When Erik tapped the pavement and Dillon let him up, she could see that his eyes had gone back to normal. Whatever had happened was now over. Dillon didn’t stand but sat on his haunches while he kept an eye on Erik. She waited for Dillon to pounce.
His eyes were more yellow than blue, so she grabbed Erik’s sunglasses from the pavement and fitted them to Dillon’s face. Erik made a sound of dissent, but she made sure Erik could see the bruised side of her face when she turned her glare upon him.
Dillon’s eyes had become unnatural and people would begin to stare and ask questions if they saw him.
“We should go home,” she said to everyone.
Erik kicked the sidewalk, looking more like a petulant teen than a grown man. “I don’t need to go back to that place.”
He spun on his heel and marched off. Dillon surged to his feet, but Isabella caught him by the front of his shirt. She couldn’t see a reason to go running after Erik. The man probably needed to be alone. Whatever had sent him off the deep end was his problem, and he needed to work it out on his own.
“Take me home,” she asked Dillon.
His lips were a flat line, but he nodded. Isabella said goodbye to Evangeline and Casey, even though a part of her was mad that Evangeline’s mate had done nothing to stop the fight.
Dillon drove her car back to the cabin. Silence sat between them until they made it to the bathroom and Dillon’s rummaging for the first aid kit filled the air with sound. She didn’t bother telling him that the first aid kit would be pointless. So long as it gave him something to focus on, then she would leave it be.
When he slammed the cabinet door and let his forehead fall against it, she raised a brow. He let loose a low growl, one that sounded like frustration leaking out of him.
“What did I do wrong?” he asked.
She blinked. Blindsided by the question, she struggled to find a way to answer it. The ugly truths sat in her throat like little goblins that cackled at her discomfort. She didn’t want to tell Dillon that she’d forgotten that he wasn’t Tommy for a moment. That didn’t seem fair.
It wasn’t Dillon’s fault that she kept finding new ways that Tommy had broken her.
So, she sighed and leaned into the tub, so she could sit in it. Dillon stood and regarded the bruise on her cheek. Guilt lined his features.
“I’ve felt worse before,” she said, feeling open.
Dillon knelt on the outside of the bathtub and knotted his fingers together like he wanted to reach for her but feared how she might react. “I don’t know what to do with you. I’ve been a fool, acting like you were my reward for working so hard. That’s really fucking selfish of me.”
She let out a laugh. “Yeah, it is. I don’t blame you, though. What kept you up all night? You were exhausted when you came to me this morning.”
His shoulders sank as he deflated. He let his gaze drop to the floor. “Same shit. Different night.”
Isabella patted the empty space in the bathtub beside her. Dillon raised a brow, but then shrugged and climbed in beside her so they sat hip to hip with their feet dangling outside the tub.
She picked at the fraying holes in her jeans. “There were nights when I would stack our bathtub with blankets and pillows and sleep there to hide from Tommy.”
Dillon’s growl told her that she should have kept that information to herself. He would hate everything about her past, but at least she knew she was a survivor.
“Do you have to look out for Erik very often?” she asked while threading her fingers with his.
He squeezed her hand in return. “Once a week. Sometimes more.”
Isabella didn’t need to know what was wrong with him. Erik’s problems were his own, like how she kept hers to herself. “You do a lot for the people you love.”
“Who else is going to do it?”
“Well, you could ask Casey. He could afford to leave Evangeline’s side once in a while. She works ten-hour days. What else does Casey have to do with his time?” She smirked, knowing she was right.
Once Evangeline got into tattoo mode, she would notice nothing else for the rest of her day. Casey could fill in for Dillon once in a while. Maybe then, Dillon could get some sleep. He could go see a movie. He could spend some time with her.
Yet, he looked reluctant to ask.
“They aren’t just your housemates,” she told him. “These are the people you’re dedicating your life to. Right? You can’t give and give until you have nothing left. It’s their job to make sure you don’t burn out on their behalf. Just ask my friends. We’ve always been able to help each other out.”
He grunted, which was the equivalent of saying it wasn’t the same.
“Just because we’re human and you’re shifters, that doesn’t mean that relationships work any differently. I think Erik was trying to be your friend today, and when you cut him off, he got hurt.”
Dillon pulled his fingers from hers and looped an arm over her shoulders. She leaned her head on his chest.
“Are you still going to move out?”
“I don’t think I have any other choice,” she said, sadly.
“If you’re afraid of Erik now, I’ll keep you safe from him.”
“It’s not that,” she said. “I need…”
What? Space? Room to figure herself out? A miracle? Truly, Isabella had no idea. She wanted to find happiness with Dillon, but the idea that she could self-sabotage their relationship still hung over her head. He would run out of patience with her someday. She would lose the only man who’d ever shown her kindness.
“Do you want help finding what you need?” he asked.
A small smile started to curve across her face. “That would be really nice.”
He hugged her tight with the one arm around her. “I can do that.”
Chapter Eleven
Isabella still hadn’t found a way to tell Dillon that she couldn’t handle his protective nature. Not when she was making fried chicken, and the grease splatter made him pull her away from the stove. Not when Erik threw the remote at the television, and Dillon put his arm out in front of her. Not when Gavin stormed through the house, and Dillon suddenly stood before her.
Each time, she’d felt trapped and helpless. Her own fear and self-loathing kept her lips sealed. She didn’t want to make Dillon leave her alone for good, but she also had no idea where to set a boundary.
Her friends couldn’t help her. Evangeline had no boundaries, and Nellie made sure hers were always a hundred feet out in any direction. When Evangeline and Casey had fallen for each other, they made it look easy. Isabella felt like the kink in a perfect world. She was no longer made to fit into any role.
Sadly, she was starting to suspect that meant she couldn’t be Dillon’s mate like she’d hoped.
Stepping outside, she grabbed the mail from the box and shuffled through it. Every piece was addressed to her since the guys had so little delivered. As she checked the senders, her heart dropped. The bank attached to her credit card had sent another letter.
Isabella didn’t notice as every other envelope fell from her hands and fluttered to the ground. She ripped the letter open and pulled it out. Her time here at the cabin had been flying by, and now a late due notice had caught up to her.