“That sounds like some of the management for the place I used to work.” They must be desperate if they’ve come all the way to Lyntacky to speak with her, Blue thought. “I hope they were polite.”
Sheriff Dans smiled at her words. “They were as you’d expect big city types who were being ticketed for speeding would be.”
“Assholes, then,” Blue supplied. “Excuse my language.”
“No, you got it right,” he confirmed, opening another door. “And now you can speak to Jay. He’s not himself right now, so maybe you could help him with that.”
“We’re not real close,” Blue said.
“You must have something in common,” Sheriff Dans said, winking at her.
Blue hadn’t blushed since she was a teenager, and even then, it was rare, but she was now.
Damned hormones.
Chapter 19
“You’ve got a visitor.”
Jay looked up at the Sheriff of Lyntacky’s words, and suddenly tension filled the air.
Blue stood just outside the open door, one hand braced on the frame as if the building itself were the only thing keeping her upright. Her eyes went to his face. To his jaw.
“I’m so sorry,” she rushed out, stepping inside the cell before anyone could stop her. “I saw Lynx’s knuckles. I knew—” Her voice cracked. “They promised me they wouldn’t.”
Jay was on his feet in seconds. “It’s okay,” he said quickly. “I’m fine, Blue.”
She looked exhausted in a way that had nothing to do with sleep. The kind of tired that sank into the bones.
Asher was already moving, giving her a quick hug before Jay could reach her. He then stepped back out the door and shut it with a soft, decisive click.
Too soft. The sound echoed anyway.
Blue’s composure collapsed the second they were alone.
Her breath hitched, then broke entirely. Putting her face in her hands, she cried, and something inside Jay cracked. He hated seeing her vulnerable.
“Hey,” he said gently, reaching for her. “Hey—come here.”
He guided her to the bed, then eased her down beside him. The mattress creaked under their combined weight, the small space forcing closeness. He then took her in his arms and hugged her, and the shock was, she let him.
“I’m okay,” he repeated, quieter this time. “I promise. Dan has hit me harder than your brother did.”
She leaned back, wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her denim shirt. “It’s the hormones,” she said weakly. “Apparently they surge. My mother explained it—something about brain chemistry and emotional regulation.”
Jay huffed a soft, startled laugh. “That sounds… terrifying.”
She let out a shaky breath that was almost a laugh, then covered her face again. “I did this to you,” she whispered. “You didn’t deserve?—”
“No,” Jay said firmly. He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “You did nothing to me. Don’t ever think that, and I’ll be honest and say, if I had a sister, I’d probably behave the same. I mean, Zoe has always been important to me, but she has her brothers, and no one messes with them.”
That made her snuffle as she searched his face as if looking for a lie. He was very good at hiding his thoughts, but he didn’t. Not now.
The truth sat heavy in his chest. What he didn’t say was that violence didn’t scare him. Failure did.
He’d survived things far worse than a couple of idiots with fists. But the thought of having Blue and a vulnerable child to protect knotted his stomach in a way no physical threat ever had.
“I need to get out of the house and find a place on my own—I’m just not sure where. But I do know I can’t live with mybrothers and my parents. Lynx and Finch are overprotective idiots, and my mother is smothering.”
