Less Broken

by Eve R. Hart

  “He only wants to make sure that he is what’s best for you before he gives you his all,” Reed whispered in my ear, and then he was walking away from me.

  I stood there for a long moment, another piece of my heart broke away and floated through the air in Cade’s direction.

  I only hoped he caught it and held on tight.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you,” Cade said softly as he took my hand and started guiding me to the door.

  “I know. I, um…” I cleared my throat and mustered up some internal strength as my feet came to a standstill. “I think there’s something good here and I want to see where it goes.”

  My cheeks burned but I refused to drop my gaze. It was a matter of him seeing how serious I was about it.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he assured me with a sweet smile.

  Then he kissed me.

  I mean, really kissed me.

  By the time he pulled away, I was breathless and dizzy, and had completely forgotten where we were.

  I regained my focus as he started walking, pulling me along by my hand, and was relieved to see that Reed was standing inside the diner with his back to us.

  I hoped no one else had caught that little show.

  Then again, I kind of hoped they did because Cade was mine and I wanted every single person in the world to know it.

  Cade let me slip into the booth first and then sat beside me. He scooted so close to me that our thighs were pressed together. I liked feeling the heat of him radiating through my jeans. I liked it a little too much. Yep, now was not an appropriate time to pop a boner. I tried telling that to my body but clearly, parts of me didn’t have their listening ears on.

  It was time to focus on something else.

  “I’ve never been here,” I said as I stared a little too intently at the menu. I felt their eyes on me but I didn’t look up. “Pancakes sound good. Oh, but so does that Denver omelet. Hmmm. What are you guys going to get?”

  The waitress chose that moment to walk over and ask for our drink order. Cade and Reed both said coffee at the same time and I was left the odd man out ordering orange juice.

  “Y’all ready to order or do you need another minute?” she purred in Reed’s direction.

  Cade snorted beside me and my hand slid over to pop his muscular thigh. It stung but I tried not to let it show on my face. Instead of moving my hand, I left it there. And when his hand moved to cover mine, I was glad I did.

  Yep, I had this dopey grin on my face.

  And you know what, I didn’t even care.

  I blinked to see everyone looking my way.

  “What?!” I said a little too loudly.

  “Did you decide yet, baby?” Cade asked calmly.

  “Oh.” I let out a short, nervous laugh. “Pancakes, please.”

  “You want a side with that?” The waitress asked, looking a little like she was ready to leave.

  “Just the pancakes.” I sent her a wide smile but it felt forced.

  “And for you, sugar?” she asked looking down at Cade.

  “Denver omelet. Sausage, please. And a large order of hash browns.” I didn’t miss the way his words came out clipped or the look he shot me when he said sausage. Of course, it had my mind going to places it didn’t need to go to right now. “Thanks.”

  She walked off and I realized that I must have zoned out while Reed gave his order before me.

  “So, what happens now?” I asked. Something ran through me but I couldn’t explain what it was. “I mean, with Perry…uh, not around anymore, I should be fine. You don’t have to stay here anymore.”

  Reed and Cade shared a look. More like a conversation. And I was clearly not in on it.

  “I’ll be heading back to Chicago tomorrow. Cade is going to stay here with you.”

  “You are?” I asked as my head whipped in his direction.

  He cleared his throat.

  “Yeah, I’m staying here just to make sure everything is safe.”

  “Oh, well, okay. But it should be.”

  “Listen, Theon,” Reed said. Bad news was coming, I could hear it in his tone. “We’re not sure that Perry isn’t connected to something else. Until we know for sure, we’re not going to leave you unprotected.”

  Right.

  So Cade was sticking around out of some sense of duty.

  Got it.

  “Is there anything you can tell us about Perry,” Reed asked and I felt Cade’s grip tighten on my hand.

  The waitress dropped off our drinks, giving me a much needed moment to think.

