Hendrix - Kelsey Clayton Page 0,43
okay,” he tells me, putting his hands lightly on my hips and blowing on my stomach to help it dry.
The feeling of his cool breath on my skin would be sensual if I wasn't a complete mess, but it's not. Colby Hendrix is worth more than a broken shell of a woman like me. He should be dating supermodels and pop-stars, and he does. Not teenage mothers with emotional baggage.
He hands me back my shirt, and I make quick work of putting it back on. “So you keep saying.”
“I mean it.”
Changing the topic, I bring it back to something more pressing. “Where's my phone? I have to call Maddie and tell her I'm going to be staying with her for a bit.”
He shakes his head immediately. “Not happening. You'll just go back to Topher's.”
I throw my head back and groan. “Then where do you expect me to stay, ruler of my life?”
“Here,” he says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
Glancing out the bathroom door and over to his king-sized bed, I immediately imagine how many women he's had sex with on that thing. Gross.
“No way.” I stand my ground and shake my head. “Have you ever taken a black light to that thing? There are probably bodily fluids from at least a hundred different people in this room.”
He snickers, like what I said is funny. “I'm going to try not to take offense to that. And besides, I didn't mean my bed. I meant my house. I do have a guest room, you know?”
My head whips his direction, and my brows furrow. “If you have a guest room, why did you give up your gym for Brenna's room?”
He shrugs. “Because I figured if you didn't want her sleeping here alone all the time, you'd have the guest room to sleep in. It's right across the hall.”
Well, that's nauseatingly thoughtful of him. “Oh.”
With a hand on my back, he leads me through his room and out to the living room. Tessa and Asher are still here, and Colby holds up one finger.
“Just to make you feel better about bodily fluids and all, I'll go change the sheets,” he quips. “Though, no one has had sex on that bed...that I know of.”
For the first time since he barged into my house, I chuckle. “Because that makes me feel so much better.”
He turns back as he walks down the hallway and winks at me. I roll my eyes in response. Such a charmer.
Tessa whispers something to Asher and then moves over to me. “Are you okay?”
Honestly? Not even a little, but I don't know this chick well enough to tell her that. I felt a little better about the fact that she did my daughter's hair after finding out she's dating Asher, but that doesn't make us friends. Even my best friend doesn't know about any of this. Ugh, that will be a conversation for the books.
“I will be.” I repeat what Colby has been telling me, hoping if I say it out loud, I'll actually believe it.
Tessa must be able to sense I don't want to talk about it because she takes a step back. “Well, if you ever need someone, I'm here.”
A part of me feels guilty for writing her off so quickly. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Colby comes out a couple minutes later and tells me the room is ready. With a polite but forced smile, I walk away and toward the guest room. Once the door shuts and I'm alone, the emotions wrack through me once again.
Will I ever really be okay?
MADDIE SITS ACROSS FROM me at Colby's, with her jaw practically on the floor and a very angry scowl on her face. I didn't want to tell her. As much as I love her and trust her with my life, I didn’t want her to know. She already never liked Topher as it is, but this—this may drive her to commit murder.
“I'm going to kill him.”
Yep, there it is. “Mads, stop. It’s not worth it.”
She scoffs. “Not worth it? S, he fucking hit you!”
Thankfully, Brenna is at school and nowhere near this conversation. As much as she thinks she wants to know everything, this is one of those things she just doesn't need to hear. We've been staying at Colby's for two days now, and while she's asked questions, we've managed to keep our answers pretty vague.
I wrap my arms around myself and refuse to make eye contact with her. “I know, but he's