Page 106 of Deceptive Games

“Have you asked him for details on anything before? It’s like trying to wring water out of a brick. If they concocted some kind of cover-up, I’m in the dark about it because he doesn’t think I need to know,” she growled, and I took her face in both hands to force her to look at me.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Have you heard from Ty?”

That made me wince, and I nodded. “Yeah. He says he’s okay, but Jense texted to let me know he’s high again.”

“Does he get like this often?”

“On and off. It’s been a while since he’s been this bad. Usually, he’ll fuck himself up at a party, but these binges mean it’s getting bad again. You really took him out to burn shit?” I asked, a determined look crossing her face as she stared me down.

“Yes, I did. He needed a way to vent those emotions, and I gave it to him. He was going to go by himself, so who knows what he could've done alone. At least with me, I found him a safe way to do it.”

“How is burning down a house in Demons territory a safe way?” I asked dryly, and she cringed.

“Look, I didn’t know that was going to be a problem. You should’ve seen him though, Caden. He was so fucking happy.”

“Of course he was. You gave crack to an addict,” I sighed, scrubbing a hand over my face and stepping away from her. “Ty lets this shit build inside of him until he can’t hold it back any longer. He almost got arrested last time. That need you get for a cigarette when it’s been a while? That’s what happens to him with burning stuff. It’s an itch he can't scratch, but once he does, he can’t stop. I should’ve told you, so that’s on me. I’m sorry for snapping at you, it’s not your fault.”

“No, it’s not,” she scoffed, but concern filled her face. “I don’t know how else to help him.”

I moved to lie back on my bed, patting the spot beside me and waiting for her to snuggle into me before speaking.

“You’re already helping him, baby. Watching you with him on the couch yesterday made me realize just how much you make things better.”

“A blow job doesn’t fix anything.”

“It did, trust me,” I mumbled, trying to pull her on top of me, but she sucked in a sharp breath and pulled back before she could stop herself, my eyes narrowing. “Show me.”

“Show you what?”

“Rory, fucking show me,” I gritted out, giving her two seconds before grabbing her shirt myself to yank it off her.

She tried to stop me, cursing at me in the process, but she couldn’t hide the deep purple bruise across her ribs.

“What the fuck is that?” I bit out, getting to my knees to lean over her more to see better. She’s been hit with something, and it wasn’t a small bruise either. It almost covered her whole side.

“I got in a fight,” she argued, and instead of arguing back, I decided to try a new tactic and leaned down to kiss it, her body tensing.

“What happened?” I murmured against her skin, her breath stuttering.

“I handled it, Caden. There’s no problem.”

“Baby, you’re purple. That’s not just a punch,” I sighed, skimming my thumb across it gently as I sat back, peering up at her face. “Why can’t you tell me?”

“You don’t have to save me from everything, you know? I’m capable of fighting my own battles.”

“I know, but you don’t have to anymore, remember?”

She gave me a small smile, reaching out to run her fingers through my hair. “If I was in danger, I’d tell you.”

She was fucking lying, I could see it in her eyes, but I dropped it and pretended to believe her, deciding to do some digging myself.

“Fine. Did you ice it?”

“Yeah, not that it did much,” she grimaced, grabbing her shirt, but I tossed it away from her. “Caden?—”

“I don’t get you in my bed too often, but I definitely think there should be a mandatory rule about no clothing,” I chuckled, sliding a hand down her stomach to dip into her sweats, her hand coming up to stop me.