  “Honestly, I don’t know.” I started. “We were only together like a month. I met him not long after I started here. He saw me sitting alone in the dining hall one day and asked if he could take one of the empty seats at the table. I figured he wanted the chair, but then he sat down.”

  As the memory of that day popped into my head, I had mixed feelings. He had been so charming and had easily pulled me into a conversation. But I also realized that the feelings I had in that moment didn’t even compare to the things I felt every time I looked at Cade. You know, putting aside the fact that Perry was a grade-A douchebag. Not that I had known that back then.

  “Anyway,” I said shaking off the thoughts. “I guess now that I think about it, he didn’t tell me a lot about himself. I never met any of his friends. I’m not even sure if he had any.”

  “Did he ever talk about anyone. Family? Anything?” Reed asked.

  I’d taken notice of how quiet Cade had gone. I expected the questions to come from him but he looked a little angry and uncomfortable. I suppose if he had strong feelings for me like he’d led me to think, then this couldn’t have been easy to hear. I didn’t think I’d want to hear about any of his past lovers either.

  I gave his hand a little squeeze and smiled when I felt his thumb lightly rub against the side of my hand like he got the unsaid meaning behind the move.

  “No,” I replied with a shake of my head. “He didn’t talk about his family. Not once. I should have seen…” I let out a soft sigh. It was hard not to fell stupid for not seeing all the signs that were right in front of me. “I don’t even know where he’s from.”

  “Atlanta,” Reed supplied quickly.

  I wasn’t going to question how he knew that already.

  My eyes went wide as I looked at him. I could see it on his face, the look that said he knew what I was thinking.

  “There’s no way,” I blurted out. “Atlanta is a big city.”

  But he’d never said anything when I told him where I was from. Why wouldn’t he have told me we were from the same city?

  Because he was hiding something.

  I nearly snorted at the thought. Yeah, he was hiding a lot of things.

  “You’re right. It could just be a coincidence. It might not mean anything.” Reed’s expression didn’t match his attempt at comforting words.

  Our food arrived and the table went silent.

  I wasn’t all that hungry anymore. I suspected Cade had ordered the Denver omelet at least partly because of me.

  Oh, he had, and that became clear when he slid the plate closer to me as if he expected me to eat some of it. I pushed the uneasiness away so I wouldn’t hurt his feelings. It was a really sweet gesture and I put stupid Perry in the back of my head. I wasn’t going to let him ruin this for me.

  Then I dug in.

  I temporarily forgot all about the possibility that there might be another threat out there and enjoyed the playful banter between Cade and Reed. And of course, the way Cade couldn’t stop touching me in some way.

  23

  Cade

  Theon was out cold.

  After breakfast, we came back to the motel. The plan had been for me to grab some fresh clothes and pick up the rental car before heading back to Theon’s place. But then one thing led to another, and we never left the room. We did take a break to order some pizza. Apparently, I ravaged him into starvation. He nearly ate a large pizza on his own and the
bashful shade of red that tinted his cheeks when he realized that fact was absolutely adorable.

  I’d worn him out again and it was hard not to smile at that. He kept up with me, which was a surprise. He seemed to need me as much as I craved him.

  Fuck, the things his body did to me.

  I’d never been so content and at peace being inside of someone. All the noise stopped. Every bit of anger and sadness slipped away. And I felt whole again.

  I felt like I was someone worthy of life again.

  Or maybe it was that I wanted it because I had this image of a future with Theon. A future I was damn determined to make happen.

  I was relaxed, but my mind wouldn’t stop going.

  I slipped out of bed and dressed, my eyes on his beautiful, peaceful form the entire time. I could have sworn that was a smile I saw on his face.

  As much as I didn’t want to leave him, I knew I had limited time with Reed. I planned on using him to figure this shit out so that Theon would be safe. Until then, I wouldn’t rest.

  Silently, I slipped out of the room.

