Nights Embrace (Others of Seattle) (11 page)

“Just the end,” she answered softly. “I
stopped him.” She looked up at Kevin. “Is Jordan going to be all right?”

Kevin gave Jordan a long look and nodded.
“Should be. He’s going to be in the hospital overnight at the very least, but he’ll recover.”

“I know the asshat probably deserved some of what he got, but not all of that,” she made a pathetic motion at Jordan’s crumpled body.

“Yeah, well Jordan was never the brightest guy,” Kevin answered.

The paramedics pushed their way through the crowd
. They began to treat Jordan as Trevor finally made his way to her.

Roxy fell into his arms and
barely held back her tears. She was terrified if she showed too much emotion he would take that the wrong way. No matter how much of an asshole Jordan could be, she never wanted to see him broken and bleeding on the floor.

“Hey, love. Don’t hold it in. He was someone to you, this can’t be easy to see,” Trevor murmured as his big hand rubbed up and down her back in soothing strokes.

“I don’t know how to feel, other than sick. Jordan’s an asshole, but look at him,” she whispered.

He nodded.
“Yeah, I get that. You scared me pretty bad though. I couldn’t get through the crowd to protect you. I knew Boyd was a second from swinging at you.”

She let her head fall against his chest with a sigh.
“Sorry. I couldn’t let Boyd kill Jordan.”

Trevor squeezed her tighter.
“I know.”

* * * *

It scared the hell out of Trevor when she ducked under the table to heroically stop Boyd from killing her ex. She was feisty, and wasn’t going to back down when she believed in something.

Roxana Nights was going to be a handful.
As much as he respected her desire to fight her own battles, he was afraid for her life. She didn’t know his world, not yet.

Mike found his way over.
“God fucking damn it, Rox. Why the hell did you step into the middle of that mess? I swear you’re going to get yourself killed.” He stood there red-faced, chest heaving as he glared at his sister.

Trevor shot him a deadly look.
“Hey, calm down, Mike. She’s upset enough. Scold her later if you feel the need, but she probably saved that douchebag’s life.”

Roxy looked up at
Mike but didn’t move away from Trevor’s embrace. Her voice was steel. “Mikey, I don’t want to hear it. You were supposed to keep Jordan out of trouble. You obviously didn’t. I stopped it. I’m not making apologies, stupid or not. So shut the hell up.”

Mike
’s eyes rounded as he held up his hands. “I’m much more concerned about my little sister than a friend who can’t keep his shit together. So forgive me for freaking out when I see some asshole about ready to kill you.”

“He didn’t,” she shot back and turned,
stepping out of Trevor’s arms. Roxy gasped when she found the paramedics moving Jordan onto the stretcher. His shirt was open, his ribs broken to the point that his chest look malformed. His face busted, probably fractured in a couple key places.

Had Boyd laid his hands on her, Trevor would have killed him. No ifs, ands
, or buts, he would have murdered him in front of everyone, to hell with the consequences.

He took a deep breath and gave Mike a knowing look.
In an attempt to show understanding, he quietly explained, “She was too fast for me to stop her, but yelling at her when she’s this upset will only make things worse. She made a snap decision that stopped Boyd from killing Jordan. It worked out.”

Mike nodded, but he still seethed.
“She shouldn’t have. She’s all I have left. I don’t want to lose her.”

Trevor squeezed Mike
’s shoulder. “I’ll do my best to protect her. I just found her, and she has my heart.”

His mouth fell open as he looked
Trevor in the eye. “Shit, man. I believe you, but you met her when? Yesterday?”

“Sometimes you just know.” Trevor answered.

“Where are you taking him?” Roxy asked the paramedics.

“Swedish,
it’s the closest hospital.”

She shoved her hands back in her pockets and turned back to Mike.
“I’ll stop by the hospital later to make sure he’s still breathing.” Then, she turned to walk back to the front.

