My attention switches to Griffin, who also has a hand at his back. I hop off the counter and run over to Noah, standing in front of him. The less he sees the better.
How did I not know they had guns? I might’ve suggested more sleepovers if I’d known sooner.
“Kat?” A voice calls out from the kitchen.
Is that…
“Out here,” Kat answers. The door creaks open as my skin prickles with alarm. The man who steps through is not who any of us expected.
“Camden?” My eyes scrunch.
Knox and Griffin relax, releasing their guns and leaving them in their place.
Camden looks ready to bolt out the way he came. “What’s going on, Kat?”
“Hear her out, Cam.” Kat gestures to me.
“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone.” Camden’s voice grows thick.
Kat puts her hands out to calm him down. “I didn’t tell them anything. Just talk to Raven and listen to what she has to say.”
My lips tighten. “About the hospital?”
Camden freezes. “What do you know about the hospital?”
I rub my hands on my shorts. “A lot.”
Camden’s hands slip into his pockets as he eyes Griffin and Knox, who look back at Camden with worry. Knox rubs his chin while Griffin worries his lip.
“You can tell us, Cam,” Knox reassures him.
I glance back at Noah and find that he’s still blissfully unaware. With measured steps, I approach Camden. “He hurt me too,” I tell him sincerely.
Camden pinches his lips and looks down at his feet. “It was a little different for me.”
Linking my arm with his, I lead him over to a table and we sit together. Griffin and Knox stay in their respective spots they took up earlier, and Kat joins Camden and me at the table.
“My father sent me to Mystic River Psychiatric when I was sixteen,” Camden confesses.
I cock my head to the side. “Why?”
“Please tell me that’s a joke. Tell me he didn’t.” Griffin’s tone is threatening, but we all know it’s not Camden who’s in danger.
“I’m missing something here,” I comment.
Camden clears his throat nervously. “I’m…bisexual.”
My forehead furrows as I look to everyone else to clue me in, but no one clarifies for me. “Okay…? I don’t see the problem. What does it matter who you’re attracted to? Love is love. What does that have to do with…” It all finally dawns on me mid-sentence, and my chest constricts. My hands fly to my mouth as I gasp. “There’s no way that’s legal.”
Camden nods. “Gay conversion therapy is very much so legal and still is.”
“Part of me can’t believe the sheriff sent you there for that, but I’m also not surprised. He’s a close-minded dick,” Knox adds.
“Sheriff Jackson is your father?” My eyes just about fly out of my face.
“He wishes he weren’t. I haven’t spoken to him in years.”
Blinking, I ask, “But doesn’t he come to the bar for lunch? Does he know you work there?”
