After Us (Next Generation #6) - J.M. Walker Page 0,100
please!” Piper cried.
But as much as I knew this wasn’t right, I couldn’t stop.
“What the hell is going on?” That was said by my dad, but I still didn’t stop.
Sammy and I landed blow after blow on each other. We fell to the ground, shoving and kicking. It was messy and not the least bit organized but the pain rushing through me forced these new feelings to the surface.
I was scared. No, I was damn near terrified that if something happened to Brynn, that it would be it for Piper and me. Our relationship was rocky at best. While we loved each other, we had already been through so much in such a short amount of time. I couldn’t lose her.
My chest tightened, a sob of anguish lodging its way in my throat.
“Jaron.” Sammy straddled my waist, clutching the collar of my hoodie.
“Fuck.” I lifted a trembling hand, trying to cover my eyes. I didn’t need him to see me cry. I didn’t need any of them to see me break.
“Go back inside,” Cyrus instructed. “There’s nothing to see here.”
“You heard him. Do as you’re fucking told for once,” Shadow barked.
Sammy slid off of me and knelt at my side. He helped me to a sitting position and wrapped his arms around me. “We’ll find her.”
I latched on to him, a sob finally breaking free. “I can’t…I can’t lose them.”
“I know.” Sammy squeezed me. “You won’t. If it’s the last thing I fucking do, I promise you, Jaron. You will not lose them.”
“Jaron.” Piper was suddenly beside me, her arms wrapping around my shoulders.
Sammy released me, giving me a crooked smile with his cracked lip and bloody nose.
A shuddered sigh left me. Roughly wiping the tears from under my eyes, I chanced a glance at Piper.
Her cheeks were wet.
“I’m sorry.” I swiped a thumb under her eye. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
She shook her head. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I asked, taken aback by her words.
“For finally breaking,” she said softly.
Instead of answering, I crushed my mouth to hers. A sharp pain shot through my bottom lip, forcing me to pull back.
“I got you good, J.” Sammy stood, holding out his hand.
I let him help me up, pulling Piper along with me. “Thank you for knowing what I needed.”
“Anytime. I’m actually surprised it hadn’t happened already.” He cupped my shoulder. “We used to fight all the time.”
Cyrus grunted. “That was until Aunt Eve almost kicked our asses worse than what we did to each other. Remember when Jaron had to pop his shoulder back into place?”
Sammy chuckled. “Oh yeah. I thought she was going to throw up.”
“Hey.” Piper turned me toward her. “You okay?”
“No.” I bent at the waist and brushed my nose against hers. “But at least my nose isn’t broken.”
“What the fuck ever man.” Sammy gently shoved me, pulling the hem of his shirt up to wipe his nose. “You’re bigger than I am.”
I scoffed. “Right.”
“You two fuckers done fighting, so we can get this shit on the road?”
All of us turned at the sound of Shadow’s deep voice as he stalked toward us. “The shit I have to clean up while my son is off doing fuck all. He’s lucky I enjoy pretending that I’m still the president.” He held two ice packs in his hands. My dad followed behind him with Tray and Catch on either side of him.
“We’re good,” was all I said. I wasn’t but fighting it out, mixed with the pain from Sammy’s punches, helped more than one would think.
Piper stepped closer to my side, wrapping her arm around my lower back.
I looked down at her and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll find out what’s going on and then go home.”
“We can stay at the clubhouse,” she murmured. “I just want to get out of here.”
“Okay.” I kissed her head again.
“You good, Son?” Dad asked me, clapping my shoulder.
“No but I will be. Both of us will be.” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry about—”
“Don’t worry about it.” Dad walked away. “We’ll meet you at home.”
Linking my fingers with Piper’s, I led her to the twins’ SUV. “Thank you for everything, Shadow.”
“No thanks needed. You don’t even owe me this time,” he said, following us.
I helped Piper into the back seat before turning to him. “What’s the catch?”
He grinned, scratching his jaw. “No catch.” He nodded toward Piper and handed Sammy and me an ice pack each. “I like your girl.”