  Two doors down, I knocked, doing my damnedest to I hold back a chuckle. Reed had been smart to not take the room beside us. As it was, I had a good idea that half the place had heard us.

  Reed opened the door looking tired. His hair was a mess like he’d been running his hands through it.

  I walked in and glanced around the room. I wasn’t sure why, because it was exactly the same as mine.

  My eyes caught on a pair of boxers sitting on the corner of the dresser that happened to be folded up in a neat little square. As odd as it might sound, I knew Reed well enough to know that the pair of plaid-printed underwear were not his style.

  “Tell me you didn’t,” I said as I faced him.

  I wasn’t sure whose they were, but the last thing Theon and I needed right now was for Reed to leave behind some poor guy with a broken heart. This town was small, the kind of small where shit would get around quickly. I might not have known anyone here, but I sure as hell didn’t need extra drama floating around out there.

  “Relax,” Reed said but the frown on his face kept me from doing just that. “It was a one-time thing. We both understand that.”

  “I don’t want to know,” I told him. My hand went up willing him to stop before he went into any kind of detail. I didn’t want to know what happened and I sure as hell didn’t want to know with who. You know, on the off chance that I did run into them. This was probably all my fault anyway, I’d left him in a bar, after all.

  “Wait, it wasn’t that Jameson guy, was it?” I still had no clue who he was or where Reed picked him up. Or why the hell he was here. Sure, he was an extra set of eyes but that still told me nothing about how he fit into the equation.

  Reed let out a little laugh and shook his head.

  “No, not him.”

  “What the fuck is up with that?” I pinned him with a hard stare.

  “He might be part of a new project I’m working on. The idea is still new. Don’t worry about it. When it’s ready, I’ll tell you all about it.”

  I didn’t like him keeping things from me. He never used to do that. Then again, that was years ago. I guess we were still getting back to that level of trust and closeness we had when we were younger. We’d get there one day. I had no doubts about it because with each day that had passed recently, I felt us breaking through this wall that had slowly been built up between us over the last few years.

  Hell, the fact that he was still around and had put up with me the last six months told me that we had the kind of friendship that would last a lifetime. He wasn’t going anywhere, and now, I wasn’t either.

  “Fine, keep your secrets,” I said with a shrug. I had to trust him. He’d tell me when he was ready. “I’ll be waiting to hear all about it when it’s time.”

  “Thanks, buddy.” He clapped me on the shoulder and then we both took a seat at the small table against the wall. “What’s the plan?”

  “Keep an eye on him. Pretty sure I’ve got it covered, so you can send your boy on. I won’t be leaving Theon’s side.”

  Reed chuckled at my clipped tone and scowling face.

  “I figured. Jameson is leaving with me tomorrow.”

  “Good,” I grunted. Theon was mine. Mine to look at. Mine to care for. Mine to protect. “You don’t know anything about Theon’s life? About his family?”

  “No.” Reed’s head hung as he let out a sigh. “I kept hoping he’d open up to me but he hasn’t yet.”

  “You didn’t look into how his mom died?” It was something he could have easily done.

  “I didn’t want to invade his privacy like that. I figured that if he wants me to know, then I should respect him enough to let him be the one to tell me.”

  “I get it,” I said to him with a nod. “He told me his stepdad beat him.”

  “What?!” Reed roared as he shot up out of the chair.

  “Yeah, I saw marks all over his body when I took him to the hospital. He opened up later and told me about it. Not in so much detail but enough to where I’m ready to go kill the fucker.”

  “Fuck,” Reed blew out with a shake of his head.

  I guess he had no clue how hard Theon’s life was growing up. The two of them couldn’t have had more different upbringings. But I suppose what mattered was that Theon was away from his stepdad now. I couldn’t believe how kindhearted and amazing he was even though he’d had to deal with that kind of shit. But I guess, it was just another thing that showed how strong he was.

