k do you know what she sleeps in?” I asked, moving to stand up.

Tripp cocked his head to the side and stared at me. He didn’t even attempt to defend himself.

“Do you really know her? Or are you just f**king her? Because she’s already been screwed over once since I’ve met her and I think you might have the power to break her.”

Blood began to boil in my veins. I was going to beat the shit out of him. And who the hell had screwed her over?

“You might want to be careful what you say. I don’t give a shit who you are or who the hell I’m supposed to be. And what do you mean she’s been screwed over before?” Then the memory of Jace sitting in my office saying she’d gotten mixed up with her boss came back to me. What had he said exactly?

Tripp held up both hands. “Calm down and listen to me. Damn when did you become a hot head?”

“Tell me what happened with her old boss? The one in Dallas.”

Tripp scowled. “Bastard played her. He’s married and his wife is pregnant. Della didn’t know because he doesn’t wear a ring and he never comes in the bar. She was new and he showed up late at night and did a little flirting. Then he was picking her up and coming by more often. It’s a big bar. No one asks questions. I’d seen him f**k with waitresses before but I wasn’t sure if that was what was happening with Della. Until his wife showed up. Della was furious more than she was upset. That’s why I sent her here. He didn’t have the power to break her. But I think you do.”

Her old boss had been married. Damn. No wonder she was so careful to stay away from me when I’d been engaged. She’d been worried about history repeating itself. I was a dirtbag.

“I won’t hurt her,” I vowed. I wouldn’t.

“She’d be easy to break.”

I didn’t like the way he kept saying that. “What do you mean?” Had he seen her have a panic attack?

“She screams at night. Every damn night she screams like someone is beating her. It’s scary as motherfucking hell. She doesn’t wake up either. Nothing I do calms her down. She screams until it’s over. Then she wakes up. Sometimes she doesn’t. Sometimes she just lies back down and stays asleep. I just sit there in horror and watch her. I try to hold her and calm her down when she wakes up but it never helps. She trembles and it breaks my heart. I can’t make it better. All I know is she’s got some f**ked up shit in her head. I don’t know what and I don’t know why but it’s there and it haunts her. So, if you’re in this for a hot f**k then I’ll gladly fight you. Because that girl ain’t the kind you f**k with. She’s not strong enough for that.”

I was going to be sick. My stomach was wound so tightly in knots I couldn’t move. She was screaming, at night. The frozen terror I’d seen her in that night at the party had been scary enough. She’d clung to me desperately. I had worried that she might deal with that alone. I hadn’t known she had bad dreams. My chest hurt and my eyes burned. I hated this. I hated knowing she was tormented by something. I wanted to fix this. Fix everything for her.

I turned and headed for the door. I was going to find her. We were going to talk about this. I’d be there the next time she woke up screaming. Tripp might not be able to comfort her but I sure as hell would. I’d make this go away. I had to. I wasn’t sure I could live with her hurting like this.

“Where are you going?” Tripp asked.

“To find her,” I replied.

“You really think that’s the way to handle this? Do you not know her at all? Scare her and she’ll run. You need to stop and think about this. If you want to help her then good. I’m glad. She needs someone. She doesn’t want me and honestly, I don’t know if I could handle this. I’ve got my own demons. But she does want you. She held that hoodie so tightly, last night when she woke up and buried her face in it like she was trying to smell you that I was worried. I couldn’t imagine you cared enough about her to deal with this craziness. She’s smoking hot. I figured that was what you were in this for. But if you care about her enough to stay even though she has issues and it isn’t easy. Then good. I’m relieved.”

I looked back at him. “I’ll be whatever she needs me to be. I can’t walk away from her; I tried. I’m hooked. And now I’m about to lose my mind because I don’t know how to help her. I just need to go find her and hold her the rest of the damn day. I need to know she’s okay.”