Page 26 of Stay With Me
“And if you hadn’t done that, I would have. Shit, if you hadn’t done it, I might not even be alive right now, Everett. Neither would your sister or our kids. Neither would Kelsea. You are not to blame here and you know that, man.” He grips the steering wheel tightly, no doubt thinking back to the night in question.
I grunt in response, refusing to acknowledge that fact that he makes a good point.
twenty
Breaker’s house is unreal.A tall wrought iron security fence lines the property. As we pull through the front gates, I see blinking red lights on the top of each fence post. This place is like a fortress.
“Motion sensors,” Breaker grunts out, his voice low and tense.
“Of course you have motion sensors,” Rory mumbles under her breath, rolling her eyes. I fight to suppress my smirk when I think about the two of them constantly picking at each other. It’s like this is their version of foreplay.
“Something to say, Aurora?” He snaps back, knowing she hates being called by her full name.
She shoots him a fiery glare but doesn’t reply, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning as far away from him as possible inside the car.
We pull up in front of a two-story house, if that’s what you could even call it. The black slate stones covering every visible surface make the complex almost camouflaged in the night sky. If there wasn’t light pouring through the front windows, you wouldn’t be able to make out any distinguishing features.
We climb out of the sleek black car and walk up the front walkway to the heavy dark wood double doors. Breaker stops in front of a black panel and places his palm flat on top of it. Suddenly, the front door clicks and swings open. He walks in casually as Rory and I stand rooted in place on the porch.
“Dude, he seriously does live in the bat cave,” I whisper to her and she slowly shakes her head, both of us in awe of the structure.
We step into the entryway slowly, both bracing ourselves for a lavish but cold interior. Only that’s not what we see. Breaker’s house is warm and inviting. Sure, it’s definitely manly. Dark tones surround naturally dark wood everywhere you look. But if I didn’t know the owner, I'd say this home was cozy. Where the front of the building looks uninviting, the entire back wall consists entirely of windows from floor to ceiling. This is incredible. This place oozes wealth and luxury without feeling cold and unattached. I wonder for a moment where Breaker gets this kind of money, but I decide quickly that I don’t want to know.
“Beautiful,” Rory whispers as she steps closer to thewindows to take in the view. I see Breaker shoot her a look filled with longing and frustration, and I just smile to myself.
My mind drifts back to my childhood home, if you could even call it that. The Sawyer home never felt like a safe haven for me. Not the way my home does now. Even though I’m sharing it with Everett and Rory, it’s the first thing that has truly felt like mine. My refuge, my safe space, my home. I don’t know how much of that is because of the man who lives there, but I’m sure he helps.
The sound of the front door opening pulls me from my thoughts. We all turn to see Elijah hurrying Ember through the front door with each of his tiny babies in his arms. I peek behind them, expected Everett to appear, but I don’t see him. My brows furrow in confusion and I open my mouth to speak, but Ember beats me to it.
“He’s outside, Kels. On the phone with our parents. Not that I would care if a hitman took them out. They haven’t even made an effort to visit their grandchildren.” The resentment in her voice is crystal clear. I feel sad that Ember and Ev’s parents are so unattached, but it’s their loss. We’ve all managed to build a beautiful family here together, with or without our parents.
“Sunshine, you don’t really want that. They’re still your parents,” Eli says, his tone calm.
“No, I really do,” she huffs, picking up their bags and motioning for Eli to lead the way. “Show me where I canput these gremlins to bed, please. I’m exhausted.” Breaker points down a hallway towards the back of the house and they shuffle that way.
“I’m gonna check on Ev.” I leave Rory and Breaker standing in awkward silence as I step out the front door to find my man. I see his tall figure bathed in shadows, leaning against Eli’s truck with the phone up to his ear.
“Yeah, I’m good. I just wanted to give you a heads up, dad.” He shifts uncomfortably. “Oh. I didn’t know that. Well…. good for you guys. Hey, I gotta go.” He hangs up without another word and I hear him release a frustrated sigh.
“My parents aren’t even in this country,” he says without turning to face me. “Who leaves the country without telling their kids where the fuck they’re going? What if there was an emergency like, I don’t know, your kid gets shot?”
I flinch at his words, wincing internally at the realization that he was shot tonight. It could have been far worse, yeah. But it’s still terrifying to think of something happening to him. I feel a vice squeeze around my heart, a deep ache flooding through my bones. If he had been even an inch closer, I could have lost him tonight. The knot in my throat threatened to choke me as tears spring to my eye. I do my best to stuff the emotion down, knowing he’s dealing with the resentment over his parent’s indifference already. I don’t want to add to his stress. He pushes off the truck and I see him wince. I finally notice the bloodstaining his shirt and I can’t hold it in any longer. A sob wracks my body, falling from my lips like broken glass shattering around me. I cover my face in my hands, trying but failing not to fall apart in the driveway.
“Hey, hey hey, what’s wrong, goddess?” I feel the familiar warmth of Everett’s arms wrapping around my shoulders, pulling me tightly to his chest, and I cling to him. My hands fist in the front of his t-shirt as I release the emotion I’ve been holding on to since Breaker rushed us here. He doesn’t say anything, just lets me cry as holds me.
“I’m sorry,” I sniffle, burying my face further into his chest and breathing in his familiar scent. I let the feeling of his arms around me ground me to this place, to this moment.
“Don’t be sorry, babe. I know this is a lot.” He squeezes me tighter, needing to feel me here just as much as I need him.
I take a small step back, not leaving his embrace, but just enough to look up into his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I love you so much, Everett.”
He places a soft kiss on my forehead, letting his lips linger there for a few silent moments. “I love you, Kelsea. I’m alright, I promise.” He walks us back into the house, his arm wrapped tightly around my shoulder as if he can’t bear to not touch me right now.
Breaker has a makeshift triage table set up in hisspacious dining room. He’s laid out sutures, gauze pads, antiseptic, and anything else you can think of to treat a gunshot wound on the fly. “Do I even want to know why you have all this shit just lying around in your house?” I ask, quirking an eyebrow at Breaker.
“You never know when you’re gonna need to treat a gunshot wound,” he grumbles, shrugging like this is something he does all the time. He motions for Everett to take a seat at the table.
Eli and Ember quietly slip back into the living room, both looking as exhausted as I feel. I look around and see Rory’s isn’t anywhere to be found. “Where’s Aurora?” I ask, a slight panic lacing my tone.
