Be With Me(86)

“Reggie, thank God. I was worried.”

She stiffened then pulled away and slugged him right in the gut.

He doubled over with a grunt but managed to keep hold of her elbow as he dragged her inside the house.

She twisted free from his grasp and shut the door behind him. He stood in the foyer, his hand beneath his T-shirt rubbing his gut.

“I deserved that,” he said in a low voice.

She glared at him. “Yeah, you did.”

A long sigh spil ed from his lips, and she softened when she saw the misery etched on his face. He didn’t have to know she’d gone al gooey though.

She fixed him with a frown, and he returned her stare bleakly.

“Can we talk?” he asked as he gestured toward the living room.

“Where’s Sawyer?” she asked as she walked in front of him.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “He hasn’t been back yet.”

A twinge of fear rippled through her chest. She rounded on Hutch and used her anger to block out that fear.

“What the f**k were you thinking, Hutch? What was that al about?”

He flopped onto the couch, dug his elbows into his knees and buried his face in his hands.

“I’m an ass**le,” he muttered.

She sank down in the chair across from him.

“Yeah, wel that’s been established. Care to tel me what prompted this particular assholic venture?” He stared up at her with such pain in his eyes that she recoiled. A prickle of unease skirted down her spine, and her anger was replaced by concern.

“What’s wrong, Hutch?” she asked softly. “What would cause you to think that Sawyer or Cam would ever hurt me? Did it look like I was protesting?” Hutch took in a deep breath, and she could see the battle he fought, could see the muscles twitching and the nerves jumping in his taut body.

“I didn’t see how you could possibly have a chance to say no with your hands tied behind your back, your mouth ful of Cam’s dick and Sawyer’s shoved up your ass,” he said bluntly.

She flushed, and her lips tightened. “Look at me, Hutch.”

He turned dul eyes on her. They had the same haunted look of Sawyer’s.

“What’s going on? You know they wouldn’t hurt me.

You have to know that. Do you honestly think I’d just lie there like a moron and take it if they were doing something I didn’t want?”

His protest was swift. “You’re smal er than them, Reggie. Especial y Sawyer. It wouldn’t be hard for him to overpower you, and there isn’t a damn thing you could do to stop him.”

There was fear in his voice and a thread of anger, but it went beyond what had happened on the couch.

His gaze was unfocused, as if he was lost in some other place. Another time.

“Do you honestly think Sawyer would ever hurt me, Hutch? Look me in the eye and tel me you think something so bad of a man who’s been your brother since you were ten years old.”

A dul flush crept up Hutch’s neck. “No,” he muttered. “He loves you. He’d die before hurting you.”

“Then what the f**k were you thinking today?” she demanded. “You hurt him, Hutch. Did you see the look in his eyes? How the hel am I supposed to ever get him to even look at me now?”

She curled her fingers into fists and wil ed herself not to lose the tenuous grip she had on her temper.

Hutch was hurting too. She didn’t have a clue why, but something else was going on here.

Hutch looked away. His shoulders shook, and he dragged a trembling hand through his short hair.

“I know, Reggie. I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not me you need to apologize to,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, it is. I embarrassed you. I decked my brother. I put you in a difficult position, and for that I’m sorry.”

“But why?” she asked softly. “What happened, Hutch? It’s not like you to go off like that. Is it the situation? Are you jealous? Is this something you can’t deal with?”

“No,” he said sharply as he snapped his head around.

He shot to his feet and began to pace restlessly.

His body language screamed agitation. Tension rol ed off him like a heat wave.

She waited and watched as he grappled with whatever demon held him in its grip.

He stopped and turned to her, one hand on the back of his neck. “It just hit me wrong, baby. I walked in the door, and I see you bent over the couch, hands tied behind your back, Sawyer’s handprint on your ass. What was I supposed to think?”

He blew out his breath, but she could see he wasn’t angry any longer. He seemed confused. And sad.

“My dad used to beat up on my mom,” he confessed in an ashamed whisper.

Her heart lurched and squeezed, but she remained quiet, wanting to hear what he had to say.

He never talked about his family. Never talked about his life before he arrived at Birdie’s. As close as they were and had been for years, everything she knew about him came forward from that point.

“He was a bastard. An alcoholic who was almost as mean when he was sober as he was drunk. When he got tired of knocking my mom around, he’d come after me and my brother.”

She gasped. She didn’t even know he had a brother.

“I remember how helpless I felt and how angry it made me because I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t help my brother. I was completely and utterly powerless.”