Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 85682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
“I do. I love him. I know you do too, and I’m sure it’s hard for you to trust me. I won’t hurt him. I would never hurt him.”
“I wouldn’t be in this car right now if I thought you would. There’s no one in the world I trust more than Sammy, and he trusts you.”
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”
“Even stay if he decides he won’t go?”
I thought about what I went through in New York and about the things I’d heard people had said in Ryland. My mailbox getting knocked down, what they would say and the looks I would get if I went into town.
Then I thought about Sam’s smile. His laugh. His jokes. Kissing him in the hot tub and watching him run naked from a goat. The way he held me while I cried and gave me a life I didn’t know I deserved. “Even stay, if he’ll have me.”
“Good answer, but you should still talk him into leaving.”
“How is she?” I asked instead of answering.
“She has to have surgery. That’s part of the reason she’s in Charlotte. One of her lungs is having trouble. She’s got some bruised internal organs—and her body, of course—but all in all, it could be a whole lot worse.”
I nodded.
We were quiet for most of the drive to Charlotte. I went too fast, but Molly didn’t complain. I just…needed to get to him, needed to make sure he was okay. She said the person who hit her had stayed with Sam’s mom until the ambulance had arrived. They’d even gone to the hospital afterward. She’d stumbled into the road and it hadn’t been their fault—just one of those terrible accidents.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it though—how she was and how Sam would be feeling.
It felt like an eternity before we arrived.
When I parked, Molly said, “I texted Sam and let him know I’m here with you. He hasn’t replied yet. He might not have his phone on inside the hospital.”
I hoped like hell I was doing the right thing. That he would want me there and that I didn’t fuck something up.
“Let’s go,” Molly said. I trusted her to know that I wasn’t reacting with my emotions and that this was what would be best for Sam.
I flinched when Molly lied at the front desk, telling them she was Sam’s fiancée and I was her brother, but I knew it would be the best way to get us inside. They would always want family first, and it wasn’t as if I could claim him when he wasn’t out.
The receptionist gave us guest passes and instructed us where to go.
We went up to the second floor, and the moment we stepped inside the waiting room, Sam looked up from his seat. A man about his age sat next to him; I assumed he was his cousin Jasper. The guy beside Jasper must’ve been the best friend Sam had told me about, but I didn’t pay attention to them.
Just him.
I stopped, Molly beside me. Held my breath, worried I shouldn’t have come, that I should have stayed outside, but then Sam shoved to his feet, rushed over, and threw himself at me. I wrapped him in a hug, holding him as tight as he’d held me when I’d needed him. “Didn’t know how much I needed ya here till I saw ya. Told myself not to bother you. I been dealin’ with everything on my own most of my life, but…”
“But you don’t have to do it alone,” I whispered. “If I’m supposed to lean on you, I expect you to do the same.”
He nodded, buried his face in my neck. “I’m sor-ry.” His voice broke when he spoke, and I knew he wasn’t just apologizing for not telling me what happened. We’d been right; he wasn’t going to come.
“It’s okay. We’ll deal with it.”
“What in the fresh hell is goin’ on here?” a man said. “You’re that limp-wristed Northerner who killed his boyfriend.”
“Uncle Bob,” Sam said, pulling away.
“What are you doin’ with my nephew? You takin’ advantage of him? That man from the city wasn’t enough, and you’re movin’ on to Sammy Joe next? Over my dead body.” He took a step forward.
“That’s enough!” Sam warned. “Don’t talk to him like that.”
Bob’s wife was standing beside him, Jasper and Sutton on the other side, Jasper’s face pinched like he didn’t understand what was going on.
“Can’t he stick up for himself?” Bob spit. “Man enough to kill someone and take advantage of you, but not man enough to talk to me like one.”
“I can. I’m just trying to be respectful of Sam. His mom is hurt, and I don’t see how the two of us arguing will help the situation. You don’t have to like me or trust me. I don’t give a shit what you think about me. I only care about Sam and what’s best for him.”