Page 144 of Catch the Sun

He frowns. “You said you remembered everything about our childhood, but you can’t remember what was so appealing that it made you topple over a thirty-foot cliff?”

Heat blooms on my cheeks. “You think I’m lying?”

“Are you?” Jonah stares at me for a few seconds, then turns to look at the water as a family of ducks coasts by. “I promised you I’d always keep you safe,” he tells me, his timbre sounding tortured. “Kills me that I wasn’t there. It absolutely slaughters me that you’ve been by yourself for all these years, and I was one month too late to prevent you from a traumatic fucking brain injury.”

I close my eyes, shoving aside the memories. “I haven’t been alone. I’ve had Mom.” It’s a partial truth—Mom was there, even though she was always so wrapped up in her “work.” Work that I now realize was her mission to set Jonah free. Part of me is angry that she kept it from me, but the bigger part of me understands her reasoning. I hadn’t made it easy for her to open up—especiallyabout Jonah. I carried my own burdens and, in doing so, unintentionally contributed to the isolation she must have felt in her mission. “Anyway,” I continue with a sigh. “I fell. And I’m okay now. Everything is okay.”

My brother sighs, swallowing down his fight. It’s not the time for it. Maybe it never will be. “I really wish you wrote to me,” he says, eyes dipped to the grass. “Would’ve felt like the sun on my skin, just reading your words, hearing your voice in my mind.”

“I’m sorry,” I rasp. “I’m sorry I abandoned you. I’m sorry I doubted you, even if it was for my own protection.”

He nods slowly, simmering in my answer. “I suppose if that was how you stayed safe and protected, despite it being at my own expense…I’ll take it.”

My mind swirls with sweet-spun memories of Jonah defending my honor when we were kids, of telling off bullies, of sticking up for me, even to our parents.

Even if it cost him. Groundings, punishments, spankings. He would willingly accept the consequences, no matter what.

As long as I was okay.

“I can’t believe you beat up a prison guard,” I say, recalling one of his letters.

Jonah shrugs like it was nothing. “The fucker deserved it for running his mouth about you. I’d do it all over again if I had to.”

“What was it like?” I probe. “Being on death row?”

His eyes glaze over and a hardness creeps into his expression, jaw clenching, hands fisting the grass between his legs. Then he glances over at me and his features soften, almost like he’s staring at a shimmering rising sun. “Painfully lonely.” He flicks his eyes to the ground and exhales a long breath. “You know, we have a lot of time to make up for. I want to know everything about you…school, future plans, boys.” A smile quirks. “Any love stories in the making?”

I blush when Max’s face skips across my mind. “There was a boy,” I admit, nibbling my lip. “I’m not sure where we stand right now, but if I introduce you, you can’t go all crazy protector on me and beat him up if he tries to hold my hand or something. I’m eighteen now.”

Levity bounces between us as Jonah chuckles, looking back over at me. “No promises.”

I smile, a peaceful feeling washing over me.

Like I’m home again.

Like things are finally looking up.

Like…maybe everythingwillbe okay.

And when I catch Jonah’s eyes once more, I say something I haven’t been able to say for years as my favorite storybook tale flashes through my mind. “Pooh Bear?” I murmur.

His gaze lights up. He already knows what comes next.

A smile tips his lips as he holds out his hand for me. “Yeah, Piglet?”

We’re in the Hundred Acre Woods again.

Magic kisses the air, innocence fills my heart, and my own bright smile stretches back at him.

I take his hand and everything is right with the world. “Nothing. I just wanted to be sure of you.”

Chapter 34

Max

She buckles beneath me, her cries ragged and muffled by her own hand as she peaks. The sound of my name escaping her well-kissed lips when she bottoms out on a wave of pleasure is pure music to my ears. Better than my favorite song. Better than all the songs in the whole damn world.

I withdraw my fingers from her and press a kiss to both inner thighs, her taste coating my tongue and driving me wild. More kisses make their way across her half-naked body as I crawl up to find her lips. She’s breathing heavily, eyes closed. Her arms fling around my neck as she pulls me down on top of her and sifts her fingers through my sweat-damp hair.

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