I was also ashamed that it had taken me all these years to just get this shit out on the table–with both Rob and my brothers. How many years had we gone without talking about any of it? Just avoiding it all?
“Traumatized us? Fuck no. You leaving was the only trauma we experienced,” Ace said. “We needed you, Boone. Dad was a fucking asshole, and you bailed. Just like you bailed on your mate when she needed you.”
My throat closed with a lump. “I’m sorry,” I choked, looking from Ace to Roy to Summer. “I fucked up.”
“Thank you.” Summer accepted my apology with the same grace she did everything. “We need you fierce. We need you dangerous. Stop being afraid of who you are and trying to shield the world from it. You’re exactly what you’re supposed to be–a danger to anyone who fucks with the people you love.”
It was the same thing Rob said.
My eyes burned, and I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I wrapped my arms around Summer from behind, holding on to my lifeline.
“She’s right, man,” Roy said, giving me a smile. “No one here is afraid you’re a danger but you. So stop holing up like a hermit and get back to living. You have a mate now. A mate who’s getting famous.” Roy winked at Summer, who smiled back.
I kissed the top of her head. My chest ached from my heart swelling so damn big. The people I loved most in the world also cared for each other. It was a beauty I never thought I’d experience.
“Yeah,” Ace said. “You’re probably going to have to tour the world with her, so get used to being around people.”
Summer’s smile grew even broader. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” I said with total certainty. “Recording deal, tour, fandemonium. That’s what’s coming for you, my beautiful woman.”
“And you were going to abandon that?” Roy spread his palm and shook it in Summer’s direction for emphasis.
“I’m not a that.” She turned in my arms and looked up at me. “And he’s not abandoning me ever again. Right?”
“Never,” I swore. “That’s the rule. I’m sorry. I owe each of you an apology.”
“Bring it in, man.” Roy clasped my hand in a bro-grip and pulled me in for a thump on the back.
Ace did the same. “Yeah, man. We love you. Stop being a giant turd.”
Summer reclaimed her position in my arms and squeezed me. “Let’s go home.”
Home.
I didn’t know which home Summer meant, but it didn’t matter to me. Home was wherever she was. And yeah, I’d follow her to the ends of the fucking earth. At least that was clear now that I’d unwedged my head from my ass.
I swung her up into my arms. “Home sounds like exactly where I need to be, baby.”
36
SUMMER
* * *
“I’m sorry, baby.” Boone lowered my feet to the floor in his cabin. Ace and Roy had dropped us off at Boone’s cabin, and he carried me inside. All the others had headed to their homes as well.
He cradled my cheek, lowering his head to give me a slow, gentle kiss. “I should’ve been with you last night. I should’ve held you in my arms and comforted you after what happened.”
I didn’t want him to feel any more guilty than he already did, but it was a relief to hear that he understood that he’d hurt me. It hopefully meant he wouldn’t withdraw again. That there wouldn’t be a next time in his pattern of having a violent incident and taking off.
“I felt abandoned,” I admitted because owning my feelings was part of a healthy relationship. Or so I’d learned from the books I’d read trying to fix a doomed marriage. “I was pretty mad at first.”
He eyed my bruise, his brows lowered. “I should’ve been the guy holding ice to your face.”
“I wish you had,” I admitted. “But when you hadn’t returned this morning, I realized I was making this about me when I was the one who was safe at home. You were the one who was in danger and suffering. So I realized you needed me as much as I needed you.”
Boone blinked rapidly, his eyes turning red. “I did need you. I won’t make it without you.” Then he looked slightly alarmed, like he’d said the wrong thing. “I mean, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck–”
