Unwanted (bxb)

Chapter 25

Justin's POV

The last thing I expected when I opened the door was to see Cole standing there with the shit kicked out of him. I was surprised, as I walked up the stairs, to see that he was calling me. When I looked up at him, that feeling changed to terror.

"Where the hell were you?" he shouted. As always, he was intimidating. The question was unsettling, but his appearance was truly awful. He had his lip split, but that wasn't the worst thing: his torso was covered in bruises still spreading under that tanned skin, over those shapely abs. Seeing those wounds paralyzed me. In a panic, I started to feel faint. I hated the sight of blood, and my ears started ringing. I had to hold on to the doorframe to stay standing.

"What happened to you?" I shot at him.

He was angry. I could see it in his every gesture. It was almost as if his wounds were unwanted.

"I asked you a question," he said.

"And I asked you one."

He stayed quiet.

I shook my head at his now response and closed the door soundlessly. My mother and Richard were in bed, and I didn't want to wake them. Cole didn't seem to care, though, to judge by his voice, which was nearly shouting.

"I was with Xana," I said, walking closer to him. I wanted to run away from those horrible wounds, but I couldn't ignore the state he was in. "Logan and Jenna met up with us to have ice cream. Why do you care, anyway? Have you seen your self?" I reached out without realizing it to touch a bruise on his ribs.

He reached out to brush me aside but seemed to change his mind and grasped my hand tightly until it hurt. I looked up and saw the rage and fear in his eyes.

"Come to the kitchen. I need to talk to you." He pulled me away, and I couldn't help looking at his bare back. My God, you could see every single muscle in it as he walked! That awakened in me a desire to touch his firm body. Another bruise was starting to form on his side. I hated whoever had done that to him so much, my vision started clouding.

Cole turned on a table lamp, so the light was dim as we sat down on a bench next to the island. He never let go of my hand. It was killing me to see him like this; his eyes were squinting from the pain, and all I could think about was what I could do to make him feel better.

"Did you notice anything weird while you were out?" he asked, worry clouding his face. "Anyone following you or something like that?"

I hadn't expected a question like that. Looking him straight in the eye, unable to believe what I was hearing, I said, "No, of course not. Why?"

He let me go and turned aside, frustrated. I wished he had gone on holding me, but I just sat there, still.

"Aggie hasn't forgotten about the race." Now I could guess what this was all about. "He wants revenge, and if he sees you, he won't hesitate to hurt you."

"Is he the one who beat you up?" I asked, cursing the bastard in my mind.

"Him and his three friends," he admitted.

"Oh My God, Cole!" I said, feeling a strange pressure in my chest. I brought my hands up to his face, feeling his wounds. "Four against one?"

He stiffened and then relaxed. Skirting over his wounds, my fingers traveled down his cheeks, feeling the raspy touch of his stubble, which made him so frightening and sexy at the same time.

"You worried about me, Bieber?" he asked. He was trying to be funny, but I couldn't laugh as I felt his bruises and he grimaced. He reached up and pulled my hands away. "I'm fine," he said.