Page 129 of Love Thy Brother
I turned my face to the sky, counting stars, until bare, tattooed arms wrapped around me from behind and cool lips brushed my neck.
River.
I turned to face him, hoping to God that he’d forgotten to empty his pockets before he’d come after me.Don’t take those drugs. I can’t fucking bear it.
River hugged me, then let me go to cup icy seawater in his hands and splash it on my face, on my neck, on every part of me exposed to what I’d seen and done tonight. Shit he didn’t even know about, yet somehow knew I needed it gone.
He slicked my hair back from my face. “The others are on their way home. They didn’t kill anyone. You didn’t either, right?”
“Right.”
“What happened?”
“I need to tell Cam first.”
“No, you don’t. I’m right here. He can wait.”
Beyond River, I saw Cam doing just that, lounging on the damp sand, still smoking as if his life depended on it. “Dude was noncing in the other room. Watching videos of himself doing nasty shit. I posted it to his Facebook and gave him a Glasgow grin.”
Under the moon, River’s gold jewellery glinted and gleamed. His eyes, though, they were fucking depthless. I sank into his molten gaze as he digested that nightmare, wishing I hadn’t told him, but grateful beyond measure that he cared enough to ask.
He took a shaky breath. “You were right to get Cam out of there.”
“I know.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t tell him.”
“I have to. Not knowing will send him just as crazy.”
River cringed, but he knew I was right. Cam was Cam. And we loved him.
“Come on.” He found my hand in the frigid ocean. “Get it over with before you catch pneumonia instead.”
He pulled me towards the shore.
I resisted and dunked my entire self underwater, shutting the whole world out, even him, just for a fucking moment.
When I resurfaced, he was still there, waiting, wide-eyed and beautiful.
I closed the cold, turbulent space between us and seized his face, kissing him under the stars, not giving a fuck that Cam was watching. That it had started to rain.
River opened his mouth.
For the second time that day, I sealed it shut with my palm.
Not yet.
* * *
Cam reacted exactly as I’d expected. Fury that I’d pushed him out. Thankful that he hadn’t seen what I had.
He hugged me hard. “I love you, brother.”
“Love you too, man.”
We agreed to leave it on the beach. No one else needed that nightmare in their minds.
Then he gave me the best present of all, opening his palm to reveal a handful of powder-filled baggies. “River gave me these. I need to put them with the others and dump it all.”
