Page 24 of Forgotten Prejudice
“What on earth happened to you?” Soren hissed as he opened the door, his brows pulled close and his jaw tensed.
His obvious concern was the confirmation I needed that I was right to come here.
“It’s nothing.” I tried to hide my face by rubbing my cheek. While doing so, he got a glimpse at the sleeve of my hoodie, which was stained with dry blood.
“My God,” he gasped, reaching for me, and observed me closely.
“I’m okay,” I mumbled, but Soren didn’t seem happy as his stare hardened.
“Clearly, you’re not.” Grabbing my shoulder, he pulled me in and closed the door behind us.
The house was cold, like the air-conditioning worked too much. Maybe that explained Soren’s cold skin. Somehow, it made him look a bit lonely, but it was a silly thought that I quickly pushed aside as I looked around the house. It was as impressive as I’d imagined, but I had no time to admire it because Soren took my hand and tugged me to his bathroom.
“Sit here,” he said, pointing at the counter. Doing as he ordered, I jumped until my ass hit the cold marble and waited patiently for Soren to finish picking up things out of the cabinet. While waiting, I eyed the spacious bathroom. What stood out to me the most was how neat and organized it was. Everything was stocked and organized by color and size, from the towels to the soap bottles in the shower. In fact, it was almost like this room was just for show and had never been used before. I also figured he liked gray scale because everything was in those colors.
Soren came to stand between my spread thighs. Placing a small kit beside me, he pulled out some gauze, pads, and sanitizer and began cleaning my split lip and dry blood.
The sanitizer burned, and I hissed with the ache, causing Soren to chuckle.
“Hey now, don’t be a baby.”
“It stings.” I pouted and closed my eyes, allowing him to continue.
Once done, he tossed the used gauze into a small garbage bin, then pulled a soft-looking towel out of the closet.
“I’ll put ointment on your wounds after you shower,” he said, and I nodded.
Wanting to get off the counter, I placed my hands on the surface and was about to jump down when the weight I applied to my wrist pained me. I nearly forgot about that. Noticing my reaction, Soren quickly lifted my arm and pulled down my sleeve to expose my bruised wrist.
“What happened?”
“It looks worse than it actually feels.”
“That isn’t what I asked, Ashton. Tell me how you got hurt?”
I looked aside, and he sighed deeply.
“Was it a family member? Do we need to involve the police?”
My eyes quickly shot to his. “What? No!” I almost squealed. “It was nothing like that, I swear. My mom or uncle would never hurt me.”
While my answer did soften Soren’s expression, he still seemed far from satisfied with the tension pulled between his narrowed brows.
“Who did this to you?” His voice took on a deeper tone than before.
“It was my best friend,” I said after understanding I had to speak. “I ruined his life.”
Cupping my face, Soren caressed my skin with his thumb. “It’s hard for me to believe you’re capable of ruining one’s life, Ashton.” He angled my face so I’d meet his eyes and then brushed my hair back. “But how about we talk more after you take a nice, warm shower?”
I nodded.
“Good boy,” he said with a half smile before kissing my forehead.
I had no idea what overtook me, but just then, my heart raced faster as my chest tightened up with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Weirded out by my reaction, I brought my thumb to my lips and bit the tip of my nail, when Soren covered my hand with his.
“Don’t do that. It’s such a waste,” he tsked. “Now, get into the shower, and I’ll bring you some clothes to wear.”
Once Soren left the bathroom, I began taking off my clothes. Reaching my jeans, I stopped and took a deep breath before sliding them down my legs, trying to ignore the traces Kai had left on my skin. With a deep breath, I kicked them aside and walked into the shower. The hot water hitting my body made me physically relax, so I closed my eyes and allowed the steam to wash away this evening.
