Page 133 of Dark Tangled Truths
“Where would I go?” She shakes her head. “Honestly, I’ll be fine. You’ll have an awesome trip and you’ll be able to decide between two colleges as to where you want to spend the next four to five years with us.”
I inhale, letting that sink in. She stands and presses her hand against my heart.
“You didn’t lose your future with that accident,” she says softly.
“No, I didn’t. I gained my future.” I slide my hand across the nape of her neck. “Fuck, does this mean I should thank Chase Chadwick?”
She laughs, and it fills my room and my heart. “No. No one has to thank that asshole. I can’t wait for the show to end so I can go back to pretending he doesn’t exist.”
I draw Evan in and kiss her. My door is open. The only reasonable way to ensure I won’t fuck Evan and make us all late.
But also makes it easy for someone to come in. Like Hawk.
“I’m here to collect my prize.” He grins. “Best idea ever. I should have suggested it myself. Can you thank Cam’s dad for leaving me with Annie all to myself?”
“You can thank him yourself.” I glance at my clock and grab my bag. “They should be here any minute.”
“My bag is in my room,” she says.
Hawk goes through the bathroom to grab it and bring it with us as we head downstairs. Voices rise up the stairs. It sounds like Cam and his parents have already made it. We meet Cam on the steps and Evan stops a stair above him.
“I expect an excellent movie to watch when we return, goody.” Cam grabs her chin and kisses her softly. When he pulls away, he holds out a red paper flower.
Evan has to work at my desk because she has so many of those on her desk she doesn’t have any writing surface left. When I mentioned throwing any of them out, she hit my arm and told me off.
She smiles and kisses Cam again. He gives me a cocky smile before leading her down to the entryway where our parents are waiting.
Heather steps over to Evan, away from the others. “Are you sure you’ll be okay? I can stay here and we can hang out tonight.” She glances at the three of us behind Evan and shakes her head. “Though why you’d want to hang out with me when you’ve got them is beyond me.”
Evan smiles and hugs her mom. “I’ll always want to hang out with you, Mom.”
Heather returns her hugs and then pulls away. “You haven’t had any more texts, and nothing weird has happened, right?”
Evan shakes her head, but looks over her shoulder at me. “I’ve been a little busy, but the guys have been keeping an eye out.”
Heather nods and turns to Hawk. “You’ll keep her safe?”
“With my life,” he says.
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Heather smiles.
Hawk takes Evan’s hand and pulls her into his side. “We should head out while you guys get everything arranged.”
Evan squeezes his hand before releasing it and walking over to Cam to give him a hug. When they pull apart, she turns to me and hugs me.
“No settling,” she says softly. “We don’t compromise on our futures.”
I breathe in her woodsy scent and hold her for a moment longer than necessary.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” I say.
“Have a safe trip.” She meets my eyes, and then Hawk leads her out of the house.
“All right,” my dad says. “Let’s load up.”
CHAPTER 41
Hawk
