“In a nutshell,” I said.
“Better than nothing,” Steele added.
Malachi nodded. “Then it’s settled. May the best cat win.”
I laughed. “Took the words right out of my mouth.”
23
CASSIDY
I was seemingly stuck between a figurative rock and a hard place. Though I didn’t think sitting at the base of the door was going to prevent any more unpleasant interactions for the day, I was mostly certain I didn’t have the energy to get up and move. And that suited me just fine. I was content to spend the rest of my life in this bathroom if it meant being able to avoid Charlotte, Xander, and the three men.
Maybe, eventually, they would give up and I could return to my life. Go back to where it was just me, myself, and I.
And that led me to considering how easy it would be to gather up my things and leave. No one was here to stop me. I could just pick up my bags and go. No one would be the wiser, and I had no one to answer to.
As much as I wanted to leave, I couldn’t do that to the men. Not after everything they had done for me. Besides, at the very least, they deserved a goodbye.
My face hurt. The crying had only made the pain worse. Now, it was a constant throbbing that filled the whole left side of my face. I was sure I was going to have a bruise and I didn’t want to see what sort of reaction the men were going to have when they saw me again. That was if they saw me again. And considering how chaotic and violent things had been recently, it was a very big if.
On top of everything else, my eyes were swollen from all the tears and my nose felt stopped up as well. My chest ached. My head started to throb.
I had no idea what to do with myself. It wasn’t very realistic to keep myself locked in the hotel room until everyone decided to give upon me. Steele had already mentioned once before he had a key to the room. I just assumed not make him have to use it.
But I also couldn’t see myself being further involved with the men.
Charlotte had given me an ultimatum. Back off or else. And trying to play dumb hadn’t done me any favors. If anything, it probably only worked to aggravate her more. Perhaps if I had just agreed to her warning, things wouldn’t have gotten as physical. She knew a lot more than I had let on. And I wasn’t sure sticking around and testing her warning was such a great idea.
But I couldn’t bring myself to leave.
After sobbing my eyes out for the longest time, I managed to summon enough strength to step into the bathroom and start the bath I had initially set out to do. My body needed the warm water. My aching muscles needed to be soothed. And my heart some water therapy for my hurt feelings.
The rush of the water filling the tub called to me as I poured in a healthy amount of foaming bubble bath liquid. And once the water had warmed up, steam billowed into the air. As the tub filled, I carefully slipped out of my clothes, wincing as my muscles protested some of the movements.
Just before climbing into the tub, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. I gasped at my appearance, not expecting what I had seen.
Amazingly enough, my face was only red from being slammed into the floor repeatedly. My makeup was a mess, however. My eyeliner and mascara had run down my cheeks in small, black streaks. But other than that, all in all, I didn’t look like I had a horrible run-in with a mountain lion shifter alpha.
But I did feel the fact. I felt everything painfully. My nerves were raw, and my emotions had been flooding through me. I had enough of the day and was ready to put it behind me. Starting with the bath and maybe a little celebratory bottle of Moscato.
I sucked in a deep breath and headed toward the mini-fridge where a bottle of Moscato sat. I pulled out the bottle and returned to the tub to shut off the water. Once I sat the bottle on the edge of the tub, I carefully stepped into the warm water.
With a sigh, I lowered myself to the bottom of the tub and leaned back. If I couldn’t enjoy my vacation, I was going to at least try to numb my nerves and relax as much as possible. The Moscato and bath worked well together for that.
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. But no sooner than I exhaled did my mind start to race. More tension filled my muscles and I struggled with finding some sort of peacefulness.
My phone buzzed. I opened an eye and glanced at it. Gemma’s name appeared on the screen with the message icon. I sighed and clicked on the icon.
“Enjoying your vacation?” she asked.
I frowned and rolled my eyes. “Oh yes. Time of my fucking life over here.”
I thought about sending her a response, but if I told her no, she would want to know why. And if I told her yes, she would want details. And if I told her sort of… the point of the matter was, if I responded, she would want to talk about it more, and I really didn’t want to talk about it.
I wanted distance. I wanted peace. I wanted to escape the day and pretend like it never happened for a couple of hours at the very least.
And yet, the more I tried to put distance between me and my problems, the more they encircled my brain.