Page 6 of Chasing Forever

Tristan

As soon as Merritt turned the corner and stepped into the common room, my heart began to pump at a frantic pace, like it had just been shot up with pure adrenaline. She was the very last person I’d been expecting to see, and once the shock of it wore off, panic came racing on its heels. What was she doing here? Didn’t she know it wasn’t safe? Had she gone back to her abusive bastard of a husband? A thousand questions swirled through my mind at lightning speed. Then I noticed the way Levi’s entire face lit up at the sight of her. He’d gone on and on about Aunt Mary for the past few hours, but I was just realizing that his Mary was short for Merritt... Merri.

Fuck.

She was his aunt. The only other living relative. And she had to come back to make sure her nephew didn’t end up in the system because his own father was a piece of shit.

My chest tugged as I watched her crouch to catch him just as he threw himself into her arms, and the way her face crumpled up like she was finally holding the missing piece of something important as her arms wound around the boy and hauled him up. The love and affection those two had for each other was written in every cell of their bodies.

That sense of being struck by lightning hit me again, just as it had the first time I laid eyes on her, and the most ridiculous thought ofmine, pounded in my brain with every beat of my heart. It was ludicrous. I didn’t even know this woman. I had no business thinking about how I wanted to keep her.

I cleared my throat, the collar of my shirt suddenly feeling too tight, and when her gaze shot up to mine, it was a wonder it didn’t knock me right on my ass. Her eyes were even more beautiful than I remembered. Her irises were a pale sage, but the outer rim had a band several shades darker, a deep green that reminded me of all those times I’d lay on my back in the woods behind my mom’s house and stare at the sky through the thick canopy of lush leaves.

Just one look and I was struck dumb. My lips had parted to say... something, but no words came out. It wasn’t exactly the best look for a police detective, but something about the woman short-circuited my brain every time I saw her. Instead of being able to behave like a normal human being that had been raised in society, I’d reverted to some sort of caveman, only able to communicate through grunts and huffs.

I’d grunted my way through a cursory greeting that Tessa initiated before deciding silence was my best bet. At least until I could get my shit together enough to function like a normal person.

I counted myself lucky that Harrison had stayed behind at the hospital. If my partner had been there to see me make an ass of myself, I’d never had heard the end of it. He wanted to be there to interview the dad whenever he finally regained consciousness. Meanwhile, I’d stuck close to the kid. It wasn’t a surprise he’d been scared out of his mind after what had gone down, and something about him pulled at my center, sparking a protective instinct inside of me.

He'd shut down all the other adults back at the hospital, including the social worker from Child Protective Services. No one could get a word out of him. But for whatever reason, he seemed comfortable with me, so I stayed by his side, holding tightly to his hand the whole way from the hospital to Hope House. Fortunately, it hadn’t taken long for Tessa and the other staff members to pull Levi from his shell, and even though he seemed okay, I hadn’t been able to leave him.

I told myself I would stick around long enough to make sure this aunt he’d been raving about was solid, and she’d take good care of him, then I’d leave. Instead of doing that and meeting up with Harrison back at the station to debrief, I was currently standing in Tessa’s office with her, Merritt, the social worker, Annabeth Kline, and my older sister, the latter who kept casting curious looks in my direction every few minutes. But I was doing my best to ignore her as I stood propped against the back wall and listened to the other two women walking Merritt through everything that would happen with her taking temporary custody of her nephew, and what the state would expect of her to make sure he was safe.

I watched her closely; I couldn’t miss the way her hands clenched into fists so tight her knuckles bleached of color. Or the way the pulse in her neck fluttered wildly in time with the tick in her jaw. I also didn’t miss the way the natural pink flush of her cheeks faded and she paled as they spoke of how she would have to remain local so as not to disrupt Levi’s life more than it already had been, and so they could ensure she could provide a strong, stable environment.

I didn’t need to be inside her head to know what had her growing pale and causing her foot to jiggle anxiously. I could see the fear she was trying desperately to hide from everyone in the room, and witnessing her strength made my chest tighten like my ribs were trying to squeeze all the air out of my lungs. Christ, she had to have been terrified to be back in the same town as that son of a bitch, but she’d done it anyway, all for her nephew.

It made me want to track Warren Bell down and beat him senseless.

Annabeth was saying something about suitable living arrangements when I noticed Merritt’s eyes flare wide, panic suddenly flickering in the soft green.

“If you have an address you can provide, I can set up a home visit,” Annabeth continued, oblivious to the way Merritt’s shoulders were slowly creeping up around her ears.

The panic and desire to chase away the shadows stretching along her delicate features had me blurting out, “They’ll be staying with me.” The words spewed past my lips before my brain had a chance to engage.

Four pairs of eyes shot in my direction, ranging from curiosity from Tessa, who was practically like an aunt to Blythe and me, to utter bewilderment from my sister, to shock and evenmorepanic from Merritt.

I honestly couldn’t blame her, I was a complete stranger. And I could admit that my announcement was more than a little unexpected. Some—like my sister and partner—might have even said unhinged. But the words were already out there, I couldn’t take them back now.

“Wait. What? I-I don’t—” Merritt began to sputter before the words died off, leaving her in slack-jawed silence.

Annabeth looked in my direction. “And the address for your residence?”

I spouted off my address so she could scribble it on the legal pad in her lap.

I did my best to ignore my sister’s eyes drilling into the side of my head, but the intensity finally got to be too much, and I turned to meet her gaze.

What the hell was that? She mouthed and bugged out her eyes as the meeting continued on around us.

I shrugged, not having an answer.

Blythe’s gaze ping-ponged between me and Merritt, who was sitting stiff in her chair, like a marble statue. She jerked her chin toward the door and gave me that big sister glare she’d perfected when we were still kids.

I shook my head, trying to blow her off, but I should have known better. She jerked her chin again, but this time, she stabbed her elbow into my side for good measure.

I did my best to muffle my grunt of pain and shot her a scowl that promised retribution, but I still started for the door like she was basically demanding.

“Christ, B.” My brows pulled into a deep frown as I rubbed at where she’d jabbed me. “I think you might have cracked a rib.”

---