Page 107 of Sycamore Circle

He’d also been telling himself those same three things for the last three hours in the hospital’s waiting area. Various people had come out and given them all updates. Joy had needed several rounds of tests, then had been taken into surgery when it was evident that one of her broken ribs had splintered and a piece of bone had punctured a lung.

So it wasn’t that Bo didn’t believe that Joy had survived and was going to eventually be all right. It was that he couldn’t seem to wrap his head around what he’d seen in that crappy room. That it had been freezing, she’d been on the floor, and that there were pictures of her everywhere.

That room had been essentially right under his nose for the last twenty-four hours. She’d been hurt badly. Abused and tortured. All by someone he’d never even considered to be a threat. He didn’t know if Joy was ever going to forgive him. Against all his better judgment, he’d believed Anthony’s sweet, guileless words. He’d taken them at face value.

How could he have been so stupid?

Lincoln walked to his side. “You’ve been standing here by yourself long enough. Come sit down and talk to me.”

He was standing in a small alcove leading to a pair of doors. It didn’t seem like they led to anywhere particularly important because hardly any medical personnel went through them. Lincoln had just come over to stand by his side.

“I don’t know if there’s much to talk about right now.”

Lincoln’s blue eyes narrowed. “There’s everything to talk about. Come on, now.”

He brought Bo over to a pair of empty chairs surrounded by at least a dozen of their friends. Seth, Charlie, Adrian, Chance... the familiar faces went on and on. Though many of them had also sat in the waiting room when Lincoln’s Jennifer had been attacked, this was different. They’d all known Jennifer—and they’d all had a soft spot for her.

Hardly any of the guys had even seen Joy.

“I can’t believe everyone’s here,” he murmured.

“That there is your problem, Samuel,” Lincoln said. “Somehow, you’ve forgotten that you’re one of us.”

“I haven’t forgotten that. Of course I haven’t.”

“If that’s true, then you should’ve known that if one of the girlfriends of one of our friends gets abducted and taken to the hospital for emergency surgery, then we’re going to show up.”

Put that way, Bo realized that Lincoln was far from wrong. Of course he would be there for any one of the guys. Why would he expect so much less of everyone else?

“Sorry,” he muttered.

Obviously exasperated, Lincoln shook his head. “I’m not looking for an apology. I’m looking for a way into your head.”

“There’s no need for that. I’m fine.”

“Sorry, but you’re not. And you shouldn’t be.” Lincoln’s voice hardened. “Bo, your girlfriend was abducted by her stalker. She was found bleeding on a cement floor.”

Tears filled Bo’s eyes as the last bit of control he’d been clinging to slowly evaporated.

Unable to stop the tears, he looked away. “All right, fine. I am not fine. I’m a wreck.” He swiped a hand across his cheek. “I’m currently freaking out and half dying inside because I came this close to losing her and it’s all my fault.” He held up two fingers, barely an inch apart. “I failed her.”

Seth took the chair on the other side of him. “It wasn’t your fault that Joy was abducted by that guy,” Seth said. “He was sneaky and had his heart set on snatching her for years. He fooled everyone into thinking he was just some poor soul who needed a helping hand. If anything, it’s because of you that we were all there.”

“I told everyone that you refused to leave,” Lincoln explained. “If we’d all left, it would’ve taken even longer to get to Joy.”

Uncomfortable with their praise, he said, “I don’t know how I’m going to face Joy again. And what about her girl? I’m sure she hates me.” Raising his head at last, Bo looked up at two of his best friends. “I didn’t keep her safe.”

Seth grinned. “She don’t hate you. I know this for a fact.”

“What? She told you?”

“No, but she told Finn and Finn texted me.” Seth held up his phone with a grin. “I’ve got an ‘in’ into the teenage mind.”

Lincoln chuckled. “Just when I think I’ve got you figured out, you prove me wrong, Seth.”

Seth grinned. “If that’s the case, you aren’t the first one. But seriously, she told Finn that you saved her mom. She’s grateful to you.”

“I should’ve done more. I should’ve been smarter.”

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