Page 65 of Pippin & Nacho

Our fingers are threaded together, and I pretend Sam is my boyfriend. His head rests on my shoulder while he’s trying to sleep. The place smells so bad. We stink, too, but at least when we’re outside, it washes away some of our stench. Inside, with so many homeless people, the place is ripe and makes the greasy pizza dough in my stomach turn.

“Promise me you won’t ever leave me?” Sam asks.

“I thought you were sleeping.”

“Promise me.”

“Of course, I promise. I didn’t pull you out of that hellhole and spend two years on the streets just to leave you.”

I won’t ever leave you because I love you. You’re mine. Always mine.

The ache of need for him hurts so much. My stomach clenches, and my heart beats so fast when the overwhelming love for him fills me. I really don’t understand love. Why does it feel so good yet hurt so much? What’s the point of something so wonderful that could be so painful?

“I promise you, too. We will always be together, forever.”

“Forever.” I rested my cheek on his greasy hair. “What brought that on?”

Sam shrugs. “I’m just having a moment.”

“One day, I’ll find a way to get you a home, Sam. A home we can share together. Forever.”

“I’d like that.”

Sam left me.

We promised each other we’d always be together three years ago. Now, he left because of me—because I broke my promise. Why should he keep his when I didn’t keep mine?

I should never have told Alpha about Sam’s past. That was so fucking wrong.

What have I done?

I clawed at my heart and stared at the closed front door for who knows how long, blurred behind tear-filled eyes.

“Come back, Sam.”

I choked on a sob. What would I do without him? I would die. I was being dramatic, but I didn’t care. He was everything to me, half of my soul. Everything I’d done for the past seven years had been for Sam, and I’d ruined everything by betraying his trust.

I wanted… No, I needed to chase after him, but he said he needed to think. The last thing I should do was betray his trust again. But did he really need to think about things? Or did he want to make plans to leave me for good?

No, I had to fix this.

I couldn’t lose him.

I rushed to my room to get dressed before running back out to grab my jacket and board. As soon as I stepped outside, the rain started coming down. Fuck it. I had to find him. Most likely Sam went skating, which was one of the few things he did to calm himself.

After dropping my board onto the sidewalk, I pulled my hoodie underneath my jacket over my head and pushed off to find Sam. I weaved in and out of obstacles on the sidewalk, jumping off and pumping my leg on the asphalt of the road, uncaring that I was getting soaked. There was very little traffic and hardly anyone was walking around in the rain, letting me make good time.

Shit, but what if he headed to the indoor park because of the rain? He preferred the outdoor one, so I planned to check there first. If he wasn’t there, then I’d check the other place. Hell, I’d look for him forever if I had to.

But what if he came back, and I wasn’t home? Would he assume I left? He’d have to come back, right? Even if he intended to leave me, he had everything at the apartment. No, I needed to find him before he ‘thought’ himself right out of my life. I had to make this right.

It all happened in slow motion, exactly like how you imagined it in the movies. I felt nothing other than weightlessness before I landed hard on the street, bone and muscle smacking on the road with the sounds of cracking. The pain suddenly registered in my head, and across my body as bright light flashed behind my eyes.

Then, the darkness consumed me.

I woke up to stabbing light and a throbbing head. The pain tingled down across my entire body. I sought out what didn’t hurt, but I couldn’t find it. My head, back, left leg, and shoulder were the worst.

When I tried to shift, the pain became unbearable, and tears slipped out from my efforts. I’d never been in so much fucking pain in my life. Every time I tried to adjust, so it hurt less, I grew dizzy and nauseous.

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