Page 62 of Instant Bond

“He hasn’t reached out to me at all.” I cleared my throat, wishing I could let this part go. “There’s something else. Something I didn’t put on the paper, but I talked about it with Anthony.”

“Something else Lucas did?” He asked, eyebrows raising.

“Well, it’s… Unproven,” I said. “It’s just a theory I had, but there’s no evidence. Anthony said we could possibly get evidence if we could get a subpoena approved by the court, and that would really help the case, but…” I felt like a moron trailing my sentences off and hesitating so much but it was just supremely difficult to say. “I have reason to suspect he’s the one who filed that report with CPS.”

I watched my words settle over him like a haunted fog. Emotions sparked in his eyes, one after another, until he wentsort of limp on me. I pressed my hands onto his back, gently nudging him toward me so he could rest against my chest.

“You really think he would go that far? He doesn’t even know me.”

“Like I said, I can’t prove it. But you said you don’t have any enemies and you don’t know who could have done it. I can’t help but suspect him.”

“That’s so… Disgusting. It’s vile. What if they really had taken Ty?” He said, his voice cracking a bit on the last syllable. A wave of protectiveness swamped me and I held him tighter, stroking a hand down his smooth back.

“That’s never going to happen.”

“No, I know,” he said. “I’m okay. It’s just such an awful thought. I can’t believe he would do that just because he’s upset that we’re together.”

“It’s not really that,” I said. “I don’t think he’s in love with me or anything that dramatic. He’s just pissed that I bruised his ego by turning him down.”

“That’s just immature and sad. And it’s ridiculous because it’s not even personal. I mean, anyone with eyes can see he’s incredibly gorgeous and totally successful. If he would just stop focusing on all the negative stuff like who doesn’t like him or whatever, then he’d be a lot better off.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not exactly the most reasonable person in the world. Something like that probably wouldn’t occur to him.”

“Is that why you didn’t hook up with him that night?” He wondered. “You just find his personality that bad? And don’t even try to lie and say he’s not attractive because I will definitely know you’re lying.”

I chuckled a little at his serious tone. “I do find his personality unacceptable, but that wasn’t even really the problem. I just started feeling like I was ready to settle down,like I wanted something more serious. And I knew for sure he wasn’t the person for me.”

“Oh.”

When I shifted, putting a bit of distance between us so I could look into Cameron’s face, his cheeks had a pretty blush over them.

“Ah, there’s another thing I should mention,” I said, as soon as the thought occurred to me. It was not a pleasant thought by any stretch of the definition.

“I don’t think I can handle anything else,” he groaned. “What is it?”

“The party that my mother invited us to, it’s basically a guarantee that Lucas will be there. As I mentioned, his parents and my parents are good friends and they almost always attend.”

He sighed, dropping his forehead back onto my shoulder. “As long as he stays the hell away from Ty, I can handle it.”

“He won’t do anything in front of everyone,” I said. “He’s too sneaky for that. But we’ll make sure.”

“Actually…” He raised his head again, a thoughtful expression on his face. “It might end up being a good thing. I think I just got an idea. But we should talk to your lawyer friend about it first.”

Intrigued, I tilted my head. “What did you have in mind?”

It was a relatively simple plan, but somewhat genius in its simplicity. And he was right that it could end up being incredibly helpful for us.

As the day of the party drew closer, there still wasn’t another peep from Lucas. But whether it was because he’d given up or because there was something worse on the way, we couldn’t be sure. But we were both in total agreement that we wouldn’t let anything come between us again or put Ty in danger.

CAM

AS WE PULLEDthrough a wrought-iron gate and down a long path, I nervously glanced over at Karter from the passenger seat. The antithesis of nerves, Ty was singing a song about scarecrows and pumpkins in the back.

“It’s fine,” he assured me. “Don’t worry so much. It’s just a party.”

“Yeah,” I answered sardonically. “Just a party. Just a party that your parents, one of whom I haven’t met yet, and a bunch of people you know will be at.”

Add on the fact that we were going to try and goad Lucas into admitting some of the stuff he’d done while my phone recorded him from the front pocket of my shirt, and I was kind of a wreck. Even though it was my idea, carrying out secret plans was not exactly in my wheelhouse.

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