Page 82 of Flare

Drew’s gaze shot to mine, but it was a second before he smiled. “Hey, Rhys.”

I gave him a quick once-over and he looked... okay. The bruises had faded to more of a dirty smudge around his eyes, but he still looked skittish. I plastered a grin in place and rested a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve missed you.”

“He’s not allowed to come anymore.” Jack threw a stone across the yard to bounce off the fence. “Orgo to Rainbow House. What the fuck? They can’t stop you, right?”

Drew shrugged. “But they can make life suck more than it already does. I’m supposed to be meeting Dad at his office soon, but I thought, fuck it.” A genuine smile this time.

Jack returned it. “Yeah, fuck ’em, right?” They bumped fists.

I smiled. Fences had clearly been mended. “How are things at home?”

Drew scuffed the path with his sneaker and avoided my gaze. “Okay, I guess, except...” He spread his arms and indicated his clothes, like I hadn’t already noticed. He wore much more fitted jeans than he usually did and clearly no packer—obvious on his slender frame. And the cropped denim jacket was about as far away from seventeen-year-old boy as it was possible to get.

“His dad’s a jerk,” Jack grumbled. “How are you gonna survive another year?”

“I told you I’d think about it.” Drew ruffled Jack’s hair.

Jack shoved his hand away with a smile. “Fuck off.”

Drew caught my eye. “It’s just... they’re my parents, right? And Mum’s not so bad.” He sighed and stared at his feet.

I tipped his chin up. “We’re here. Any time. Just know you have choices.”

“Thanks.” His phone buzzed with a text and he sighed. “Gotta go. Dad’s ready.”

When he was gone, Jack slammed his foot into the bin on the step, the metallic bang loud enough to startle the seagulls on Flare’s roof. “I hate this. He’s so sad.”

“All we can do is be there for him,youespecially, since he clearly feels safe talking with you.”

Jack’s expression turned serious. “I won’t let him down.”

Pride filled my heart. “I know you won’t. Now, how about you show me your favourite picks for the dance and we can tweak what we need to.”

He brightened and as I watched him head inside, I jolted with the realisation that Jack had wormed his way under my skin without me even realising. More than a redeemed kid, more than my boyfriend’s nephew, he’d become family, just like Kip, just like Hunter, just like... Beck.

Well, damn.

These Northcotts were dangerously addictive motherfuckers.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Rhys

I regardedthe neat stack of magazines on the coffee table with a blank stare and tried to still my jiggling leg. Who the hell read a fucking magazine before an hour of dredging the muck from their life? Answer. The same guy who’d spent an hour deciding exactly what to wear to said therapy appointment just so he’d feel powerful and somewhat in control. I’d finally settled on a black long-sleeved lace shirt tucked into black fitted trousers, under a dark green leather jacket with a large peacock feather embroidered on the back. Lace socks and black leather converse completed the look.

Beck had taken one look and simply smiled and kissed me. That had worked even better.

A hand on my thigh brought the jiggling to a stop. Beck.

He leaned his shoulder against mine. “You want a water?”

I shook my head, mouth dry as the desert, and laid my hand atop his. “I think I’m gonna throw up.”

“Bathroom’s just there.” He nodded to the sign pointing up the corridor of the old Ponsonby villa. “I’m so fucking proud of you.” He kissed my temple and threaded our fingers together.

We sat in silence, just the wall clock ticking slowly down to zero hour. And who the hell used wall clocks these days? Therapists should know better. There was nothing more likely to raise the pulse in someone about to vomit all their worst fears and embarrassing problems than a fucking ticking wall clock.

I hadn’t intended even telling Beck about the appointment, let alone having him drive me. And yet here we were. Story of my life. As the Friday appointment loomed, the snarkier and more impossible I became, until finally Beck cornered me in my flat when he came to pick up Jack and kissed me senseless until I gave up what was troubling me.

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