I hate how small that one question sounds, how loaded, and clear my throat.
“Shocked the fuck outta me, too, man,” he mumbles, then sticks his tongue out in concentration as he pieces the junk carburetor back together. “I mean, when you asked for my assistance, I didn’t know I’d be babysitting, but—ow!”
The heel of my palm stings from the slap to the back of his head, but my best friend just chuckles, bright eyes landing on me.
His laughter dies off quickly.
“I know you’re worried about him, Ten. I am, too,” Hatley admits with more emotion than I expected.
I should have, though. I should have known.
It’s all been so fucked up—I’vebeen so fucked up—that this is the first time I’ve seen Hatley in person since it all happened.
I blow out a long breath and run a grease-stained hand through my hair.
“What else am I supposed to do? I can’t leave him like this.”
Fuck, just walking out here, to the front yard that’s mostly made of dirt at this point, of the houseEmmett’s inmakes me feel guilty. Like I’m abandoning him. Leaving him alone with the thoughts and the darkness and all the bad shit that comes from being—
I shake my head, tearing the thought away from my mind.
Except, it hasn’t left since that night.
Thesightalone has haunted me, the image of some man standing over Emmett, his fucking dick in his hand, burned into the very molecules of my brain.
Words … shit no one should ever have aimed at them flooding my nightmares.
The man I’ve since learned is Emmett’s fuckingstepdad.
How long?I wanted to ask Bobbie when she explained who the guy was and why he was in the house that night.How fucking long did he use Emmett?
The look on her face when she realized what had happened … itbrokesomething inside her.
And me.
“Earth to Ten.”
I jolt, sucking in a breath like I’d been holding it for a long ass time. “You say something?”
“Yeah, fool. I said a lot of shit and you’re justzoned out. What the fuck is up with you?”
Shame coats my throat, the weight of it all just too fucking heavy.
“Uh, sorry,” I mutter and lick my chapped lips. “I’m just worried. About Emmett.”
It’s not a lie sliding off my tongue, but it feels pretty damn close to one as I skirt around the truth once again with Hatley.
“Well, this—” he waves a wrench in my direction, “—isn’t gonna help him.”
I don’t know what else to do, I want to tell him, but I don’t. I’ve already said it a million times and none of his answers get me any closer to something feasible without giving him the rest of what happened.
Because I couldn’t even tell Hatley the whole truth about that night.
All he knows is that Emmett’s stepdad came back home when he wasn’t welcomed.
It doesn’t feel like it’s mine to tell, and the last thing I need is someone else looking at Emmett like he’s a fucking porcelain doll ready to break.
I do that enough these days.
