Chapter 16
EASTON
There’s only one way that my body lets me wake up slowly and naturally, and that is when I’m able to feel my safe space around me—a heavy arm thrown over my waist or the solid thud of his heartbeat in my ear.
Today, it’s his nose tucked against my neck, soft puffs of air ticking the sensitive skin there.
Warmth fills my chest until I’m blinking tears out of my eyes.
Poor baby is absolutely crashed out. It’s still early, given the lack of light seeping in around the curtains, so I slip quietly out of bed so he can sleep a little longer.
After finding one of Chase’s discarded hoodies, and kissing his raven hair, I pad downstairs expecting Brady and Blake to still be in bed too.
I hope they found something to help track Aaron down last night.
If I focus on it too much, it will take me to my knees.
I knew he wouldn’t leave me alone for long.
But it’s okay. It’s got to be. Things are different this time.
I am different this time. Before, I never would have gone to anyone about my suspicions.
It wouldn’t have mattered how long he waited to strike; his mind control tactics lingered too deep in the recesses of my brain.
Now, not only have I been able to confide in the people I love, but also gone to the police. That’s no minor thing. It’s got to be enough to keep him from getting his hands on me again because I can’t go another round.
My gaze wanders into the fog, wondering if he’s out there watching right now, waiting for the perfect moment.
I shiver, burrowing deeper into the fabric where Chase’s cologne lingers.
The stairs creak, making me scramble to find the source of the sound. “Morning, Eas,” my brother mumbles casually. “Did you make coffee yet?”
“No. I haven’t been down here long.” Not that I’m sure about that, but I got distracted which I think is understandable.
He shrugs, and I watch him go through the motions, moving around Blakely’s kitchen like he belongs there.
Kinda does, I guess, considering how long we’ve been here.
My heart clenches, noting for the first time that we take our coffee the same when he brings it to me.
All these little missing bits of information that don’t matter until they do are going to be the death of me.
“Thanks,” I say when he presses the warm mug into my hand.
After a careful sip, I have to know. “Did you guess how I like it?”
“No. Just figured it would still be the same.”
I raise an eyebrow at him in confusion. “When Dad would go to work early, sometimes we could convince Mom to let us split a cup before school. Neither one of us liked it for much more than flavored creamer and feeling like grown-ups, but we drank it anyway.”
As he says it, the memories start coming back.
Sugar always helped me get through the low days, and he’d sweet talk the shit out of Mom to get me an extra boost and keep suspicions quiet by pretending it was for both of us.
“I remember now. Dad never would have let us have any. Said we didn’t have the brain cells to sacrifice. ”
Brady nods, taking a long sip. “Talk about ironic. Even back then, he didn’t have many to go around. I can’t even imagine now.”
The thought makes me snicker. I nudge him with my foot. “We should see if we can look his company up. I wanna know if it ever went under.”
His lips quirk up. “Almost two years ago.”
I sit bolt upright, almost scalding myself. “Shut the fuck up!”
“I may have been keeping tabs on things here and there. Still no obituary for him, though, which is vaguely disappointing. Mom fuels herself on harassing me so I’m sure she’ll survive forever like a fucking cockroach or something.”
It’s not funny really, but I can’t help laughing. “Something about you hoping Dad died heals my inner child. I’m honestly shocked they lost the business though. I would have thought they’d sell the house to keep the doors open longer.”
“Right. Shit, maybe we don’t know them either. That’s a nice thought, not gonna lie.”
It is. For as much as they didn’t know either of us, I wouldn’t mind them being a bit of a mystery.
They thought we were both dumb as hell, though in different ways.
Brady in a “he can be trained” and “he’ll learn, just let him find out how bad the real world is and he’ll come running home” kind of way.
Me, however, I was hopelessly stupid. He-won’t-graduate-high-school stupid, which ended up being true to be fair. “Brady, holy shit!”
He startles, chocolate eyes suddenly scanning me for injuries. “What’s wrong?”
“I never looked at my GED score. I don’t even know if I passed or not.”
All emotion falls from his face, leaving a weirdly blank expression for a beat before he lands on confused. “No. That can’t be right.”
“With everything going on, it slipped my mind somehow.” As hard as I try, there’s no keeping the disappointment from my voice.
