“Boy, you do have it bad,” he said fondly, and then I heard his breath catch as I made a choking noise. “Ah, hell, alright, wrong thing to say.”
“No, I just,” I shook my head. “I just...oh fuck. I just?—”
“Hold on,” he said softly, pulling his phone out and doing something before sliding it back into his pocket. “Before it gets crowded in here, I want to remind you that it’s not wrong.”
“What isn’t?”
“Trying to be happy again.”
I snapped my head up, horror probably etched across my face the same way it was in my heart. “What? I never even?—”
“I know,” he said with a little smile. “Just...a little personal experience coming out, I guess.”
“But I’m…” The door slid open behind him, and I blinked as I saw not one, but three goddamn people standing there.
Reggie turned around and frowned. “Luka, you were not included in that message?”
Luka frowned. “The administrator of the facility called formyguest...again. You bet your ass I...oh, hell, Clay?”
“Clay?” Cade asked softly, his eyes wide as he entered the room in a flash, pushing Isaac and Luka out of the way with all the grace of a bull elephant.
“I’m okay,” I said softly, reaching up to pat his stomach. “It’s alright, Mama Bear. I’m alright.”
“The fuck you are,” he growled, looking me over and glaring at Reggie. “What did you do to ’em?”
Reggie blinked, taken by surprise by Cade’s temper, which, well, I couldn’t blame him. Cade was such a goddamn teddy bear over literally anything; it was probably weird as hell to see him act pissed. Well, and Reggie was probably remembering that once upon a time, Cade had been an active and effective member of the armed service, so there wasthatlittle detail to worry about if he got mad enough.
“They’re dead,” I whispered at Cade, trying to get him to understand.
“Who?” Cade asked and then looked at my lap. “I...oh.”
“He had me say it,” I explained, and I saw the way Luka and Isaac’s faces softened in understanding...well, Isaac’s did. Luka’s had the same look Reggie’s had earlier when I’d started talking to him, and I stared at him curiously.
“You sonuvabitch!” Cade snarled, and I realized then that I had not anticipated Cade’s reaction properly as he stepped toward Reggie, who was quickly getting to his feet to back up toward the door.
I didn’t know if I was the only one surprised when it was Isaac who stepped between them, reaching toward Cade and stopping just short of touching him. “Cade...think, Big Guy, not with your anger, with your heart.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Cade demanded of Reggie.
“Yourheart,” Isaac insisted, and against all common sense, poked Cade’s chest in emphasis.
Cade stared down at him because Cade stared down ateveryone, looking surprised. “What?”
“You heard me,” Isaac told him with a soft smile, laying his hand on Cade’s upper arm. “Your heart. That big thing you have that makes you so lovable and kind to everyone. Remember that...and remember the people here are here to help, not hurt us.”
“He did hurt ’em!”
“And sometimes you need to hurt to heal,” Luka said, looking at me. “I don’t know what’s going on here exactly, but sometimes you have to say the truth out loud before you’re ready to face it.”
“You?” I wondered.
“Parents,” he said with a shrug. “I was a kid. Sad little orphan boy.”
I pointed at Reggie, staring up at Cade. “He lost his husband. He gets it.”
Cade’s shoulders slumped. “But you?—”
“I’m okay, Mama Bear,” I told him softly, reaching up to tug his arm so he stepped back. “You’re also scaring the shit out of everyone but me at the moment.”
