Page 50 of Don't Leave Me Behind
“Fuck,” I breathe into her mouth, lips brushing hers when I do.
“Have a good day at work,” she says in such a sweet voice. Her eyes look anything but innocent and sweet right now.
“You’re going to kill me,” I mutter.
She leans forward, pecking me on the lips one more time before she sinks back into bed. “Hopefully not any time soon, Cowboy. There are things I’d like to do to you first.”
I groan into her collarbone. My dick’s practically weeping in my pants. “So mean,” I whisper.
“I think you’ll survive. Now get. I’m going back to sleep.”
I shake my head into her shoulder, stopping to press a kiss to the hollow of her neck. “There’s no surviving you, Leni girl.” I wink, push off the bed, and make my way to the bathroom and get myself ready for work.
I call dispatch from my truck and clock in on my phone, debating if I’m going into the office or if I’ll start patrolling right away instead. Mercer still wouldn’t look at me yesterday, and I don’t feel like continuing the silent treatment at work. On the other hand, I should go talk to him and make him work this shit out. I don’t like being on the outs with my best friend. I came back here to set things right, not let our relationships get rocky.
Fuck.I try to clear my head of all things Leni as I make my way into the Hillcreek Courthouse. I don’t need to lay all my cards out on the table for the boys, but I do need to settle things with Mercer so we can get back to normal.
I scan my badge to let myself into the Sheriff’s office. Removing my hat, I send a wink to Miss Patsy, who, despite being nearly sixty years old, blushes like a schoolgirl whenever a deputy smiles at her. I head for the break room when I hear Mercer call my name. He’s across the hall with Deputy Nathan Clark, his other best friend. He doesn’t wave me over, so I wait until he’s done.
“My office,” Mercer mutters as he shuffles past me. I follow behind him, biting back a “yes sir.” Automatic from my time in the corps, but dripping with sarcasm, I’ve seen Mercer get stuck in a tunnel slide at the park. It’s hard to take him seriously. “Sit,” he commands when we enter, walking around his desk to take his seat on the other side.
I do as I’m told, putting my cowboy hat on my knee, trying not to let my leg bounce. I knew he’d have things to say; knew he’d be mad at me. I’m a big boy. I can take a little verbal sparring from my boss...I think. Mercer taps his fingers on the desk before pulling something out of his shirt pocket. He tosses it down onto the surface.
It’s a photograph. But not just any photograph. It shows Leni’s soft brown waves, her ears, her neck, but her face? My stomach churns. My hand balls into a fist as I struggle to swallow the rage threatening to spill out. One eye is swollen shut, hair in disarray, the other eye wide, wild. Her lips are split, the bottom one torn, a bruise blooming across one cheek, the other cheek sliced open as well.
“Did you do that to her?”
My head snaps up, eyes searching his in disbelief. “The fuck did you just ask me?”
“Did you...” He leans forward, pushing up from his chair, looking down at me with the wrath of God on his face. “Do that?” His finger jabs at the photo of Leni. My whole body coils underneath me as I let the weight of his question sink in.
“Are you serious? Do you really think I could?—”
“Answer the goddamn question, Traeger. Did you do that to my sister?”
“No! Jesus, Mercer.”
Mercer flops back into his chair, his shoulders slumping as he breathes out a harsh breath. One hand scrubs down his jawas his gaze settles on me, the friend I’ve known since junior high, finally peeking through.
“Do you seriously think I could have done something like that?”
“You?” He quirks an eyebrow. “Hell no. Twenty-one-year-old you with an axe to grind and night terrors plaguing you…I don’t know, Clay. Felt like shit to ask.”
“Damn right it did, you asshole. I would never lay a hand on her.” My teeth grind together, fingertips digging into my jeans, temper barely at bay.
He sighs, resting his elbows on the desk, head in his hands. “I know—I know that. Fuck. Why did she lie, though? It was messed up enough that she lied about where she was, but to lie about finding you?”
“I don’t know, Merc. Maybe she thought she was protecting me. She was there to help me. I don’t think that desire changed after I scared her.”
“You didn’t hurt her?”
I look down at my hands, trying to shake the image of my fist buried in the drywall, inches from where Leni’s head had been. “I was rough,” I sigh. “More than I should have been, but I swear to God, Mercer, I’d rip my own heart out before I ever did that to her. Or anyone.”
He nods. His eyes still holding some of that heat. The Kane boys are fiercely protective of their loved ones, and none more than Leni. There wasn’t a boy in town who broke her heart and got away with it. They were lucky if they only ran into one brother, much less the pack of them.
“No more secrets.” He jabs a hand my way. I flinch. “Motherfucker, you’re hiding something else! What is it?”
I shake my head, rising from my chair because if I stay, and he keeps talking, I will tell him everything, and there are some things that aren’t mine to tell.
