My fingers tingle.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“Char—she’s here. Emmett … he needs to know.”
“I’m confused, Bobbie. Who’s Charline?”
Her grip grows tighter; her eyes get wetter.
“Emmett’s mother.”
Chapter 51
Tristen
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
My stomach is in knots as Hatley races through town, sirens blaring around us. Flashing lights passing us by.
“They’re still confirming, Ten. Doing tests. We don’t know anything yet, that’s what Bobbie said.”
I grip the door handle with all my might, my knuckles nearly popping out of my skin. “Hatley, I don’t know how he feels about his mom. If she’s the reason he jumps. Why he doesn’t like to be touched. I don’t knowanything.Fuck, Hatley, I don’t know anything.”
The realization is like a boulder on my chest, stealing my already short breath, and leaving my panic behind.
“What if he blames me for taking him home?”
“Ten, you’ve gotta get a fucking grip.”
My best friend’s words are true, but heavy. Thick and just as fucking desperate.
Neither of us know what we’re walking into when he drives right over the curb and throws open the door. Not after whathappened earlier. And certainly not what will happen when the garbage is piled on.
Emmett’s mom.
She’s sick.
The only family of his I now know about. The only one he’s got according to Bobbie.
“Wait, stop.” Hatley grabs me just as my boots slam onto the porch. “You don’t know, okay? You don’t know what’s going to happen. Just … get him to come with us.”
My breath is racing. My mind even faster.
“I’m scared, Hat,” I whisper when I want to scream it. “I don’t … I don’t wanna lose him. Not like this.”
“You. Don’t. Know.” He levels me with a strong brow, but I can see it. He’s just as fucking nervous as I am. Just as shaky.
His grip tightens to the point of bruising, and I pull air in through the grit of my jaw.
Quiet, quiet, quiet.
I nod, though I’m nowhere near ready to step inside. Turn the knob, though I’m terrified of what I’ll find once I am.
“Em?” I ask the near darkness as gently as I can with the shake in my voice. “Emmett.”
There’s a gasp that comes from the couch and he’s up, running across the room to me, his eyes so puffy that they’re nearly swollen shut.
I did that. I made it feel that way.
