Jasper’s voice comes in and out in waves. I just fucking want Luca. What doesn’t he get about that? I don’t want his words. I just fucking want Luca.
I shake my head, silencing him. “Leave.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Fucking leave!” I shout, feeling out of control and spiraling further by the second. My feet are itching to move, but I’m afraid if I do, if I get up and give in to the urge to pace and rage, everyone will see what I see. A fucking monster capable of murder.
Oh God, I fucking killed him.
The door opens. This is it. This is the moment. I stand, turning around with my hands behind me so they can cuff me. When nothing happens for a few seconds, I look behind me. “What are you waiting for?”
Sheriff Granger raises a bushy gray eyebrow. “For you to turn around here and look at me, boy.”
Turning quickly, I hold my hands out in front of me, wrists together. My stomach is a lead weight, and if I had food in it at all, I think I’d have already thrown up.
The sheriff shakes his head. “You’re free to go, Austin. From your statement and Luca’s, we’re ruling this a justifiable homicide. Don’t leave town, but as of right now, you’re free to go.”
It takes a second for the words to sink in, and when they finally do, I suck in a sharp breath. “I can… I can go see Luca?”
“You can go anywhere you want, long as you stay in town.”
I nod frantically. “Yeah, I won’t leave town. I promise.”
“Let me take you to Luca.”
Turning to Jasper, I grimace. I’m surprised he’s even still here. With the way I yelled at him, he doesn’t owe me a thing, and I wouldn’t blame him if he left my sorry ass here, but I’m too thankful for the offer to turn it down. “Please, and I’m sorry.”
He tugs me to him, giving me a hug. “No need to be sorry. Emotions are high.Let’s go.”
IbarrelthroughLuca’shospital room door, not even bothering to knock. I don’t know what’s waiting for me. I don’t know how he’ll react. All I know is I need my eyes on him immediately.
He’s lying in the bed beside Arlo. His face is buried against Arlo’s chest, and Arlo is running his fingers through his hair.
When he hears the door, his head snaps up, his tear-filled gray eyes latching onto mine. “Austin.” His voice is a croaky whisper. My heart is pounding a furious rhythm, threatening to explode right out of my chest. I’m waiting. Waiting for him to call me a murderer, for him to tell me to leave, for him to be afraid.
He whimpers, a sad, awful sound that shoots through my heart, and then he reaches for me. Just a single outstretched hand. It’s everything. It’s fuckingeverything.
I damn near run across the room. Arlo slips off the bed, and I vaguely hear the door shutting as he leaves the room. I don’t dare look away from Luca.
He’s got a black eye and a small cut on his cheek, but he’s okay. He’s alive. And he’s here.
“Baby,” I croak, throat too tight to say anything else.
The only response I get is a whispered, “Hold me.”
A second later, he’s in my arms. I don’t even fully know how I go from standing beside his bed, staring down at him, to lying next to him and holding him in my arms, but somehow I do.
His warmth feels so good, and his presence even better. It’s so good that I almost don’t realize he’s crying. Breath-stealing,chest-heaving sobs. “He’s dead,” he mumbles. “He died.”
Fuck. “I know, baby. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“What?” He glances up at me, eyes swimming with pain and tears. “No. Don’t be sorry.”
He buries his face against my chest, his tears starting anew. “I’m free,” he chokes out. “I’m free. I’m free.”
Relief makes me weak, and if I weren’t already lying down, I’d fall over. “You’re not afraid of me?”
“No.” Luca raises himself up, and I’m surprised when he starts kissing me. His dry, cracked lips land all over my face. My chin, my nose, and my cheeks, catching a spot that must be bruised because it’s tender when they brush it. Then finally, my mouth. My hands throb when I cup the back of his head, but I don’t care.
