to do, I had no choice but to exit Trey’s bathroom.
I wasn’t avoiding him. I actually wanted to get into bed next to him and check on him. My problem was, I was in a state of shock and had been for hours. The Durums were a strange bunch. Paige was nice enough in a weird, downtrodden kind of way. It seemed to me like she knew her husband and son were total jerks and she’d given up. She was nice enough to me, she spoke to Trey like he was a distant relative, not her beloved son. This was different than how she treated her other son. CJ needed a fresh beer, Paige got up and got it. CJ wanted seconds, Paige got up and filled his plate.
Throughout dinner, they mostly ignored Trey. None of them asked him a single question. They just barged into his house, took over, and then talked amongst themselves about a vacation they were taking that Trey had not been invited on.
How freaking weird was that?
In an act of bravery, I put my knee on the bed by Trey’s hip and swung my other one over him. I planted my booty on his lap, straddled him, and looked down at him. Both his hands came up and landed on my thighs. He was not looking at me—his eyes were closed, and not because he was asleep.
My big, rough, brave Trey with his eyes closed, possibly in shame.
Damn those people.
My hand went to his face and his body went solid. I ignored this heartbreaking shift and continued stroking his cheek. My fingertips were met with puckered marks, the proof of what he’d endured. He hadn’t shared more than bits and pieces of what had happened that day, and mostly the parts about how he blamed himself. But I knew what happened. My cousin Liberty had told me. Of course, her side of the story was filled with guilt as well, she felt she should’ve known what was going to happen and warned Trey and Luke sooner to flee. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but the man who’d been wearing a suicide vest. But none of them would accept the truth. They all went on blaming themselves. Drake would sort Liberty—she was on a path full of love and healing. I would see to Trey.
But who would help Luke?
I shoved those thoughts aside. That was for another day. Right then, with all that had happened at dinner, I needed to see to my man.
My hand slid up to his temple, then over his forehead as I smoothed the creases between his brows. This was not the first time, not even the tenth time, I’d taken him in. Strong, square jaw, fantastic bone structure, full lips, perfectly set eyes. He was too rugged to be considered pretty, especially with his scars. He was classically handsome, but the marks that dotted one side of his face intensified the rugged and made him look indefatigable.
“What do you need from me?” I whispered.
“Just this.”
Just this.
That was the second time that night he’d said those words to me. I still wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I’d do it for as long as he needed it.
18
Luke had left me alone at the shooting range when Jason made his approach.
I was in no state of mind to go another round with Addy’s brother. My family’s unwelcomed sneak attack from the night before still had me simmering. I had not wanted Addy to ever meet them and especially not like that. But as always, my family did whatever the fuck they wanted to do, uncaring I didn’t want them to do it.
Now that I had Addy in my life, it was high time I cut them out. I’d never been one of them. As a kid I was different, as a teenager, the distance grew, and when I joined the Navy, a chasm had formed. I didn’t want to work beside my father and not for the reasons he claimed. There was nothing wrong with being an electrician, it just wasn’t for me. And working for my dad would’ve sent me over the edge. CJ was of another mind. He couldn’t wait to join our father. My brother was twenty-nine and still lived in the apartment above my parents’ garage. He was a man-child that needed his mommy to wipe his ass for him. And my mother after years of conditioning happily did it.