Page 80 of Protective Love

"Nothing."

"Maybe she just needs some time. I'm sure she'll explain everything soon enough."

"Yeah," I sigh. "I hope so."

Chapter Forty-One

Rory

After the most boring shift of my life, I walk towards the elevator, desperate to go home so that I can sit and mope on my sofa with a good book and a glass of wine.

When the doors open, I stand frozen with shock as I see Leo leaning against the mirrored wall with his phone in his hand.

"What are you doing here?"

He glances up at me, shrugs, and then looks back down at his phone, practically ignoring not only my question but also my existence.

I huff and step into the elevator, too tired and dejected to even care that he hasn't given me an answer.

As the doors close and the lift begins to move, he pockets his phone and glances over at me.

I turn to face him too, raising my brow.

When he still doesn't say anything and looks away from me, waiting for the doors to open, I can't help but allow my gaze to stray to the scar running across his face again.

"Have you ever tried to use any creams or anything on it?" I ask, gesturing to the raised, jagged scar that slices through his eye, despite the fact that he probably already knows what I'm referring to.

He shakes his head in response, kissing his teeth as he impatiently presses a button on the wall as if he's in a rush for the doors to open and let us out.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want it to fade," he states, practically sighing in relief when the elevator comes to a stop and the doors finally slide open.

I follow him down the hall and out of the hospital, but as he heads to his car, my steps falter, and I glance around the dark parking lot ahead of us as fear snakes down my spine, causing my body to lock up.

He looks at me over his shoulders, and then his eyes also dart around, searching for anything that may be a threat.

When he clearly sees nothing out of place, he walks towards me and gestures with his arm to follow him.

My head swivels back and forth, my eyes scanning every person and every car around us before I hurry towards him.

"The scar is a reminder for me," he says, placing his hand on the small of my back and nudging me forward towards the car. "I like that it's permanent."

I don't say anything in response, too distracted by my surroundings to focus enough on stringing a sentence together.

My shoulders relax slightly when we reach his car and he opens the passenger door, waiting for me to get in before he closes the door and rounds the car.

Once he gets in and starts the engine, I finally tear my eyes away from the dark streets around us, feeling safer than I did before now that I'm not outside, and no longer alone.

As we silently make our way through the streets of London, I pull my phone out of my bag and click on Jaylen's contact, opening our empty text thread.

My thumbs hover over the keyboard for a few moments before I sigh and turn my phone off.

"He's waiting for you to text him, you know?"

I turn to Leo in surprise.

"Really?"