We both chuckle at that. He was so hard on her, making sure she knew he was protective as shit.
“Then why does it have to be seven dudes?”
His eyes widen and I realize it’s news to him that the twins are back. He runs a hand through his long hair, letting out a strangled sigh. “Fuck. Who the fuck else?”
“Me, Lux, Ross, Ridge, Jordan, Pru, and Just.”
“The twins are fucking back?” he all but shouts. “Are you fucking joking?”
“Not at all.” He stares at me as if I’ve lost my mind.
“Seven guys. And fucking Edgington is one of them, really?”
I laugh. “Didn’t miss him, huh?”
“Do you remember the shit he pulled when we were kids?” I nod, thinking of Jordan and his brother, knowing they were both little shits. “I’m not one to judge but how could she possibly stand all of you? Just one of you is more than enough in my life.”
“Wow, big ego boost,” I groan, knowing he’s only half-joking. Colt being able to put up with any one of us is a feat all on its own, but somehow she finds herself handling us all like a champ.
“Now, back to Parris, and you better tell me how you’re fucking alive,” I demand, taking another hit.
He takes a swig of his drink and grabs the tail end of my joint, sucking the life out of it before he continues. “We met playing video games and in real-life a year later in Vegas.” He chugs the remainder of his beer, shoving the bud inside it, sitting back in the next moment.
“Somehow, in the conversations we had leading to our meetup, I fell hard and fast. We spent the weekend together—”
“That’s why you were gone!” I interrupt with enthusiasm, laughing when he gives me the would you shut the fuck up face.
“I met my dad after our disaster meeting. We only got to talk for a few weeks before the party. We’d planned so much, and fuck, Ten, I wanted to run away and marry Parris or some crazy shit.” The shock must be evident on my face because he wipes a palm down his and shrugs. “I know, it’s crazy, but the way I felt—and still do—is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.”
“Then why did you play dead and never come back?” I circle back and have to tamper down the obvious anger I’m feeling. Colt tried to kill herself… three times. She tried ending her life because he was gone. Does he not realize the pain he’s caused? “She tried killing herself…” I tack that on, knowing he deserves to feel that pain. He closes his eyes with a heavy sigh and I can hear the way he’s choked up when he peers at me.
“I know, Ten. You don’t think I don’t fucking know?”
“How could you let her hurt herself over and over again?”
He stands, his anger getting the better of him. “And do fucking what? They wanted me dead for whatever fucked up plan they have and the fact that I knew too much. How the hell was I supposed to live if they were constantly sending people to kill me?”
“They killed Yang,” I hiss. “They fucking killed her for whatever she knew.”
“They what?” he shouts, his eyes widening. “Nonononono. This can’t be happening. Yang was… Yang has… Yang…”
“Yang what?” I ask, wondering how to decipher his riddles. “What about her?”
“She had my fucking kid, Ten! She had my fucking son!”
A child… an actual child?
Holy shit.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Colt
“Colt, is that you?” Noah’s soft voice sounds out on the other end. I’m so glad Bridger gave me a phone. Calling Noah was my first choice. “I was so worried when your room was empty. Did they… did they hurt you?”
“Someone got me out safe,” I finally respond, clearing the emotion from my throat. “I-I’m okay.”
“That’s good,” she says in a relieved sigh. “Maybe one day, I’ll be saved too.”
A sob gets lodged in my throat as I imagine Noah in the grasp of those who want me dead. “I’m coming back for you. And Solomon.”
“There’s so many kids here,” she whispers, her voice breaking. “I can’t leave them behind with no one to protect them.”
Tears stream from my eyes as realization hits me. This must have been what Bridger meant when he said she had her own plans. She’s not going to escape. “I can’t let them hurt you,” I plead, hoping she’s willing to see my side. We can’t save them all, not yet.
“They’re my family too, Colton. They’re alone.”
“They won’t hurt them,” I try, not knowing if that’s true.
“That may be so, but I can’t in good conscience leave them at risk.”
Tears stain my shirt as I silently sob. I want her to be okay and safe. “I-I can’t lose you too.”
Her muffled cry breaks me and I feel the pain of all I’ve lost sink in. Agony rips through me as emotion tears through. The pain is too much and breathing is too hard right now. Coughing on my lung’s lack of usage, I try to control my emotions, begging them to stay.
In the short time I met Noah, our connection has been clear. It doesn’t make sense, we were newly friends, but something about her reminds me of the person I was before Cassidy died.
“You’re n-never losing m-me, Colty. Ever,” she sputters over her sadness. “For now, I’m safe, okay? Keep my girl safe too.”
I sob into the phone as she speaks, knowing she’s more worried about everyone but herself. I can’t and I won’t leave her behind.
“I’ll fix t-this,” I stutter, feeling the power of acceptance hitting me in the chest. “I refuse to lose you.”
“I’ve got to go,” she whimpers, and I hear a door slam where she’s at. “Don’t call back. I’ll contact you.”
I nod, not responding, knowing she’s not safe or she’d have said she was fine. The line cuts off and my chest aches with the cries that are stuck beneath my rib cage. If you think you’ve felt true pain, love someone to the depths of your being, tear yourself open and serve your organs for their usage, and then have the oxygen choked out of you while they’re taken… that’s true pain. Graphic, maybe, but true and real nonetheless.
I wipe my eyes and head for the shower, wondering how it got to this point.
Exhaustion.
Pure and absolute defeat.
That’s where I’m at now.