“You don’t need to come out,” Mike called to her. “We’ll stay with him. I’ll call you later to give you an update.”

She waved a dismissive hand over her shoulder.

Trevor shook his head and jogged to catch up to
Roxy. He heard Mike’s muttered curse. At least she slid into the booth next to Sorcha. Relieved, he slowed his pace and walked over to sit beside her.

He took her hand, and asked,
“Want to talk?”

“Not about that mess,” she sighed. “I’ll have to check on him later, but I don’t plan on staying.”

He nodded in understanding, but honestly, he didn’t like it. It was her ex. Trevor trusted Roxy when she said she no longer wanted Jordan’s love. He didn’t trust Jordan though, or the lengths he would go to get her back. He knew Roxy wouldn’t be swayed, but he was afraid she would be hurt again.

Joey leaned around Sorcha.
“Sorry, kid. Sounds like a mess back there. Anything we can do?”

She smiled a little.
“Distract me. You all seem good at that.”

Trevor smiled.
“Why don’t you tell us where you come up with your ideas for writing those amazing stories?”

Her cheeks colored slightly as she turned back to him, nibbling her lush bottom lip. She shrugged a little.
“I guess my imagination takes a trip and I go along for the ride. Writing what I dream up is pretty easy.”

Sorcha jumped in,
“Ooh, how did you come up with David?”

There was a chill to the air when Roxy stepped outside. Trevor was right beside her, drawing her close. His heat seeped into her, effectively chasing away the cool night air.

She looked up at Trevor, wondering why he was being so understanding. No other man would set aside his obvious discomfort at going to the hospital to check on her ex.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she tried once more. “You don’t have to come with me. I know it probably seems stupid that I’m going in the first place.”

“I’ll be honest. I don’t like it, but only because Jordan has hurt you and I have a feeling he’ll do it again. You said you miss the friend he was
before you were with him. I get that. I’m not sure he’s worth the sentiment, but for your sake, I hope he is.”

“I don’t get you.” She half-laughed, but it was
a sad sound. “You obviously hate Jordan, yet you say all the right things.”

He shook his head.
“Would you prefer if I forbid you to go see him?”

“That would only piss me off.”

“Exactly. I don’t have to like it, but I trust you. So, I’ll suck it up and deal with it.”

“Amazing.” She shook her head and looked up at the sky.

“Look, I’m not letting you go by yourself. I won’t go back to his room with you, but I’ll be waiting when you’re done. You’re upset, and rightfully so. If I can help, I want to.”

“
Thank you. I really do appreciate it.” She sighed, then pulled him down the street toward the hospital. “May as well get this over with.”

As they walked toward the
entrance, she pulled her phone out to call Mikey.

“Hey, Roxy,” he answered immediately. “You here?”

“Yeah, where are you at?” she asked.

“Emergency room. I’ll come out so you can come back. He’s still unconscious and they’re working on him.”

Roxy winced. “Okay. See you in a minute.”

Trevor opened the door but didn
’t let her go as they walked in. “I’ll be right here unless you don’t want me to be.”

“I want you here
, but I don’t think you going back is such a great idea.”

Mikey came through the doors and strode to
Roxy. “Sorry, Sis. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

She snorted.
“Yeah, no harm done, it’s over. How bad is he?”

A grimace distorted his face as he looked away.
“Trevor’s right, you probably saved him.” Mike let out a sigh. “They put an awful lot of stitches in his head. They need to run more tests to check his ribs, but they don’t look as bad as they did. Only two visitors can go back.”

“I
only plan to check on him. Think you can play nice with Trevor that long?”

Looking contrite, he nodded
. “Yeah, but Doug said he’d come out if you want Trevor with you.”

“
Ha! That would go over so terribly well.” Sighing, she took a step away from Trevor. “Trevor can stay with you. I’ll be right back.” She walked to the door, emotions churning in a way that threatened to tear her apart.

“He’s back in room
six,” Mikey called out.

* * * *

“You know those bastards?” Mike asked.

