Page 55 of Tangled Hearts
I try to adjust Eli, and he whines. “Don’t let go.”
“I won’t,” I whisper.
For the longest while, I just hold him, run my fingers through his hair, and touch his temples and his forehead. He shudders and whines and cries against me until finally, he relaxes, all his energy leaving him at once.
He sits back, wiping his face, and then he looks around at everyone. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare apologize,” Beck says.
“Okay,” Eli whispers. “I just… Where is he?”
“Not here,” Julian says. “He felt bad for scaring you, but he left.”
Eli whimpers, burying his face against my throat.
I shush him. “Don’t think about it. It wasn’t him, and even if it was, do you think this big-ass family of yours is going to let anything happen to you?”
Eli moves from his hiding place and glances around, then shakes his head. “No.” He sniffles, wiping his nose with his hoodie sleeve. “Can we leave? I’m sorry. I don’t mean to ruin the day. I just—I want to go. I want to go home.” His voice cracks, tears threatening to spill again.
Beck stands. “Do you want us to go home with you?”
Eli looks at me. I don’t know why. But then he shakes his head. “No. I’m okay. I should call an Uber. I don’t want to ruin your day.”
Beck scoffs. “Do you hear this kid?” he asks, leaning into Roman.
“You could never ruin anything,” Roman says softly. “Let’s go.”
Eli nods, climbs off my lap, and stands. He shakes out his hands.
“You okay, Eli?” Wren asks, taking a cautious step toward him.
“I’m okay,” he assures her. “I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t be sorry. Can I hold your hand?”
Eli holds his hand out to her, and she takes it. I stay seated, watching as they start making their way back down the mountainside. Holden and Julian take off after them, clutching Warren’s hands between them. Can’t say I blame him.
Beck and Roman share a glance, then Beck holds a hand out to me, helping me up off the ground. “Go ahead, beautiful. I want to talk to Nic for a second.”
Fuck. Okay. Makes sense.
Roman nods once, then turns and jogs to catch up with everyone else.
Beck and I make our way down the trail. My stomach is in knots, but I’m ready to face whatever he throws at me.
“Are you okay?”
That gives me pause. “Me?”
He nods but doesn’t look at me. “Yeah, you. My entire world just had a panic attack in your lap, and you handled it. That’s a lot. So, are you okay?”
His entire world.I am so fucking fucked. “Yeah, I—uh, I think so.”
He hums. “It’s okay if you’re not. It’s a hard thing to deal with.” He sounds like he’s speaking from experience. “How much do you know about the reason Roman started The Hart Foundation?”
“Not much. Just that it means a lot to all of you.”
“It means a lot to all of us because it’s directly related to my husband and to your brother.”
