She was unsteady, and he instinctively held her tightly against his body, basically holding her up as she continued to tremble uncontrollably against him.
She shook her head, her breaths catching. “Do you think one of you could take me home?” She started crying, clearly shaken up.
Before this moment, I wouldn’t have believed that Rocky was scared of anything.
“I don’t have a car,” Mac said before I could respond.
“You … can drive … mine,” Rocky offered in between sobs.
“I’ve got her,” I interrupted. “Go back to whatever it was you were doing, Mac. I can handle this,” I snapped at him even though he had shown everyone watching that he didn’t want Hayley. Apparently, I was angry anyway.
I pulled Rocky out of his grip and took her in mine. Before I could lead her away, a hand was on my shoulder, stopping me.
“Sunny, there’s nothing going on between me and Satan,” he said, and I would have laughed if I wasn’t so worried about Rocky’s emotional state.
“I need to go,” I insisted, gripping Rocky tighter than I meant to, and she whispered, “Ow,” under her breath.
“I’m coming with you,” Mac said, and before I could argue, he had Rocky in his arms again. “Which way’s your car, beautiful?” He was trying to distract her, and I thought it was working until she pointed her finger toward the parking lot and I noticed how violently her hand was shaking.
We walked together, the three of us in relative silence. Mac and I shared confused looks as the tears fell from Rocky’s eyes without stopping. We searched for her car. She pressed the key fob, and we listened for the sound of her horn.
“It’s right there.” She nodded toward an old red Mustang before dropping the keys into Mac’s open hand.
“That’s your ride? You’re even more of a badass than I thought you were,” Mac said with a grin, and Rocky tried to smile but couldn’t.
I watched as Mac placed her in the passenger seat and buckled her in. He looked like he’d done this before, taken care of someone who couldn’t take care of themself. We both raced toward the driver’s side even though Mac had the keys.
“I’ll drive,” he said before pulling up the seat so I could get in back.
“Do you even know how?” I asked because I knew that he didn’t have a car here but I didn’t know why.
He smirked. “Do I know how to drive? Yeah, babe, I have my license and everything,” he teased before helping me into the backseat. He waited for me to put my seat belt on before he even turned the engine over.
Billie Eilish blared through the speakers, and Mac instantly turned the volume down to almost nothing.
Rocky was in a world of her own, her tears still falling with abandon whether or not she wanted them to. I wanted to talk to her, ask her if she was okay, but I decided to wait until we got her into her apartment. I sensed that she needed to feel like she was in a safe place, not on the road or out in the open. It took us no time at all to get to our complex, and by then, Rocky could walk on her own without me or Mac assisting her, although Mac refused to leave her side, just in case.
“I’m sorry, you guys.” Rocky blinked rapidly a few times, looking like she was embarrassed or ashamed by her reaction.
“Don’t apologize,” Mac said reassuringly.
“Yeah. I’m just glad we were there. Are you okay?” I asked as I opened the main building’s door, and we trekked down the long hallway toward both of our apartments.
She nodded before changing her mind and shaking her head instead. “Not really,” she started to explain as she opened her front door and held it open for us to follow.
Her apartment was the exact same floor plan as mine, but she barely had anything in it. Nothing decorated her walls with the exception of a pair of elaborate and large cast iron candelabras, which were absolutely stunning, framing the patio doors. They looked like something stolen straight out of a real-life castle, and now, all I wanted was to see them lit.
Rocky blew out a long breath as she walked into her kitchen and filled a glass with water from a pitcher in her fridge. Mac and I watched her down the entire thing before she looked at us, her eyes still glassy and swollen.
“I was in a