Page 36 of Heal Me, Love Me

“By the way,” I said, my forehead resting against his. “The guys were worried about you.”

He grimaced immediately. “I figured.”

“Mason was ready to get the hotel involved.”

“Yeah, he said he’d be pissed if I was dead. That’s why I texted him back.”

I shoved my hands into my pockets and rocked back slightly on my heels. “Gotta admit, you texting him instead of me stung.”

“I figured. I just didn’t know what to say to you yet.” His gaze dropped briefly before coming back to mine. “I should probably talk to them. The guys have been great since I moved in, and disappearing after a fight and emptying my room without saying anything was kind of a dick move.”

“You were spiraling.”

“That’s not exactly a defense.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll come by the house tomorrow morning before everyone leaves for the gym.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to say, though. I’m not ready to explain everything.”

“You don’t have to.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Then what do I tell them?”

I thought about it for a second before answering. “Tell them you’re sorry. Say you had personal stuff going on and needed some space. The rest …” I shrugged. “The rest is your private business. They don’t need to know every single detail.”

His shoulders relaxed a little. “Okay.”

“There’s one thing I think they should know, though.”

Rowan’s brow furrowed. “What’s that?”

“I don’t think we should keep sneaking around anymore.”

“You mean that?”

“I do. You were right earlier, about the secret thing. I didn’t realize how much it was messing with your head or how it made the whole situation worse.”

“It wasn’t just that.”

I reached for his hand. “But it was a part of it.”

His thumb dragged across my knuckles before he looked toward the water again. “You sure about telling them?”

“It’s probably a good idea. Mason’s likely to figure it out soon, if he hasn’t already.”

Rowan nodded. “He’s too nosy for his own good.”

I snorted because it was true. Mason noticed everything, and he had a way of digging for more information that came across as friendly. It was annoying as shit, but somehow he got people to open up to him before they realized what was happening.

A second later, the smile faded from Rowan’s face. “What about the rest of it?”

“The Devon stuff?”

“Yeah. That’s the reason I left and moved out.”

“Right, but we can’t tell them that.”

The look on his face hardened. “Why do you want to protect Devon?”