Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Like I’d told Cam and Ford when they’d come to the city to find me.
I needed people to know I wasn’t okay, and taking off the shirt that still carried Lincoln’s scent wouldn’t let me do what my brain always made me do.
I couldn’t run from them. Not sitting there in just my T-shirt and jeans.
I may as well have been naked.
“How are you holding up after yesterday?” Cam asked.
I was staring at the table. I’d purposely put both my arms on top of the table so that Cam would be able to see each and every scar that graced my skin.
Since I knew he was easing me into conversation by bringing up the attack by Sawyer’s ex, I nodded and said, “Okay.” I forced myself to lift my eyes. “How’s Riley?”
“Shaken up but he’s a strong kid. He’ll be okay. Thank you for what you did for him.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t do anything. I… I couldn’t help him get away. Sawyer got us out of there.”
“You helped Riley keep it together so he could make that phone call. You told him what to say. You held him in your arms and used your body to shield him as much as you could. Riley told us everything that happened from the moment that fucker walked into this room,” Cam said, his voice growing angrier as he finished his sentence.
There was a pregnant moment of silence as he took a long draw on his coffee, presumably so he could calm down.
“Tell me what you need from me,” Cam said, his voice once again even. He reminded me of Lincoln. They both had an innate need to protect. Cam was smart like Lincoln, too. He already knew I didn’t just happen to be up early and that I hadn’t randomly forgotten to keep my arms covered.
“I lied to you and Ford when you came to the city to see me,” I said. “Not about the stuff about me not blaming Ford and forgiving him… that was true,” I quickly clarified. “I, um, I lied about… about being okay.” I couldn’t help but drop my eyes. “I’m really, really not okay, Cam.”
Cam was silent for so long that I automatically looked up. I figured he’d been waiting for me to do just that because he responded the second our eyes met.
“Ford and I both knew that, Theo. Ford could see that something had happened to you, something pretty bad. He wanted to take you home with us then and there, but we knew we had to earn your trust first.”
I laughed. It was quiet and ugly. “I thought I’d gotten lying down to an art form, but everyone around here seems to see straight through my bullshit.”
“That’s because the people here care about you. Deeply. You became a part of this family the moment Ford asked me to see if I could find you. People who don’t give a shit about you prefer the lies. It means they don’t have to look past the words to see the real you or the real them.” Cam paused before adding, “I’m sorry, I know your parents are probably a different story—”
“They’re not,” I interrupted. “They believe me when I tell them I’m still saved by the light of God when they call me every Sunday night, or at least they did on the landline in my apartment when I lived there.”
I withdrew my arms from the table and settled my hands in my lap. I was cold but I didn’t want to put the Henley on. It would have been too much like hiding and I didn’t have the energy for that at the moment. I liked curling my fingers around the fabric, though. It was soft from being worn so often and I liked imagining what it looked like on Lincoln.
I sighed because I needed to just get this done.
“I don’t know anything about the law, but I wanted to tell you about the place my parents sent me after Ford and I… afterwards,” I said awkwardly. “I don’t even know if the place still exists, but if it does and the kids there are still going through… through what I did, someone should know about it.” I couldn’t help but snap the band on my wrist over and over.
Before I could continue, there were heavy footfalls over our heads and then the stairs were creaking. At first, I thought it was Ford coming to say goodbye to Cam but when I realized how fast the footsteps were moving, I knew I was wrong.
“He’s here,” Cam said as he leaned back in his chair to check the hallway that led to the kitchen. “He’s safe, Lincoln. He’s safe.”
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest at the look of relief on Lincoln’s face the moment he saw me as he came barreling into the kitchen. “Thank fuck,” he whispered and then, despite Cam’s presence, he walked right up to me, crouched down and pulled me into his arms. “I thought you were gone,” he murmured right before he covered my mouth with his. It wasn’t a simple good morning or I missed you kind of kiss. It was one of ownership. Lincoln’s tongue clashed with mine as we both fought to get more of one another. It was only when Cam cleared his throat that Lincoln broke the kiss. He kept his eyes on mine and offered no embarrassed apology to Cam.