Page 7 of Hold 'Em Tight

I'm worthless. I fucked everything up. It's all my fault. I'm trapped here with Missi and a baby. I deserve to be miserable… This is just my penance.

CHAPTER THREE

Loving Rylee has got to be one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. It’s everything else in her life that’s hard to be around.

I know she loves the others, but it’s so fucking difficult to sit back when all they’ve done is hurt her.

She says they’ve made up for it, showed that they love her, that they want to do better by her.

But isn’t that what Lennox said too? And what did he do? Turn around and shack up with the very person who has sought to make his girlfriend's life a living hell.

The only reason I haven’t found that bastard, and beat his ass like I really want to, is because I don’t want to cause Rylee any more pain than she’s already in. Plus, the risk of getting arrested isn’t worth being away from her.

My girl needs me, and I plan on being by her side the whole time.

The past few days haven’t been easy. It physically hurts me to see Rylee in pain. She’s depressed, that much is obvious.

I’ve been doing what I can, but with the cheer house being packed, and the other guys so far up Rylee’s ass, it’s been causing some fights.

So, as much as it pained me, I stepped back to give them all some space.

Unable to go another day without seeing my girl, I get in my car and head down to the cheer house.

“Hey,” Serenity greets me, a sad smile on her face.

“Hi.” I give her a forced one back. “How’s our girl?”

Tears fill her eyes, letting me know it’s not good. Nodding, I leave her and head up the stairs, straight to Rylee’s room. I don’t stop until I’m pushing the door open, not bothering to knock. She’s been avoiding my text messages. Though, from what Alex has said in his texts, she's avoiding everyone.

They’ve been here with her, keeping her company, but she’s not really there. It's like her mind’s not present.

“Fucking hell, baby.” My voice cracks when I see her sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped around a pillow, as she stares blankly out the window.

Stepping into the room, I shut the door behind me, my heart breaking at the sight of my girl like this.

There's dark circles under her eyes, like she hasn’t truly slept in days, and her hair’s a tangled, greasy mess.

Where the fuck have the other guys been? They should have been fucking taking care of her.

Anger surges inside me as I make my way over to her. “Hi, baby,” I murmur, leaning forward to place a kiss on her forehead. “I missed you.”

She says nothing, another pang to the heart. Sighing heavily, I brush some hair off her face, as tears prick the back of my eyes. “I got you, Rylee,” I promise, pressing another kiss to the top of her head, before taking off into the ensuite.

I run her a warm bath, then grab a big, soft towel to set on the sink before finding her a change of clothes.

When the tub is filled, I wordlessly walk back into the room, scoop Rylee into my arms, where she goes without complaint, and bring her into the bathroom.

Sitting her on the closed toilet seat, I start to undress her before helping her into the tub.

Every second, as I clean her body and wash her hair, I feel a piece of me break. It kills me to see her like this.

“Talk to me, baby. Tell me how you’re feeling. I want to help you so badly,” I murmur, dunking a cup under the water, before bringing it to her head, to rinse out the shampoo.

Her eyes are closed, but I see her squint them tighter. She can hear me. I know I haven’t truly lost her.

“Tell me what's wrong.”

A sob wracks her chest. “Everything.”