“So, I guess asking you questions is a no go, huh?” I mumbled, desperate to break the silence in the cab of my truck and wincing when I realized I’d asked a question. “Sorry. So, what can we talk about? Not that you can talk obviously, but I guess I can talk at you, right?” Again with the questions.
Sighing, I glanced quickly at her and then looked back out the windscreen at Noah’s taillights. “Ok, let me just get this out there now – I’m going to fuck up. I’ve just asked you two questions in the space of thirty seconds so I think that’s more than obvious, but I’m going to look after you and make sure you get better. I’ll also keep you safer than you being locked in a panic room, so you don’t need to worry about that. I’m not great with medical shit, but I’ll do my best. I’m just glad you don’t have to put the medication thing up your butt,” I rambled, breaking off when I felt her squeeze my arm.
Slowing down slightly, I looked over at her. “Yeah, baby?” Fucking questions, Levi!
“It’s ok,” she mouthed at me, and held up a thumb in case I didn’t understand.
Rubbing my hand down my face, I blew out an exhausted breath. “It is ok, and it’s not ok, Lottie. He should never have got to you and you shouldn’t be sitting there with a throat that’s all bruised up. But it’ll be ok from now on, I’ll make sure of it.”
And then she did something that strengthened my resolve even more. She unclipped her seatbelt, almost giving me a heart attack as I slowed down, and scooted across so that she could rest her head on my shoulder and put her arm around my waist. I wasn’t that great at reading body language or the female mind, but I assumed this meant that she was showing me she trusted me to protect her, as well as probably trying to comfort me.
Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, I drove us carefully back to the house, avoiding as many of the potholes as possible on the road leading up to it. I couldn’t avoid all of them, though, so I wrapped my arm around her and held her as tightly against my side as I could.
“And those damn things are getting fixed tomorrow,” I growled, when I pulled to a stop in front of the house.
Picking Lottie out of the cab, I carried her carefully to the steps leading up to my porch. Mom had stayed behind to help watch the babies, but she was waiting for us at my front door.
“Is she ok?” she asked, moving Charlotte’s hair away from her face and smiling at her gently.
“Bruised to fuck and back,” Noah told her as he walked up behind us. “But the worst thing is, she’s got to put up with Levi being her bitch for at least a week.”
Standing next to him, Tate added, “We discussed it on the way back, and when she’s better we’ll choke Levi so that she doesn’t have to hear him for at least a week.” Leaning around Mom’s back, he winked at her, “You’re welcome.”
Shooting them a glare, I walked past Mom and into my house. I didn’t know about anyone else, but I could always tell when she’d been here. I wasn’t a messy person by any means, but everything just looked different after a visit from her. The coasters on the table were stacked properly, the cushions on the couch were placed perfectly, there weren’t any dishes drying in the kitchen, and if I was right she’d put on a load of laundry.
Turning to look at her, she shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if your towels were clean, and you can’t have dirty towels with a houseguest.”
“I have spares,” I pointed out. “A lot of them.”
“Well, I didn’t know that.”
“You got them for me!”
Sighing, she pointed at the nearest couch where there were some pillows and a blanket ready and waiting. “Do you want to put her down here, or does Lottie want to go to bed?”
Looking down at her, a thought occurred to me. “I’m going to put her down while I go and get something for her to change into.” She’d been wearing those clothes when the dick attacked her, so there was no way she was wearing them to sleep in.
Doing just that, I went and grabbed a pair of sweats and a hoodie. “She can’t wear your sweatpants,” Mom gasped, looking horrified. “She’s half the size of you.”
“I’ll go get some of mine,” Luna offered. I hadn’t seen her come in, but seeing as how Noah was here and she’d been with us at the hospital, it made sense. “Is that ok?” she asked Lottie, who nodded.