“Unfortunately. Dina and Boyd are
old acquaintances, and I wish to god they would stop following us.” Trevor gripped the back of his neck as he observed Mike. “I’ll do what I can to keep Roxy far from them.”

A small smile appeared on
Mike’s lips. “Good. She doesn’t seem to know when to let things go.”

“Well, she was in the right, even if she put herself at risk. I fucking hate it, but trying to stop her is likely to encourage her.”
Most of the women in his life had been that way.

“I don’t want to see her hurt.” Mike slumped into an empty seat.

Trevor sat down across from him. “Can I ask you something, Mike?”

“Sure.”

“Why does she put up with Jordan if he keeps hurting her?”

Mike
’s eyes closed before he dropped his head into his hands. “There was a time when Jordan was a good guy whose only goal in life was to see her smile. Hell, I used to think he was perfect for her. I didn’t believe he could ever pull half the shit he has. I’ve known him for as long as I can remember, and he’s like my brother. So, it’s probably my fault. I didn’t want to let him slide into the abyss with all the shit he’s been shoveling for years. Even after what he did to her.”

“What did he do? I need to know.”

Mike looked up at him, clearly torn by the question. “She isn’t going back to him. Nothing could make her. She’s stubborn as all hell.”

Trevor nodded.
“I’m getting that impression. But, what did he do?”

“Cheated, lied, got messed up with drugs. He changed. He thinks he needs her, but he was smothering her while he was out fucking every girl he could. I don’t get it. She left him years ago, but he was her first everything. First friend even. So yeah, she’s having a hard time
shutting him out completely because she knows what he was.”

“He never raised a hand to her? Forced anything on her?” Trevor asked seriously. There were a
few things he couldn’t abide by. He had to know if Jordan ever went there.

“No. He’s said
and done some pretty fucked up shit, but he’s never pushed when she said no. Do you really think I would let him live if he had?”

Trevor shook his head.
“No.” At least he hoped not.

* * * *

This is the last time,
Roxy promised herself. She was so tired of cleaning up Jordan’s messes. She couldn’t always be there for him, couldn’t always pick up the pieces.

She stepped into the room and found Doug sitting on the chair next to the door. He didn
’t look up when he said, “Hey, Rox.”

“Hi
, Doug.”

“He’s in bad shape,” he stood and squeezed her shoulder. “Turns out he was high too.”

“High?” Her stomach bottomed out. “I thought he was done with that shit.” Balling her hands into fists, she shook her head.

“Yeah
. We all did. I think he started back up a few nights ago. We didn’t know until they did the drug test.”

“It explains his extra pissy attitude of late
.”

“You going to be okay for a few minutes?” Doug asked. “I could use a Mountain Dew.”

“Yeah, go ahead,” she walked to the bed as he left the room.

“Jesus, Jordan,” she whispered as she looked down at Jordan’s bruised and swollen
face. Her stomach twisted into knots. Roxy reached down and took his hand. “You really need to watch your temper,” she whispered.

His eyes
fluttered open as he turned his head toward her voice. “I knew you couldn’t stay away,” he wheezed. “You’re always bailing me out of trouble.”

“One of these days, I won’t be there, and you’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Of course you will be there, cupcake. You always will.”

“No. I won’t.” She
tried to pull away, but he held her tightly.

Tears filled his eyes.
“Stay here with me. Please.”

“I only came to make sure you’re okay,”
she informed him, but she didn’t take her hand away.

“I haven’t been okay since you left me. Don’t you know that?”

Her laugh was bitter and she did yank her hand out of his before taking a step back. “I’m not doing this. You said you were going to stop. Can you honestly say you deserve me?”

“I can’t stop. I need you.
You’re the only one, Rox. You calm the storm raging inside.”

“And you were cheating on me for months before
I found out.
I
deserve better than that, Jordan. Whatever you think you need, I need better than that, and you can’t give it to me.”

