Chapter Thirty-Six

Rio

I opened the apartment door for Henley, and she came in, carrying bags of what I knew were burgers and fries. Those bags came from the popular burger place in town.

“I also ordered a pizza, and I brought the pink cupcakes, but you already brought over a half-dozen of the new Spider-Man ones I made for Cullen, right?”

I nodded, glancing back at the two closed doors. Cullen would wake up soon.

I looked back at Henley. “He doesn’t know. She’s not told him yet. So, if he comes out, don’t mention it,” I warned her.

Henley looked at me as if I were an idiot. “Even if he did know, I wouldn’t say something to him about it. I’m smarter than that.”

True. I just wanted to make sure Bryn was able to do this the way she felt he could handle it best.

“How is she?” Henley asked me taking a seat on one of the stools.

The ache in my chest that had been there since I had seen her standing at the door, looking so broken, squeezed tighter. “Not good. I had to dress her and even brush her hair. She was just standing there with swollen, red-rimmed eyes, wrapped in a towel, looking so damn lost. God, Henley, I can’t stand to see her like this. What do I do?”

Henley’s eyes filled with tears. “Just be there for her. It sounds like you did exactly what she needed. She needs someone to take care of her. Death isn’t easy. You know that. I know that.”

“She’s blaming herself. She thinks she could have done more to save her sister. When she was here, doing everything Tory didn’t do. She loves Cullen like her own child. She’s so fucking innocent, yet she works a job where she has to show off her naked body just to give him all he needs. She puts him first in a way neither you nor I had as kids. I’ve never witnessed anyone sacrifice the way she does. Yet she thinks she didn’t do enough.” I ran my hand through my hair. “I just want her to see that. She can grieve. That’s understandable. But she can’t take any blame.”

Henley was no longer crying, but watching me. A small smile was playing on her lips. “If she’s that perfect, maybe I need to leave Saul and take her away from you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”

“I’ve never heard you sing anyone’s praises before. You see the faults in people and forgive them for it if the good outweighs the bad. But you always see the faults.”

I scowled at her. “No, I don’t.”

She raised her eyebrows and smirked. “Yes, you do. Shall I list off some examples?”

“No,” I snapped at her. “This is not what I need right now.”

“She’s not perfect. No one is. But the fact that you can’t see any faults from her means something.”

“What?” I asked.

Henley shrugged, still grinning.

Before I could snap at her again to stop being vague, Cullen’s door opened.

He peeked out and saw me and then Henley, and his eyes swung to the bar, looking for a bakery box. He believed Henley always meant cupcakes. When he spotted it, he ran down the hall toward us and beamed brightly.

“Hey, Rio! Hey, Henley! Are those cupcakes?”

“They sure are,” Henley said, standing up from the stool she had been sitting on to pick up the box.

Cullen’s bright eyes looked at the box, then scanned the rest of the area. “Where’s Aunt Bryn?”

“She’s lying down, bud,” I said quickly.

He looked down the hallway at her closed door. “Is she sick?” he asked, looking worried as he stared up at me.

“Not at all. She just needed a nap,” I told him.

“Like the other day, when you were here?” he asked me, relief in his eyes as he remembered her being asleep on the sofa after he’d woken up.

I nodded. “Exactly.”

“You make her tired,” he said.

Henley choked on a laugh and turned away from us.

“I guess I do,” I replied, smiling for the first time since finding Bryn in her towel.

“I can’t have a cupcake until I ask her,” he told me, looking deflated.

“She already said it’s okay for you to have one,” I lied, knowing she would have no objection.

He studied me closely. “Are you sure?”

“I promise,” I assured him.

His eyes lit up again. When I opened the box, Henley had composed herself enough from the laughter she had been trying to hide to see his face when he got a look at the six Spider-Man cupcakes. These were more elaborate than the first ones I’d had Henley make for him. She must have had more time to spend on these. They couldn’t have come at a better time.

“These are freakin’ awesome!” he said in amazement. “Wait until Aunt Bryn sees these!” Then, he stopped smiling again. “Wait, there isn’t any strawberry ones. She loves the strawberry.”

