“Girls, I hate to break up the moment, but I’m gonna have you all escorted to the tunnels by security to make sure you’re safe and away from everyone, okay?” Coach comes up to us, and I pull back from the hug, nodding at him.
“Is it okay if I have them take me to the locker room? I need to check on Jake,” I ask.
He nods at two security guards behind us before turning back to me. “I’m sorry that he was able to hurt you, Kailyn.”
“It’s not your fault, Coach. Eric is the only one to blame,and now we have what we need. He just dug his own grave.”
“He did, and I will make sure we bury him this time.” He smiles softly, and then I turn around to follow security down the hall.
There’s chaos and commotion all around us before we make it into the hallway and it becomes quiet. I follow the guards as they lead me to the locker room, when I hear yelling coming from behind me.
“KAILYN!”
Unison shouts come from my brothers as they come barreling down the hallway toward me. The guard tries to step in front of me, but I stop him. “It’s okay, they’re my brothers.”
He steps back just as Brayden and Brandon come running down the hall and wrap me up in an awkward but much needed hug. I wrap my arms around them, knowing they need this just as much as I do.
“Hey, are you okay? Did that asshole hurt you?” Brayden asks.
They release me and I take a step back. “I’m okay. Just a little shaken up.”
“I hate that there’s nothing that we can do right now.” Brayden says, frustration lining his tone.
“I mean, yeah, but you know Coach has a plan in place. Plus, I’m pretty sure everyone saw what just happened on the jumbotron, so Eric is going to have a hard time explaining this one away,” Brandon adds.
“I hope so.” I nod.
“You sure you're okay?” Bray asks, sounding like he’s ready to fight for me, and I appreciate my brothers so much.
“I’m okay. I just need to check on Jake right now.”
Brandon nods, looking at Bray. “Okay, just call us if youneed anything. We’ll stop by tomorrow and check on you both.”
“I love you both.” I tell them.
“Love you, too,” they say in unison before turning around and making their way back to the arena.
As I breathe in a few deep breaths, I hear the clearing of a throat, reminding me of the guard that was escorting me to the locker room. I nod, following him down the hall.
Once I make my way through the doors, I tell the guards I’m okay and they leave me be. It’s quiet here, the only sound is the hum of the air. As I make my way further into the room, I can make out the faint sounds of shower water. I walk into the showers and steam of the water hits my skin and then look to the back and see Jake hunched on the floor, his head between his knees.
I make my way over and crouch in front of him, reaching out and placing my hand on his knee. “Jake.” My voice comes out soft so as not to disturb him.
He looks up at me.
There’s red behind his eyes, signaling to me that he’s been crying. Not caring if I get wet, I push his legs down and crawl over him, straddling him as I wrap him in my arms and hold him. His arms find my waist and he pulls me even closer to him until there’s no room between us. “I’ve never been so angry before,” he admits after a while of silence. “When I saw him grab you like that, I lost it. All I wanted to do was kill him for hurting you and making you or anyone else feel scared.” He pulls back slightly so we’re face to face, his forehead touching mine. “I love you, Kailyn. I will do anything to protect you. But I feel like I’ve failed you because he’s still here and he hurt you and?—”
“Shh, it’s not on you, babe.” My hands run up and down his back, a reassuring touch for both of us. “I need you toknow that none of this is your fault. You didn’t ask him to hurt me. You weren’t the one that dismissed the case and sent him back here. It’s not on you what he does. You saw him put his hands on me and rushed over to protect me, and that’s all I could've asked you for. I’m okay, we’re okay.” I kiss down his jaw and behind his ear as a reminder that we have each other and that we’ll get through this.
“He’s going down for this. I don’t care how, but he will.”
“He will. But right now, I just wanna be with you, so take me home, handsome.”
We both get out from under the water, dry off and then make our way to the locker room where he hands me a pair of his sweats and a hoodie that I gratefully change into. After we’re both dressed he grabs his things and we make our way out to the parking lot, where we hop into his truck and start to head home.
Nothing needs to be said between us right now, just knowing that he was there when it mattered is enough for me.
We make our way inside his house. Today's events are finally catching up with me as exhaustion finally takes over.