Page 67 of The Prodigal Son

“Sadie.”

She blushes with a shrug. Then whispers to me, “Okay, we’ll talk later.”

I place a hand over my face as she welcomes us into their house. Spotting Henry in his little bouncy plaything, I grin wildly. His hair has grown in so much since I saw him last. He’s holding himself upright and jumping on his tiptoes, both things he certainly wasn’t doing the last time I saw him.

“Henry!” I say as I rush over to him. He’s beaming and giggling, and I can’t get over how cute he is.

“Isn’t he getting big?” Sadie asks. “He’s almost walking.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, he gets into everything. It’s exhausting.”

“I bet,” I reply.

Jensen is hovering behind me, being more quiet than normal. I nearly forgot how nervous he was for tonight. So I step back to be next to him, hoping my presence offers him some comfort.

He forces a smile, and I start to worry a little. Did I push him into this too fast?

“Where’s Luke?” I ask, but just then, my brother appears from the kitchen. He’s wiping his hands on a towel as his eyes find mine. We both smile before meeting each other halfway across the living room for a hug.

“How’s the tour been?” he asks.

“Amazing. You’ll come to the Austin show, right? It’ll be the last one on the tour.”

He rolls his eyes. “Of course we will.”

For some reason, I almost tell Lucas right in this moment that I’m thinking about coming home to the whole family. I don’t, of course, but it’s right at the front of my mind. He’ll be hesitant and protective about it, but he’ll support me either way.

Remembering Jensen is behind me, I turn back to see him standing in my brother’s living room with an expression of terror on his face.

Damn, he really is nervous, isn’t he?

I return to his side. “Lucas, this is Jensen. Jensen, this is Lucas.”

“You,” my brother mutters, making my brow furrow.

“Lucas…Goode,” Jensen mumbles.

“What’s going on?” I stammer.

“You two know each other?” Sadie asks.

Then, Jensen turns toward me, scrutinizing my face as if it’s the first time he’s seen it. “Isaac…Goode.”

Admittedly, I never mentioned my last name to Jensen for obvious reasons. I didn’t need my father’s transgressions to alter his opinion of me. Although, I never expected it would bother him this much.

“What’s happening?” Lucas asks. “I’m so confused.”

“I should go,” Jensen snaps, turning away.

“What the fuck?” I grab his arm, but he only mumbles an apology as he tears it from my grip and heads to the door. “Jensen, wait. Tell me what’s going on. How do you two know each other?”

“This is the guy you’re dating?” Luke asks in astonishment.

I turn to him with aggression on my face. How dare he say that? How dare he…do whatever the hell he’s doing right now?

“Someone please fucking explain to me what’s going on,” I bark loudly. Baby Henry’s lip trembles as he stares up at me, and Sadie quickly scoops him up to comfort him. I hate this, and I don’t even know whatthisis.

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