Henley moved quickly, picking up the box with Bryn’s cupcakes and bringing them over to show Cullen. “Oh, yes, there are,” she said, showing him.

They had elaborate pink roses with the edible glitter she liked to use on the edges.

“Whoa! She will love those!” Cullen said, then turned his attention back to his Spider-Man cupcakes.

“Pick one, and I’ll get you a plate and some milk,” I told him.

He pointed to the one with Spider-Man swinging from a building. How the hell Henley had built all that stuff from fondant, I had no idea. She must have been a rock star with Play-Doh back in the day.

“Do you want me to stay?” Henley asked.

I slid Cullen his milk and thought about it a second. “No. Better not. But later, will you be around, just in case?” I asked, not knowing what mindset Bryn might be in later. If she wanted me to sit and hold her in her room, I would. I’d just need someone to entertain Cullen.

I walked her to the door, and Cullen jumped down off the stool and ran over to her.

He hugged her legs tightly. “Thank you for the cupcakes.”

I saw Henley’s eyes get misty again as she bent down to hug Cullen. “Anything for my favorite customer,” she assured him.

He grinned, then ran back to his treat.

I locked the door behind her and turned on the television to distract Cullen before going to check on Bryn. Slowly, I opened the door, and she rolled over with her eyes fresh with tears and looked at me. Damn, she hadn’t been asleep. She’d been in here in pain. Alone.

I went over to her and pulled her into my lap. “Did you sleep at all?” I asked.

She shrugged.

“Cullen is awake. I gave him a cupcake Henley had brought over,” I told her. “Let me get a cold cloth, and we can wipe your face.”

She nodded, and I sat her down to go to the bathroom. I got the cloth, then brought it back to wash away the tears. The brush I had used earlier was by the bed, and I did another brush through of her hair. Then, I took her hand and pulled her up.

“You don’t need to stay in here alone. There are cupcakes for you, too, and burgers. Fries, too, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I’m not hungry,” she said, her voice thick from crying.

“Have you eaten today?” I asked her.

She shook her head.

“Cullen needs you. I need you. We don’t want you to get sick.”

She lifted her eyes to meet mine and finally nodded. “Okay. I’ll eat some fries.”

We walked to the living room, and the moment Cullen saw her, he held up his cupcake. “Henley brought the coolest cupcakes ever!”

“Wow!” Bryn said, trying to sound excited.

“Yeah, and you got real pretty pink rose cupcakes with glitter,” he told her.

“Yummy,” Bryn replied.

She walked over to the bags of food, and I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her.

“Let me make you something. Go sit down with Cullen,” I said.

She sighed and leaned back against me. “Okay. Thank you.”

I fixed her plate and put a burger on it anyway. She didn’t argue with me, and she looked at it for a moment, then picked it up to take a bite. I felt like I had won a damn prize. She was eating.

“Do you not have to go help your grandparents?” she asked me. “I’ve kept you too long.”

I shook my head. “Handled. I’m staying here.”

“But who is over there? Hazel can’t move him.”

I smirked. “Saul isn’t a complete ass. Just on occasion. My grandparents love him.”

She looked concerned. “If you need to go, it’s okay. Really, I just needed some time to …” She paused and looked at Cullen, who was watching the television. “Grieve. Accept. That kind of thing. We aren’t your responsibility.”

I walked over so that I was behind her, and I leaned down to her ear. “I’m staying with you.”

She turned her head to look up at me strangely. “I don’t think I understand what we are, but right now isn’t the best time for me to figure it out.”

I pressed a kiss to her temple. “We have plenty of time. Now, eat.”

I wasn’t fucking sure what we were either. I felt like our lives had been linked since we were kids. I’d just given in to the fact that I wanted her, and now, she was facing tragedy. Maybe in our situation, most guys would fade out because it was not going to be easy. I wouldn’t be going anywhere. She had me hooked, and I wasn’t sure just how deep that hook went. Right now, the way I felt ready to do anything I could to help her meant it was pretty damn deep.