Page 151 of Should the Sky Fall

“Hey!” Ellis snaps, and there’s a sound of something hitting the floor. “I told him not to do it. I told him I’d take care of it. Of you. But he was adamant.”

“So you just backed off?”

“I’m not his mother to order him around,” Ellis grits out. “He had enough of that from you.”

Once the words are out, silence hangs heavy between them. Maybe Ellis didn’t mean to say it, but he doesn’t take it back. As he shouldn’t.

“You should’ve fought him on this,” Cal stands his ground, but he’s turned the anger back at himself.

“You didn’t remember, Cal.”

Cal shakes his head even though Ellis can’t see him. “I could’ve still hurt him.” What if his memories came back? The doctors said it can happen any time. If he suddenly remembered when Dawson was with him…

“Have you?”

“Of course not!” Cal yells, furious.

“Then let it go,” Ellis says, like it’s so simple. “Go talk to him. Ask him what he wants. For once, let him decide for himself.”

Cal grips the phone hard, slamming the red button. The temptation to throw it against the wall is strong, but he holds himself back. He wants Dawson to be free, but Dawson doesn’t seem to know what that means. And how could he, if this whole time he hasn’t been allowed to want things for himself?

Dawson is too good—for anyone, but especially for Cal. Too good to make decisions that are in his best interest.

So someone will have to do it for him.

Chapter 25

Dawsondoesn’tmovefora long time, his body feeling as though it’s filled with lead. It all happened so fast that he’s struggling to wrap his head around everything. It doesn’tmake sense.

Everything was good; they were good. One moment, Cal was being sweet with him, chasing his pain away and kissing his face. The next, he was holding up a memento of Dawson’s past and asking him to relive it.

It’s been so long since the idea of leaving Cal had crossed Dawson’s mind that he forgot the papers even existed. How could he forget? For years he hadn’t thought of anything but leaving and never found a way out. And now that he finally has something worth staying for, it’s ripped away from him in the blink of an eye.

Donut must sense his distress, whining and demanding access to Dawson’s lap. Dawson makes space for him, pulling him close and burying his face in Donut’s short fur. Cal must have taken him to the beach when Olivia was here because he smells like the ocean. He was probably chasing seagulls again.

“What do I do, Donut?”

Donut answers him with a lick to his chin, pulling out a weak laugh out of him.

“Give Cal a kiss? That’s what you think I should do?” He gets a lick to his nose. “Maybe you should kiss him. He thinks you don’t like him. You should show him it’s not true. You like Cal, don’t you? Don’t you?” A lick to his chin again. “Yeah. Me too. Like him a lot. Crazy amount.” He swallows, tears burning his eyes. “I love him, Donut.”

Donut lets out an encouraging little growl, his tongue flicking out to lick his chops. He gazes up at Dawson with expectation.

“I should do something about that, huh?” Donut answers him with a bark, shooting out of Dawson’s lap and doing a circle. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

He doesn’t get far. His foot has barely touched the floor when the door opens and Cal walks in. It takes monumental effort not to jump straight into his arms and kiss him until he doesn’t remember the last few hours. Dawson wouldn’t say no to another bout of amnesia.

“H-hey,” Dawson croaks out. Hope sparks in his chest, flickering out just as quickly when his gaze falls on Cal’s hand, still holding onto the damned papers. He needs to act quickly.

Dawson scrambles onto his knees, keeping his expression open and honest. “Cal, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you, I just didn’t know—”

“Stop,” Cal says, sounding utterly broken. “Don’t ever apologize to me, Dawson.” It’s a relief when Cal walks to the bed and sits down, only inches away from him. “I’m the one who should apologize.”

Dawson swallows. This is what he’s always wanted, for Cal to realize that what he did was wrong. So why doesn’t he feel any relief?

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, Dawson.” Cal’s tone brooks no argument. “Nothing about this is.”