added. “You’re not obligated to the crew. You never were.”
“What about Dominic?” Thames questioned, panicked now. “I can’t rest my head easy at night knowing he’s alone in there.”
“Dom’s a survivor,” Locke answered. “He survived years before you, he’ll survive the remainder of his sentence without you.”
“Can’t you protect him?”
“He’s rejected my crew. He’s rejected all the others from what I’ve heard. He is doing it alone. He has blocked us out. We can’t pause our lives for Dominic, but we’re waiting for him. We want him to come home alive. He’s going to need us more than ever.”
Thames took a deep breath. Dom needed to be here. He needed to be in this room. That boy had so much goodness in him.
“Go home, Conor,” Jem ordered. “We’ll clean this mess up. Enjoy your freedom, my friend. This is the new beginning you and Charlotte deserve.”
Thames didn’t know how exhausted he was until he stood up and felt it wash over him. He wondered if it was the weight of all those years combined finally dissolving from his shoulders.
“Stop by whenever you can,” he told Locke. “Please.”
Locke nodded.
Thames looked at Jem. “Don’t bury yourself in the bar.”
Jem shook his head. “I won’t.”
Taking another big breath, Thames walked out of the bar.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Charlotte
I made the call while Reid hovered beside me. It was quick and painless. I gave the address of the bar to the “clean-up crew” and hung up.
“Are you alright?” Reid asked me.
I stiffened a nod. “Yeah, just…absorbing.”
My head was pounding with revelations. This night was a clusterfuck of death and answers and I didn’t know how to compartmentalize.
“I guess I should go back to Conor.”
“Nah,” Reid replied. “The boys sounded like they were having a heart to heart. I’d give them that time, and you know, now that we’re both standing here, I might as well offer some kind of heart to heart, too.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s not kid ourselves, Reid.”
“I’m capable of it.”
“You have a lot to make up for. An easy ‘sorry’ doesn’t cut it.”
“Well, for the sake of our kids, at least let’s be on the same page.”
“We’re civil.”
“We can be friendly.”
I was doubtful. “We’ll see about that.”
Reid’s cheeky expression softened as he stared at me for a long moment. “I’m sorry for being an asshole,” he said seriously. “I’m sorry for that year of hell in high school. I’m sorry for being such a fucking cunt. I’m an asshole. I know that. I guess…I spent a long time thinking I had to be tough so others couldn’t see my weaknesses. That breakup of ours was very public and everyone was watching me, waiting to see the cracks in my armour, which made it harder to process. I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I do feel bad for hurting you because…I really cared about you, Charlotte. I should have known that treating someone like shit when you’re hurt doesn’t make you care for them less. I thought the more I pushed you away, the easier I’d be able to move on from you. It backfired and I’ve been in a haze for years. The only thing I have left is that boy, and I don’t want him anything like me. So, my point I guess in all this is…let’s be easy with our kids. Let them have the best friendship.”
Wow.
I offered him a warm smile. “That was an impressive speech, Reid.”
He laughed. “Thank you.”
I simply nodded.
“I’m going home,” he told me. “I gotta see my kid.”
“Your kid should be in bed.”
He walked to the parking lot where his car was parked beside Locke’s. “He’s obsessed with that pixel game. Said something about building a palace for your girl.”
Oh, God. I let out a soft laugh. Of course he was.
I watched Reid drive off, and then I was looking at the stars and listening to the soft leaves rustle around me. It was dead quiet and peaceful. A gentle rainfall had started. Thunder broke out lightly in the distance and my heart squeezed as I thought of those boys on that day.
I also thought of Billy.
“Hey,” he whispered from beside me.
I looked at him. The vampire looking guy with the personality of the little boy I loved.
“Hey,” I whispered back, feeling swamped with emotion.
He watched me tenderly, knowing it was that time.
We didn’t speak for some time. I stared at him, memorizing him.
I’d gone through the stages of grief to process losing that little boy. I didn’t think of the monster he’d become because