Bare Yourself (Consumed)

Chapter Sixteen

Willow

Logan pulls open the door, and I rush past him, with Tegan following at a slower pace.

“She’s upstairs,” Logan calls after me. I don’t stop, just turn on my heel and head to the stairs.

I stop at the door to pull myself together, not wanting to add more stress to Minnie with my frantic worry. I take a few deep breaths before tapping on the door lightly, then pushing it open.

Minnie looks up from the book she’s reading. The first thing I notice is the bandage on her forehead, and there’s no amount of breathing I can do to keep back the tears from rushing to my eyes.

“Minnie.” I take a step toward her. She sees my lip wobbling and holds out a hand to me. I run over and sit on the side of the bed, careful not to jostle her.

“I’m okay, Willow. It’s just a scratch.”

“But it could have been so much worse. I’m so sorry, Minnie. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t come here, none of this would have happened.”

Her expression turns hard when she scolds, “That’s bullshit, Willow Bennett. Get that shit out of your head right this minute.”

“It’s true, though,” I tell her, not backing down.

Her hand in mine squeezes so tight I cringe from the pain.

“Are you trying to make me angry? You’re not supposed to make a person that’s hurt angry. What you’re saying is stupid and you know it. Yes, he may be here because he wants something you have, but he made that decision. And he made the decision to change into what he is now. The fault is his and no one else’s.”

I know what she’s saying is true, but I still feel like it’s my fault he’s here. Maybe I should have tried harder to reach him once our dad died. Maybe there was something else I could have done.

Instead of acknowledging her words, I ask, “How are you?”

She smiles. “I’m better. The doctors gave me some pain meds for my headache. Other than that, I’m good. I’m more bored than anything else. I’ve only been in bed for barely an hour, and I already want out of it. I can see Logan’s going to be a pain in the ass the next few days. He’s threatened me already if I leave the bed.”

I laugh. I can totally imagine how bad Logan is going to be, but I’m glad she has him. Other than the bandage on her forehead and looking tired, she seems fine, which appeases my worry some.

“Is there anything you need?” I ask.

“Nope. Just you sitting with me is enough.”

“You know I’m here for you whenever you need me.”

“I know you are.”

She turns thoughtful for a minute, her eyes drifting to the side.

“I don’t think he meant to hurt me,” she says softly, bringing her eyes back to mine. They look sad.  “When I walked into the kitchen, I startled him. I don’t know.” She shakes her head and frowns. “I think he thought no one was home. He went to run past me and bumped into me. I was dizzy from the fall and hitting my head, but he turned back when he heard my cry of pain. I could have sworn I saw pain in his eyes when they met mine.”

Her words bring fresh tears to my eyes, because I want to believe them so badly. I don’t want to believe Bryan is capable of hurting someone he once loved with all his heart. I hate knowing I may have lost my brother forever. He’s my twin, but he was so much more than that.

“I hate that he hurt you,” I tell her. “But I hope you’re right. It hurts so much knowing he’s capable of something like that, when he used to be one of the sweetest people we knew.”

“Yeah.” She smiles sadly.

Neither of us speak for several minutes, both remembering the good times with Bryan. Things were always so good between us. I miss those days so much, it makes my heart ache. And what makes it worse is the knowledge that even if he were to ever get the help he needs, things will never be the same again. What he’s done to both Minnie and me are things he can never take back. Some actions are unforgivable.

“How are things with Tegan?” she asks, nudging my hip with her hand. She has a cheesy grin on her face when I look at her, and I can’t help the big grin that overcomes mine.

“Things are really good.” I lean toward her and lower my voice. “I love him, Minnie.”

Her eyes widen, but then her grin turns into a full-fledged smile. She sits up and wraps her arms around me. “I’m so happy for you, Willow!” she says in my ear.

I pull back. “Thank you. He makes me so unbelievably happy.”

She wiggles her eyebrows at me. “Have you been back to Blackie’s?”

I laugh at her. “A couple different times.”

“Has Nathan joined again?”

I wrinkle my nose. “No, and I’m kind of glad. It’d be very awkward working with him. It was bad enough the first few days, but I got past it. I’m not sure if I could again.”

“That’s true,” she remarks with a nod.

“But we have done other things.” I wink and shoot her a sly look.

“Ooh, do tell!” She sits up with her hands in her lap, smiling like a little kid being told an exciting story.

“Well…”

I tell her about the restaurant and the park, and how I used Tegan’s hand to get off for the truck driver, her eyes getting wider and wider with each word. I laugh when her mouth drops open when I tell her about almost getting caught in the alley. Each incident I tell her about sends memories flooding me, which has tingles forming in my stomach. The things Tegan does to me in public is exciting and crazy and feels so damn good. I want to experience more and more with him. I thought the threat of being arrested would have scared off the need to do more, but it hasn’t. If anything, it makes me want to try other things. To push the limit.

“Shit, girl, you better be careful,” she warns, but there’s a teasing smile on her face.

“We will,” I promise. Being arrested for indecent exposure is not something I want, but the thought of almost getting caught or knowing someone is watching is one of the biggest turn-ons.

I realize I’ve been up here for hours when Minnie yawns and leans her head back against the pillow, her eyes drooping.

“I’m going to let you rest. Do you need anything before I leave?”