My brother whips out his phone, types a few things in, and hands it to me like I don’t have my own. “You can check online. Do it. I can go wake Ace up if you’d rather have him.”
That last part makes me pause. Would I rather have Chase? Rather is such a weird word. When I get a glance at the resignation in his eyes, my mind is made up. I think I know where that came from. “No. It’s okay. Let him sleep. Just you and me is the way it’s supposed to be.”
Brady melts. Ice cream on a Floridian summer day would have a better shot than him.
I should have known, honestly. He’s selfless to a fault, it’s right on par for him to try and step aside to make room for Chase and me to fit together.
He’ll learn eventually that we fit best when it’s all three of us, but he’s always going to be my family.
Nerves flutter in my stomach as I log in to see my test scores.
I don’t know why it matters, honestly. I have a thousand bigger things to worry about right now, including potentially my life.
But for some reason, I need this. Maybe to feel like I’ve accomplished something?
Maybe to show I’m in control of my future now?
Too little too late in a lot of ways. It’s not like Chase would ever try to limit my potential. I didn’t realize that’s what was happening before him.
If this internet doesn’t speed up, I’m gonna be sick. I groan, ready to give up this whole ordeal before I can be disappointed, but Brady snatches his phone back before I can. He also takes my coffee cup to set it on the table so I can effectively cover my eyes like it will shield me from bad news.
“Eas! Eas!”
“Don’t tell me,” I say through my hands.
His warm hand grips my shoulder to shake me thoroughly a few times. “Easton, if you don’t look at this.”
The threat would be more believable if one, he could even finish it, and two, he wasn’t the most nonviolent person on the face of the planet. I remain firm in my stubbornness. Once I know, there’s no going back. Now, I’m still able to pretend I passed.
Brady resorts to pulling me into a weirdly positioned bear hug, and when he speaks, his voice is somewhere behind my head. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Koda. Never doubted you for a second.”
That gets my attention. Not the first part, I’m pretty sure he’d say that regardless of the outcome. “No.”
He laughs, a deep, rich sound I haven’t heard nearly enough lately. “Yes, you fucking little pessimist. Look!”
Slowly, I pull my hands away so I can see the screen half an inch from my retinas.
I have to back away enough for my eyes to focus.
Rereading it a dozen times doesn’t change anything.
Right there, in black and white, a beautifully passing score that might as well read earned from the power of getting back up again.
My eyes leak of their own accord. Brady fares no better. He says he’s proud of me a thousand times, and just once, I manage to say I’m proud of myself too.
~~~
Chase
One thing I was not expecting as I pad down the stairs is damn near tripping over a human body. “Shit,” I hiss. It is way too early for this shit.
“Shut up and sit down,” the body commands.
I do, because why the hell not. “Why are we doing this?”
Blake rolls her eyes. Sure, sitting on the landing in your own house is completely normal. My bad. I’ve got to work on my go-with-the-flow ability, I guess. “We’re letting Brady have a moment. He needs one.”
What kind of moment, I’m unsure. But I do know my friend needs it, nonetheless. Blakely has no intention of leaving her spot for a bit given the fluffy ass blanket that she tosses a piece of my way once I settle in beside her.
She leans her head on my shoulder, and I rest mine on top of her hair. Distantly, I can make out the conversation she didn’t want to interrupt.
“Did he tell you that?” she asks, hearing Brady telling his little brother that their dad’s construction company went under.
I shake my head. “This is probably the first time he’s told anyone.”
“Makes you wonder what else he’s been holding on to, huh?”
I always have. He tells me so much, but some things I think he couldn’t talk about except with Easton. Brady has always needed to be understood, and while I do my best, some things only his brother will truly get. They both need this.
“How late were you up last night?” I ask, nudging Blake.
She shrugs. “So late it became early. It’s okay, though.”
Guilt slithers along my skin, oily and revolting. “I should have stayed up to help.”
My friend huffs, exasperated with me already. “Don’t be annoying. We didn’t want you to. You need to take care of yourself, sometimes.”
It’s not like she’s the shining example of that, given she’s already up and back at it before daybreak. “Did you learn anything?”
“Only that he’s definitely using signal blockers, which sucks because it’s clearly to get in the way of us calling the police if we catch on in time to notice him. Your WiFi router didn’t show signs of being hacked which is the only small positive I’ve got so far.”