Page 49 of Don’t Say You’re Sorry (Hawthorne University #2)
EASTON
PRESENT
A t home, Adam, Carter, and I are standing on the driveway while Axel paces in front of us.
Carter’s gaze never leaves him, slowly following him back and forth.
He’s been helping us look for Veronica. I can’t tell whether he’s as concerned for her as we are or whether he’ll just take any excuse to be near Axel. Knowing Carter, it’s probably both.
“Where do you think she would go?” Axel asks no one in particular.
I have no idea. We already checked her bookstore and the local coffee shop she loves that’s not far from it. Other than that, I don’t know where she’d be hiding. My dad knows her better than we do, but he’s having no luck either.
“You don’t think she’s at the airport, do you?” Adam whispers to me.
I shake my head. Just as I’m about to tell him she wouldn’t do that—she wouldn’t leave us—my phone buzzes with a text.
Dad: I found her. She’s at Sophie’s house.
I breathe a sigh of relief and repeat his message to the boys. Adam’s grip on my hand finally loosens, but he doesn’t let go.
“Who’s Sophie?” Axel asks.
“Mum’s friend,” Adam replies as I text my dad back. “Her daughter was the photographer for the anniversary party.”
Easton: How do you know?
Dad: I checked her credit card statement. She used it at the store a couple blocks from her house.
“Is she okay?” Axel demands, reading over my shoulder. “When’s she coming back?”
Easton: Stalker. Did you talk to her?
Dad: I tried. She wouldn’t let me in.
“I’ll go.” Axel steals my car keys from my pocket. Just as he turns toward my car, Carter steps in front of him, his chest bumping Axel’s. “Get out of my way.”
Carter doesn’t move. “Give her time.”
“Don’t act like you know what’s best for her. She’s my mother.” He moves again, and Carter sidesteps, not letting him pass.
“You want me to go check on her?” Carter asks, trying to meet his eyes. “I know Sophie’s daughter. I can be subtle about it.”
Axel finally looks at him then. “There’s nothing subtle about you.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
Carter grins. “Come on. Give me the keys. I’ll go make sure your mom’s okay.”
Axel looks horrified at the thought. “No.”
“Why not? Maybe she wants some company. A shoulder to cry on. You think she and Michael will get divorced? I’m gay as fuck, but I could be straight for h?—”
I sigh as Axel’s fist flies toward Carter’s face.
He punches him, and Carter stumbles back, but Axel doesn’t let him fall.
He grabs him by his hoodie, spins him, and pins him to the side of my car, so close their faces touch.
Carter’s nose is bleeding, his teeth stained red as he smiles.
The dumbass looks thrilled. It makes Axel even more furious.
“You never know when to shut up.”
“You remember how to make me?”
Axel laughs cruelly. “You couldn’t handle me anymore, love.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that, straight boy?”
Adam’s eyes are so wide, they look like they’re about to fall out. I hide my lips behind my knuckles, smothering my laugh.
Axel shoves Carter in the chest and walks away, tossing me my keys before he disappears into the house. Carter’s still smiling even after he’s gone.
Adam gapes at him. “What is wrong with you? Seriously. Have you been diagnosed?”
“What?” Carter laughs. “I got him inside, didn’t I?” He blows him a kiss before heading for the front door. “You’re welcome.”
Adam stares after him. “My guess is sociopath.”
I bump his shoulder with mine. “You want to know Carter? Wait a little longer. He might surprise you.”
“He already surprises me,” he deadpans. “Literally every time he opens his mouth.”
I snort and shake my head. He doesn’t get it yet, but he will.
Finally alone with Adam for the first time since he uttered those five fateful words, I turn to face him and wrap my hands around his neck, my thumbs brushing his jaw. “You idiot,” I say.
His hands close over mine. “Are you mad?”
Am I? He’s just given me everything I ever wanted— more than I ever wanted—but at what cost? It’d be selfish of me to admit I’m not mad—not even a little bit—when our family has just been ripped apart from the inside.
“Tell me why you did it.”
His answer is simple. “You weren’t happy.”
I open my mouth to argue, but the look he gives me stops me before I get a word out.
Fine. I wasn’t. Not being able to be with him outside the house was slowly killing me inside, but I thought we were in agreement. I thought I’d have to hide the way I really felt. It was a price I was willing to pay for him.
“You shouldn’t have done that for me,” I say. “I never would have asked you to.”
“I know. That’s why I did it. You would have buried it and put all of us above yourself, forever if you had to. I wanted to put you first for once. I…I chose you.”
My heart hammers inside my chest. I didn’t realize how much those words would mean to me until he finally said them.
He chose me.
“Why? You had me.”
“Now who’s the idiot?” He shakes his head, his eyes softening. “That’s not enough. You’re the sun to me, Easton. I hated seeing you so burned out.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Is that why you call me sunshine?”
He looks a little embarrassed. “Maybe.”
“Huh. I always thought it was because of my awesome personality.”
“So modest,” he jokes.
I chuckle and brush his lips with mine, but I don’t kiss him yet. “You were right.”
“About what?”
“I still love you,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I loved you even when I hated you. Even when I thought you’d given up on me, I never stopped loving you.”
He pushes out a breath, his mouth stretching into the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. “Thank you,” he whispers back.
“For what?”
“Waiting for me. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t.”
“Crashed my wedding, probably. Full-on The Graduate style.”
He laughs and kisses me as if he’s starving for me.
“You hungry?” I ask against his mouth. “You barely ate.”
“Mm. What do you want?”
“One of everything.”