Page 45 of Find Me

I shouldn’t have fought so hard.

I should have never made it out of that house.

I should have let him have me because I would never be free of him.

A sob ripped from me and my knees gave out. Knox caught me. “I got you,” he told me as he slowly eased me to the floor. My tears fell from my eyes as if a faucet that controlled the flow had been twisted open to the max.

“What happened?” The voice belonged to Creed. Not that I could confirm that with flooded eyes.

“She overdid it,” Knox answered. “Can you toss me her water bottle that’s in her bag over there?” Once Creed retrieved my water, Knox took it from him and held it up to my mouth. “Small sips.”

I did as he instructed, swallowing the small sips of water he poured into my mouth between my panting breaths.

I heard footsteps rushing up the stairs before Keelan’s voice joined us. “I got a cold washcloth to help cool her down.” He came into view when he knelt down next to me. He pressed the wet cloth to my forehead and slid it down the side of my face, then to the other side before sliding to the back of my neck. I let out an embarrassing groan and I couldn’t find it in me to care. It felt that good.

Colt was the last to show up. “What happened? Why is she crying?” He sounded equally concerned as he did angry.I must look as bad as I feel.

Ignoring his brother, Knox asked Keelan, “Can you help her back to my office and put her in the shower? I’ll meet you down there as soon as I get this cleaned up. Colt, you can help him. Creed, go fetch me another trash bag,” Knox ordered.

“I’m going to pick you up and carry you,” Keelan told me before scooping me up bridal-style.

I rested my head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“It’s okay, baby girl,” Keelan reassured.

“Are you sure you got her?” Colt asked, sounding on edge. I didn’t like him upset, even more so knowing that I was the reason.

“I got her. Can you grab her bag?” Keelan nodded at my bag on the floor, then started walking toward the stairs.

I had been too upset to remember to lock it up in the locker room. Not caring, I’d dropped it next to the stairs and taken off down the track. I hadn’t even bothered to put my earbuds in to listen to music.

Back in the office, Keelan walked past Knox’s desk and the big conference table, toward a door I hadn’t noticed earlier. It led to a full-fledged bathroom with a spacious tile shower. Keelan set me down on the closed toilet. He opened the glass door to the shower, turned on the tap, and held his hand under the spray, feeling the temperature. Colt followed us in shortly with a yellow sports drink and knelt down in front of me. He unscrewed the cap before placing the drink in my hand.

“Take small sips,” he ordered and began untying my tennis shoes. “We’re going to put you in the shower to help cool you down,” he explained.

I numbly took a small sip, scrunching my nose while I did it. I hated the taste of sports drinks.

“You going in with her?” Keelan asked Colt.

Colt pulled off my shoes, followed by my socks. “Yeah,” he said, and I felt his fingers fiddle with my anklet. I looked down as Colt tilted his head up, giving me a questioning look.

“It’s a GPS anklet tracker. If I’m ever taken, Logan can use this to find me wherever I am as long as I have it on,” I explained.

Colt’s eyes shifted to Keelan, who had been quietly listening. In the back of my mind, I knew I probably shouldn’t have told them that. It would only create more questions, but I didn’t have the energy to care.

With a heavy sigh, I reached down to take it off. I hated getting it wet. The anklet was waterproof, but water got trapped between my skin and the bracelet and that irritated my skin.

“Babe,” Colt said gently. “Why would you worry about being taken?”

After stuffing my anklet into one of my shoes, I met Colt’s eyes. “Are you using one of your five questions?”

Colt stared back at me and I could tell he was considering it. When he finally came to a decision, he rose to his feet and pulled off his shirt. I closed my tired and puffy eyes, relieved.

Colt stripped down to his boxers. “Do you want to get in with your clothes on or do you want to go in your underwear?” Colt asked.

I waited for the panic to surface, but I couldn’t feel it through everything else overwhelming me.

“Whatever you’re comfortable with, Shi,” Keelan said at my hesitation.