The Rocker That Savors Me(63)

“Tom didn’t like me punching him, so he had his bodyguards take care of me.” I leaned against the doorframe, feeling weak. “Can I come in? I don’t know how much longer I can stand on my own?”

Her eyes widened. “Fuck, Jesse.” She stepped back to let me pass. Relieved that she was letting me in, I took a step inside and nearly fell on my face. She let out a little cry and reached for me. “Jesus, Jess!” She tried to catch me, but I was too much for her and she went crashing to the floor with me.

“Layla?” Lana’s concerned voice came from somewhere behind us. “What..? Jesse, there’s blood all over your head and neck!”

I grimaced. “Not mine.” I assured her.

“Then who the hell does it belong too?” Layla demanded, touching a hand that trembled to my head. “Your shirt is soaked with it, Jesse.”

“One of Tom’s boys. I broke his nose when I head butted him.” Unable to stand, I turned over and laid there on my back. This sucked. I was probably going to have to go to the hospital. I didn’t want to go, especially when there was so much I needed to talk to Layla about.

She was still lying on the floor beside of me, and I reached for her, pulling her across my chest. She looked worried and tears were making her big chocolate eyes glittery. “Lana, call Drake. Tell him to bring Nik,” Layla told her sister. “We have to get him to the hospital.” It tore me up inside to hear the quiver in her voice.

“Will you go with me?” I asked, stroking my fingers through her hair. God, I was hurting, but I wasn’t about to stop touching her!

“Of course I’m coming with you.” She was running her hands over me, trying to judge just how damaged I was. “Where does it hurt the most?”

“I think one of them got my kidney pretty good.”

“How many were there?” Lana asked, crouching down beside of us. “Because you look like they really fucked you up.”

“Four,” I told her honestly. “One of them held me while the others took turns.” Layla’s eyes filled with horror, and I grimaced, hating that I had put those images in her head.

“Lana!” Drake was running and I looked up just as he and Nik stopped in the doorway of the guesthouse.

“Fuck!” Nik exclaimed. “Oh, shit!” He crouched down beside of Lana. “Dude, what happened?”

I was already tired of telling the story. I gave them a quick recap, and then just laid there with my eyes closed, using what energy I had left to play with Layla’s hair. As long as I was touching her, I was okay. The pain was manageable.

“Help me get him to the Escalade.” Layla urged the guys. She moved away from me to let Nik and Drake on either side of me, and I protested. “Hush. I’m right here.”

Between the two of them, they got me to the Escalade and I stretched out in the back seat. Was it bad that I felt like puking? Because I suddenly felt the need to do just that. Drake jumped into the driver’s seat, and Layla got in the back with me. I had to hold my head up long enough to let her sit down, but then I felt utter relief as I put my head in her lap.

Trembling fingers skimmed over my swollen face. My eye was tender, and I figured it was a rainbow of colors by now. My lips hurt and my jaw ached, but none of that pain could compete with the pain coming from my left side. “I’m sorry, Jesse,” Layla whispered, touching the blood on my chin.

“I’m the one that’s sorry, baby.” I caught her fingers and kissed each one. “I went a little crazy tonight. My only excuse is that I was jealous, and that’s a new emotion for me. I’ve never experienced anything like what I have with you. It’s terrifying at times.”

Her smile was all quivery, and I wanted to erase this night from both our minds. “It scares me too. The way I love you is more intense than anything I’ve ever felt before.”

“Can you forgive me for thinking the worst?” If she didn’t forgive me I didn’t know what I was going to do. Without her, my future was a big, blank void.

“I forgave you as soon as I realized you were hurt.” She sighed. “I won’t lie. It hurt that you thought I would have been with Tommy, but I understand your jealousy. If our places were reversed I would have gone over the top too. I’m crazy obsessed with you.”

I grinned. “Me too, babe.”

Her fingers stroked over my head. If I hadn’t been in so much pain I was sure it would have made me hard, just as it always did when she touched me like this, but for now I was dead in that department. Still, it made my heart race, and I tugged on her hair until she lowered her head and skimmed her lips over mine. “I love you, Layla.”