“Pretty boy can’t either. I bet girls crawl all over him, and he takes everything they give.
That’s no worse than I do.”

“Fuck you, Jordan. You have no
right to judge.” She started to walk away.

“Why are you here then? If it’s not to come back to me.” The pain in his voice made her pause.

“Because I keep holding out hope you’ll remember who you were.”

“Then stay until someone comes back. I hate being in here alone.”

With a sigh, she went back to the bed, but stayed out of reach. “Until Doug gets back, unless you say one wrong word.”

“Can I ask one question without you taking offense?”
Jordan stared up at her with his big puppy dog eyes. The swelling, bruising and stitches making him look extra pathetic. She relented.

“Careful what you ask,” s
he warned, perfectly ready to walk out.

“What do you see in that guy?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Really?”

“I
need to understand,” he pleaded.

“Everything I’ve been looking for.
Over the last twenty-four hours he has treated me the way I deserve to be treated. I’m the
only
woman he sees. No one else exists for him. He cares about how I feel. You
never
did.”

“That
hurts, Rox. I always cared,” he said sadly.

“Not enough to change your attitude. Not enough to stop you from fucking every girl you could. Not enough to make you care about what I needed. And you sure as hell don’t care enough about me to let me go.”

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to watch men come on to you? They do it all the fucking time. You don’t even realize it, Rox. Just once I wanted you to be jealous because I was, every time any man came near you, since we were kids. Instead of being jealous that women came onto me, you dumped me.”

“Seriously? It’s my fault that men notice me? I never once gave
them a second look while I was with you. You banged every single one of those chicks. So yeah, I walked out.” With that she turned and left. She didn’t stop, even when he cried out in pain, probably trying to stop her. Jordan had burned his last chance.

She passed Doug on the way back to the waiting room.
“See ya, Doug.”

“Rox
y, wait. Are you okay?” he called.

“Yeah,” she lied
without bothering to turn around.

She found Trevor and Mike talking, both wore grim expressions.

“Make sure he doesn’t call me,” she told Mikey without stopping.

Mike
y muttered a curse.

Before she made it outside
, Trevor was beside her. She was doing everything she could to hold back the tears. Never had she felt so gutted, and it wasn’t because she wanted to fix anything. Not anymore.

“Want to talk about it?” Trevor asked softly.

She stopped and whirled on him. “FUCK!” she screamed, and it felt good to let it out. “I go to check on that bastard, and he blames me for all the times he cheated on me. All because he was jealous of the men who hit on me. I never once considered cheating on him, so how the fuck is that my fault?”

Trevor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His jaw clenched and his hands fisted. When he opened his eyes there was an unnatural gold tint.
“Jordan wasn’t man enough to see his mistakes or to make amends.”

“I don’t want him to make them right. I don’t want an apology. I want him to let me go. I guess that requires me walking away for good.” She turned away. “I won’t blame you if you turn around and
leave. I have so much shit to deal with, and you don’t need it.”

“Stop, Roxy. Don’t say that. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not going to make his mistakes,
” he said with such raw emotion that she believed him.

“You sure?” she spit out, feeling the need to destroy whatever they shared before it fell apart like everything else. “Because, I
really wish Boyd had hit him hard enough to give him amnesia. I wish Jordan could forget how to be such an asshole.”

Trevor laughed softly.
“Remind me not to land on your shit list.”

The tension broke, and she felt foolish.
“Sorry. That was a little harsh.”

“No… well, okay
… maybe a little. I’m sure he’s earned worse. You don’t strike me as the type that flies off the handle without being pushed.” He shrugged a little, his ruggedly handsome face taking on a softer, adorable side that completely melted her anger.

And there
he was, being exactly what she needed.

“Want to walk me home
?” she asked, hoping he’d stay.

He nodded.
“I do, and if you let me come in, I’ll hold you until it all falls away and you’re back to yourself.”

“You’ll be my teddy bear?” she asked with a raised brow.