Page 53 of Shattered

She put her bag on the hood of the truck and took a step toward him.

“It absolutely matters what the reason is. If it’s the latter, then you should know I’ve been through that more times than I could count. And most of the time, the disappointment you end up feeling is your own doing, not because of anything or anyone else.”

She was standing directly in front of him now. They were separated by mere inches. “Most of the time, the disappointment comes from never taking the chance on something that could have been wonderful, all because you were too scared to fuck it up.”

Chapter 25 -Callum

He watched her walk to the bus stop at the corner as he sat in the cab of his truck and waited. Then, he followed behind that bus for the entire forty-five minute drive it took to get her home. There were three stops between Topline and her place. He could have gotten her home in under ten minutes.

He watched as the lights in her townhouse turned on, and then, when he finally decided she was safe, he pulled away.

He made it two blocks over before he pulled off the road, turned off the truck, and ran his hand through his hair.

She took the bus.

She didn’t have a car.

The fancy car she drove to Social was Kristin’s.

Her parents let her take the bus at fucking twelve years old.

Her parents were fucking shitty.

Her parents were…

And then his head shot up in realization.

Sam and Christian had been friends forever. That was what she had said. They were lifelong best friends and nothing more.

Christian was an orphan and had grown up in foster care. He knew this because he knew Christian.

Sam didn’t have anyone to help her with school or money or anything else because she was a foster kid.

“Fuck!” He slammed his fist against the steering wheel.

She was so damn independent and driven because she was all she’d ever had.

She had made something of herself without help from literally anyone. She was strong, and fierce, and witty, and, god dammit, he wanted to take away any pain she ever had.

He wanted to help her and to be there for her.

He wanted to love…

He swallowed as the thought tore through him.

*******

It was well past midnight when he walked into his house and found Drew and Micah doing absolutely nothing while they chilled in the living room.

“What are you two still doing up?”

“I don’t know,” Micah stated, still scrolling through his phone. Drew didn’t even answer as he stared blankly at some sports recap on the TV. Callum grabbed a beer for himself, and another two that he passed between the guys before taking a seat. He had downed half of the bottle when he finally decided to speak.

“Can you send me Sam’s number?”

That caused both Micah and Drew to pop their heads up in unison.

“And why would you need her number?” Micah challenged.

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