Coming Home (Homeward Bound Series Book 1) by Rebecca Barber Page B

hands over my face and through my hair. I didn’t need a mirror to tell me how bad I looked. If it was half as bad as I felt, I couldn’t understand how Spencer was still staring at me.
    It took all my strength and energy to push my numb butt from the floor. Using the wall to keep me steady, I managed to pull myself upright. The room was still whirling around me and I was too nervous to take a step. Glancing up, I saw Spencer tracking my every movement. As I shuffled towards the sink, my unsteady legs faltered. I didn’t have time to hit the ground. Before I even had a chance, Spencer’s warm arms wrapped around me and steadied me.
    With my heart pounding empathically, my heading spinning like a top, and my stomach in my throat, it took me a minute to pull myself together.
    “Thanks,” I murmured, holding myself against the sink.
    Spencer stepped behind me, his hands on my hips, balancing me. I filled the sink with cold water before splashing my face. When I patted it dry a moment later, I risked a glance in the mirror. It was worse than I could have imagined. I needed a shower. Another one. Desperately.
    “All good now?”
    “Yeah, but I feel gross. Can I steal some more of your hot water and have a shower?”
    Spencer laughed and it shot through my body. It bounced off my head and my already pounding brain hurt more, if that was even possible.
    “Go ahead. You need clean clothes?”
    “Sweats would be great…if it’s not too much trouble,” I added almost as if it was an afterthought. I was pushing my luck and the boundaries. Spencer had done so much for me already and now he was giving up even more. The guilt turned over in my stomach. Since I’d crashed back into his life I’d done absolutely nothing for him. He’d done everything for me. I don’t even remember saying thank you. Not once.
    With a deep, hearty chuckle, Spencer smiled genuinely, “No troubles. I’ll go find you some. Take your time.”
    As Spencer stepped through the door, he looked back over his shoulder and winked at me. If I was having trouble breathing before, then now it was like all of the oxygen had been sucked from the room. I had to say something. I had to get it off my chest. “Spencer!”
    “Yeah?”
    “Thank you.”
    “No troubles.”
    “Not just for today. For everything since…I know I probably haven’t said it enough, if I said it at all…but I mean it. Thank you.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth I felt better. Lighter. Freer.
    “Any time, Pippi. Any time.” He smirked at me before vanishing out the door.
    It took a moment for my pulse to return to normal and my breathing to get back under control. When I stepped under the thundering pulse of the scalding water, I felt better. Instantly. For a long moment I just stood there, the water beating down on my head. After I washed my hair, scrubbed the remnants of last night’s makeup from my face, and brushed my teeth, I stepped from the shower feeling refreshed and reinvigorated.
    Wrapping the towel around me, I wiped the condensation from the mirror and looked at the woman staring back at me. I barely recognised her. The bruises had deepened and the memories came flooding back. With trembling fingers I prodded my ribs. They were sore. More than sore. The ached like a bitch.
    I pulled the towel around me tighter and tighter. I didn’t want to see it any more. I didn’t want them to be there. As silent tears fell from my eyes, as I tried to force my mind to shut it away, I wished the person looking back at me was someone else. Someone not so damaged. Someone less broken. Someone less sad. I pulled open the door. Folded in a perfect pile at the door was a pair of sweat pants and an oversized jumper. Spencer had even dug through my bag and found a pair of panties and thin pink camisole. The thought of Spencer pulling my lacy underwear from my bag made me smile. I knew him well enough to know he would have been extremely uncomfortable handling my delicates.