“Where’s Mom?” Jeremy asked calmly.
“Check the hall bathroom. I think she called me from there.”
Jeremy turned quickly and headed down the hall.
Parker pulled back from Lance, wiping away his tears. Clearing his throat, he turned to face Tanner.
“Thank you for what you did for us tonight. I’m really sorry about—I shouldn’t have told him about you two,” he apologized, looking at Lance, and then back at Tanner. “I didn’t think—” he choked on a harsh sob.
“I don’t give a fuck what that man thinks of me,” Lance stated coldly.
“Still,” Parker said. “If Tanner hadn’t intervened,” he shook his head at the thought of how things might have turned out otherwise.
“Thank you,” Parker told Tanner again. Tanner gave a short nod, his expression pinched as he forced a smile. He radiated tension, which told Lance that something was terribly wrong.
“Parker, please go check on Mom,” he requested while keeping his focus on Tanner.
Parker took off down the hall to look for her.
“What’s wrong?” Lance crouched in front of Tanner. Examining him closely, he didn’t see any blood or obvious signs of injury.
“It’s broken,” Tanner said flatly.
Lance’s adrenaline level spiked sharply.
“What’s broken?!”
“My bad leg. I took a stupid step back when I threw him down—” Tanner said. “I heard it snap,” he observed calmly.
This was in direct contrast to Lance’s response. His heart raced and he felt as if he’d just been hit by a truck.
“Go make sure your mom is okay and talk to your brothers. Then we’ll go to the ER,” Tanner directed with perfect composure, as if he wasn’t sitting there with a broken leg because he’d just been in a fight and saved all of them. It wasn’t right and it certainly wasn’t fair for him to be suffering this way.
He meant to say as much, but Tanner cut him off.
“Go,” Tanner said sternly.
Lance’s hand tightened on Tanner’s arm.
“Are you fucking insane? We’re going to the ER right now! You need—”
Tanner shook his head. “Make sure everyone is okay. My leg’s already broken, so rushing won’t make a difference.”
Lance was horrified and miserable, sickened by the knowledge of what had happened to Tanner. He was the one responsible for Tanner’s broken leg. Not his father. Tanner had stepped into the punch meant for Lance. It wasn’t his job to do that. Lance didn’t need him to take his punches. He didn’t need to be protected. Oh God! His beautiful Tanner, who’d already suffered more than enough. Nausea swept over him, forcing him to pause in the kitchen and lean against the counter, both hands grasping the marble tightly as he struggled to breathe and get his brain in gear.
Think!He urged himself. He needed to focus. Tanner was—
He shook himself and took a calming breath. Family, then the ER. That was the plan, and if he could hold it together long enough, he might just be able to successfully unfuck the shitshow he’d brought into this house.
He found everyone in the laundry room adjacent to the hall bathroom. Jeremy was sitting on the washing machine, while Parker was hugging their mother next to the dryer. When Lance walked in, Parker turned their mother to face him.
She looked frail and scared. Nothing like the woman who’d screamed at him in the driveway after her big party. Shaking like a leaf, she reached for him.
“Hi, baby,” she said. He allowed himself to be pulled into her embrace. She clutched his shirt tightly, and Lance sighed as he wrapped her up in a tight hug. He pressed her close, rubbing soothing circles across her back.
“Thank you,” she said, against his chest.
He didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know where he fit in anymore. She’d called him when she needed him to rescue her and his brothers, but the cruel insults she’d hurled at him on the 4th of July still haunted him. Now, though, he was useful to her.So, how did all that fit into the fallout from today? Would she feel the same way when she didn’t need his protection anymore? Would he be deserving of her respect and love when the monster was gone?