  “And while we’re on it, how the hell did all this shit happen anyway?” I asked, suddenly realizing that we’d never really talked about it before. I was sure a lot of the questions he’d never have answers for, all of the people that held them were dead. Or at least, every one that we knew. “How did this get from Chicago to Atlanta?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not even sure how my dad met her. I know nothing and it bothers the fuck out of me. Theon took a DNA test. Those things are pretty damn accurate, so there’s no denying that it’s true. But I can’t put the pieces together to see how.”

  “I thought your parents were always happy. They seemed like they were so in love.” I smiled thinking about them. Damn, I wish they weren’t gone. Then the sadness came crashing down and I felt a little guilty that I was putting Reed through all of this. Not to mention the fact that we’d never talked about his parents’ death.

  Yep, that shit was about to happen now. It was time.

  “They were.” He let out a long breath and took his seat again. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. And as his head hung, I knew he’d held the weight of all of this on his shoulders for so long. It was crushing him and I was a shit for not being there to help him carry it. “I don’t know how it happened.”

  “But you think you do,” I said softly. There was something he was trying to ignore but it was far too loud in his head to let go of.

  “God, even after all these years, it’s like you’re in my head.”

  I huffed out a laugh.

  It was true. Sometimes it felt like we were long-lost twins. We’d always had this connection, even when I was so far away. It had always been brotherly and never once had it shifted to anything else.

  “He was a great father. He traveled for work, but he made sure to be there for the important stuff. I don’t know.” He paused, his brows pinching together like he was straining to bring forth something. “When I was like ten or eleven, I just remember him being gone more. He still showed up. Still took me to do shit. But he wasn’t around for the daily things. Dinner. Breakfast. Weekends.”

  “What?” I asked in shock. This was the first time I’d heard of this and I was blown away. I hadn’t known them back then, so I couldn’t really say anything.

  “Yeah,” he said with a bobbing nod. “At the time, I just thought he was working a lot. But now that I look back on it, I think my parents might have been separated for a while. Only I have no idea
if it was because my dad cheated or if that came after.”

  “It doesn’t change anything,” I told him.

  His head snapped up, the sad eyes of that little boy shining through his gaze.

  “Doesn’t it?” He sounded like a desperate kid holding on to some kind of hope. It only reminded me that I hadn’t been there for him. That he hadn’t had any kind of comfort all these years. He’d had to go through this alone and that was fucked up.

  “No. It was between them. If he cheated, well, it sucks, but we all make mistakes. Obviously, your parents had enough love between them to move on from it. Your mom was a strong woman, I don’t see her taking him back because she was afraid to be alone. So she loved him enough to forgive him. But we don’t even know if that’s what happened.”

  “You’re right,” he said but I could tell he was still taking my words in.

  “However it went down, the result is Theon. I’m glad for it, and I’m pretty sure you are too.”

  “God, such a fucking sap,” he told me with a smirk. “I miss them so much.”

  “Me too.” In the world of what-ifs, that was the biggest one for me. What if I’d come home on my leave? What if they’d stayed in town to spend time with me? What if they hadn’t gotten on that jet to head to Florida for a vacation?

  But all the what-ifs in the world didn’t change the fact that the jet went down and they never made it out alive.

  “I wish they could have met Theon. Mom would have taken him in right away.”

  “She would have loved him,” I choked out with a nod.

  Reed’s mom was just that kind of person.

  “He needs that and it sucks that I can’t be enough for him.” Reed flopped back in the chair, his hand going up to rub his cheek. Something he did when he was half lost in his head.

  “You are, Reed. Fuck, you should see him when he talks about you. He really looks up to you.”

  A happy smile spread on Reed’s face. It chased away the sadness which I was thankful for.

  “Really?” he asked with hope in his tone.

  “Yeah,” I rushed to say. “He’s so worried about disappointing you because he doesn’t want to lose you in his life. And he didn’t come to you because he didn’t want to break the trust between the two of you. He tried to keep you safe, even though he didn’t need to.”