Page 35 of Broken

The question that came from the top of the porch scared me and I dropped my phone in the dirt. "Fuck" I dusted off my phone and turned to see Callum watching me from the doorway, his arms folded across his chest. He leaned against the side of the house and looked down at me, with no judgment in his eyes, but questions, I'm sure lots of questions.

"How did you know?" My voice was soft, shaky, I hadn't even told Mia or Tess who Aine's father was.

"My mom still tells me everything. Things she would never tell my brothers." He assured me my secret was safe with them. The 'For Now', is obviously implied.

"Callum, please. I"

Before I could finish my sentence, Cal walked up and wrapped his arm around me, "It's cool. It's not my place to tell him." He squeezed my shoulder with his arm, and walked back inside, leaving me to the sparkling night sky and my own thoughts.

With the bliss of last night's sex worn off, I just sat here, with my own demons, wondering why I was here. I should have kept my distance from everyone. I should have stayed in Palm Springs as Kai suggested over the phone. I was nervous, out of place, an outsider looking in, and I just really wanted to go home.

I didn't want this walk, no run because it was going too fast, down memory lane. I didn't want to make peace with my demons, I wanted them to stay hidden in this small town, in my mother's old house, where I will never set foot again.

I was moving dirt around with my toe when Kai sat down next to me. Even sitting he towered over me.

"Thinking about running away again, aren't you?" He laughed as he kissed the top of my head. "I'll follow you. I'm not letting you go this time."

"You know that's a little stalkerish?" I pushed into his side. "How did you guess I was thinking about running?"

"I know you. Better than anyone else."

"Maybe." I smiled up at him, his warmth and his light made me feel things. I became whole, loved by him. I didn't deserve to feel these things. I deserved his hatred and anger. I deserved for him to yell at me and kick me off his property. Not the love he offered.

We sat together, and neither of us spoke, his arm around me, my head against his chest. I cried a little, he just comforted me. Kai had always been whatever I needed him to be. A friend, an accomplice, even a lover. I worried that the one role I should ask him to fill, he would say no. I couldn’t handle it if he did.

After a while. Kai stood and extended his hand to me. "I have a surprise for you."

Before I could turn and go up the steps, he stopped me. I didn't have a chance to ask questions because Kai pressed his soft, full lips to mine in what I can only describe as the perfect kiss. Soft and demanding, it took my breath away but gave me life, made my head spin but grounded me. I pressed myself into him, wrapping my hands around his neck, seeking more, needing more.

"I like this surprise" I whispered against his lips.

That earned me a moan from Kai and a bite of my lower lip. Fuck me, I prayed the surprise was somewhere in one of those bedrooms and involved me, naked on a bed with this man.

"This is not a surprise. But I was hoping you'd stay here with me tonight." Kai didn't give me a chance to reply, he just led me to the back porch where our friends waited. Mia, who missed nothing, caught our tangled fingers and raised her bottle to me in approval. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

I would have let go of Kai's hand, but he seemed to be enjoying the connection, refusing to let go when I tugged. He pulled me closer.

Noah came up to us with a box in his arms.

"Next time you decide to break into your own house, use the hide a key." He laughed. "I’m sending you the bill for the broken window."

Oh yeah! I broke the window last night. Oops, I didn't even think to see if there was a key in that old rock. "Sorry." I smiled.

"So, we figured since you love to burn things." Mia began.

"One fucking time." I interrupted.

"Actually, I remember a couple of others, but that's not important right now," Kai said as he gave me a wink. I fucking love that wink. Mia and Noah laughed, as Tess and Callum asked each other if they knew about the other times. I didn't even remember the other times.

"Anyway, since we aren't holding a service for Layla, not that she deserves one, but since we aren't, and you do love fire Babes." Mia grinned.

Kia chose now to let go of my hand and pass me the box Noah had been holding "We thought why not burn the painful memories? Toss them into the fire pit. Say your goodbyes here, with us."

I cried and I didn't care if they saw. The people who had been with me through the worst parts of my life, were here to help me heal. My tears weren't because of the pain of my past. No, these tears spilled for them.

For Kai, Mia, and Noah. I cried for Callum and Tess because pushed them away and out of the happy parts of my life. I cried because I wasn't around for them, for the parts when they needed a shoulder to cry on or a hand to hold. I wasn't there when they succeeded, or when they failed.

I wiped my tears and took the box from Kai. Sitting in one of the Adirondacks, I opened it. Kai sat next to me and watched as I picked up and looked at everything in the box. Every letter, every journal, every last word that Layla Grant had written sat in this box.

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