Page 102 of The Casualty of Us
His face hardens, reminding me of an older version of Ollie for a split second before he sighs heavily. “Blythe—
“No, Camden.” She shakes her head, frowning hard at him. “I have stood by and watched all summer as you promised that girl freedom, and she died a little more each day it wasn’t delivered.”
My father’s face blankets with surprise, and she looks down, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze. It makes my heart clench up at what I haven’t felt myself in months. No close contact from my brother or anyone else. No comfort. No peace.
“It won’t matter how safe you keep her if she’s already slipped away by the time he’s caught.” Her eyes lift back to his with a small smile. “I love you, but that is my baby, and I won’t sit by and watch that.” She nods, delivering with finality, “She’s going.”
He holds her gaze for a long moment, one of those entirely silent conversations taking place between them before he nods slowly. She looks back to me and lifts a brow with a soft warning. “But she willbehaveherself too.”
“Of course!” I practically bounce. “All I want is to get drunk and lay around, maybe do some dancing, but—”
Jack’s face blanches. “Pardon?”
“It’ll only be people from school.” I scowl at him. “Calm down.”
He stares at me like he’s having trouble computing that, and I’m about to ask what exactly his problem is when Talan pipes up from the peanut gallery.
“We have to move things up to the cabin by the school anyway, so it’s not a bad idea,” he reasons, drawing my surprised gaze but completely ignoring me. “Two of us could stay to do that, and two of us could go.”
I frown instantly. “What about Ollie?”
“The additional security presence here should be good.” His gaze moves to me, and I frown harder, wondering what his angle is here. “Glad to know you care about him, though.”
That fucking asshole.
“I wouldn’t mind working on a tan with the pipsqueak.” Mia shrugs next to him, brown curls bouncing around her as she does. “It’s a good plan, Jack.”
I’m going to get fucking whiplash from these people.
“You want your brother to stay?”
The quiet question from my mother has me spinning my head back around and immediately seeing the concern in her eyes. For me. For him. For what hasn’t stopped happening between us since I got in the car that morning.
All of it leaves me speechless, lips parted around the answer I’m hesitating with giving for the first time in my life. He’s safer this way, though.
And I just…can’t.
Can’t keep fighting him while trying to sort myself out. Sort all of it out.
“Yeah.” I swallow down the sick feeling again with my answer. “Ollie should stay.”
She waits a second, probably in case I change my mind, but I hold firm and eventually she nods. “Okay, darling, you can go now. I’ll sort out the rest.”
I pause at the dismissal, looking around the room and realizing that it’s actually happening by the acceptance on everyone’s faces. Some in varying degrees of agreement, but it’s there on all of them. It has that knot in my chest loosening just enough that my eyes start to burn and leaves me blinking fast.
Shit.
I nod quickly and toss out, “Thanks, Mama.”
Promising myself that I’ll thank her properly later and hauling ass out of there before any of them can change their minds or I embarrass myself by actually crying. Texting Graham that I’m all set while practically skipping to where the stairs are by the front door. Completely swept up in the way the air already seems easier to breathe while making my way to my room and not noticing that Ollie is sitting on my bed until I’ve already taken that first step in.
My eyes drift to the scar along his hairline out of habit, and I swallow, guilt suddenly eating me up from the inside, but—
“So did you get your way?”
No take-backs.
“Yeah.” I nod, not wanting to leave on a bad note and trying to get him to understand. “I just need to take a beat.”
