8
Ryder
As soon as I turn the water off, I hear Mojo’s loud bark coming from the other room. I pull on my shorts without bothering to dry off before I run out. Tucker is on the floor, trying to protect his face. Mojo is looming over him, still in attack mode, and Penny is nowhere to be found.
“Get your fucking dog away from me!” he yells and kicks his leg out, almost hitting Mojo. His dark jeans have a huge rip, exposing bloody bite marks underneath.
What the fuck?I look around the room.Where did Penny go?
“Mojo, come here!” My dog snarls at Tucker but listens to my command and sits down next to my foot. “What the fuck just happened?”
Tucker gets on his feet. “That fucking slut of yours told your stupid mutt to attack me. That’s what fucking happened!”
I go from confused to furious, bypassing irritation and anger. Only I get to call Penny names, and nobody calls my dog a mutt. But what really gets to me is that he just lied to my face. I know Penny, and I know Mojo. I’m not sure what happened yet, but I know Tucker is lying about it.
“You better go and clean that up, maybe even get some stitches,” I say casually.
Letting him know how I really feel right now is a bad move. So, I play it smart and pretend that this is not concerning me. Grabbing a beer from the fridge, I notice that the back door is open. I sit down on the couch and prop my legs up on the coffee table while watching Tucker inspecting his leg. When he finally gets up with a grunt, he doesn’t even look at me.
“Papers are on the table,” he growls before limping out.
I listen, waiting for his bike to leave my driveway before jumping up and running out the back door. My next-door neighbor comes out his back door giving me a dirty look. Probably because I’m wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, but I couldn’t care less.
Mojo is on my heels when I search the backyard and around the house. “Find her!” I order him, and he sniffs around the yard.
It doesn’t take him long to catch her scent and follow a trail. Leading me through the neighbor’s yards, he brings me to a small park at the end of the road. Penny is sitting under a large oak tree with legs pulled up to her body, hugging her knees. I can’t see her face because her head hangs down, and her forehead is pressed to her knees. Her hair falls to the side like a curtain, making it impossible to see her eyes. Still, I know she is crying by the audible sobs and how her body trembles with each sound.
I watch Mojo nudging her legs with his head, and she unclenches one of her arms to reach out to him. She buries her fingers into his thick fur and moves her hand around a bit. Mojo sees that as an invite and lays his large body next to hers. It’s weird watching her with my dog like that. Mojo has always been attached to me, only listening to my commands, and he has never been protective of someone else. I don’t know how I feel about this new development yet.
I take a seat next to Penny on the ground. “You going to tell me what happened?”
No answer.
We sit here for a few minutes, and I just let her cry. When she seems to calm down a little, I ask her again, “What happened?”
Instead of giving me an explanation, she raises even more questions by saying, “I don’t want to sleep with him or your friends. Please, I can’t.” Then she lifts her head and looks at me. “Please, don’t make me do that. I’ll be better. I’m sorry about last night. I’ll get over it. I won’t stop you again. I promise, I’ll do whatever you want.”
I can feel my blood pumping at double speed and turning two degrees hotter when I see her face.
That motherfucker.
Her bottom lip is swollen and split open, and the side of her jaw is already turning a bluish shade. She wipes the tears out of her eyes with the back of her hand. I have the irrational urge to hug her right now, but just like with Tucker, it is best not to show her how I really feel.
Keeping my voice even, I ask, “Did you tell Mojo to attack Tucker?”
She shakes her head furiously, strands of her dark blonde hair falling in her face. “No, I swear! That’s not what happened.”
That’s what I thought, but I still wanted her to confirm. I give her a small nod, letting her know that I believe her. She seems to relax a little after that, but tears won’t stop falling down her face. I’ve had enough of this sulking around.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” I stand, and thank fuck, she follows my lead. Yet another surge of fury runs through my veins when I see her shirt ripped from the collar down to her breasts. Her bra is peeking out, and if I was wearing a shirt right now, I would probably give it to her.
She walks with me, only her legs seem much more unstable than usual. Her steps remind me of a newborn fawn taking its first steps. I put my arm around her and tug her to my side to make sure she doesn’t fall on the way back home. She seems a bit out of it, doesn’t even stiffen when I pull her close.
Back in the house, I deposit her on the couch before making sure all the doors and windows are locked. I rarely do this, Mojo is the best alarm system there is, but I feel like I should now.
After I’m done with that, I go to the bathroom and turn the shower on. I return to the couch to undress a now lethargic Penny. When she is completely naked, I step out of my shorts and pick her up. Carrying her through the house, I see Mojo looking at me funny, and I shake my head at him.
I step under the shower, still cradling her against my chest longer than necessary. Her cheek presses against my skin, and when the water hits us, she turns her face to bury it in my chest.