Page 8 of Aftermath

Austin shot him a glare.

"He kept talking about control." Austin stared out the massive window behind Gale. "I didn't know I'm just as dependent on it." Only, Austin didn’t get anxiety attacks like Cam did. He grew angry. Furious, even.

"Where are you now, Austin?" Gale asked softly. "Who are you talking about?"

Austin cleared his throat and straightened. "Cam. Back when…back then, Cam would talk about losing control. We weren’t in control. And he had anxiety attacks." Thinking back on it only made him angrier. "He was a damn pain to help," he chuckled darkly. "I know the reason, obviously, but…" Being unable to help—that was a major trigger, he realized. And now, now he couldn’t even helphimself.

When he faced Gale again, she was studying him curiously, and Austin didn’t blame her. He was mumbling nonsense, everything out of context; of course she was confused. At least, he figured she was confused. Hell, so was he.

"Austin, do you feel like Cam was or is your responsibility?"

In another part of Bakersfield, Cam was in the living room opening his gift from Landon and Jules. Well, there wasn’t a lot to open; it was a box with a lid, and it was moving. He grinned and flipped up the lid, then hid the fact that he felt like shedding tears of relief. Why he hadn't thought of this himself was beyond him.

He would feel safer now. Call it a gut feeling.

"If you don’t like him, Landon and I have already talked about getting a dog," Jules said quickly, looking worried.

Cam squatted down and petted the head of the Husky pup. "Nah, this guy ain't going anywhere."

Landon and he had had a Husky when they were kids. A damn good dog. This one was definitely gonna keep Cam active, too. That was a good thing. Huskies weren’t put on this earth to mosey around and be lazy.

"How old is he?" He picked up the puppy. He chuckled as the dog licked his face, and just like the one he'd had as a kid, this one had light blue eyes and a cream and light brown-colored coat.

"Twelve weeks." Landon smiled at the puppy and his little brother. "You're gonna have to pick out two names."

Cam nodded and ignored the other party guests in the backyard. It was calmer here in the living room. "You think Mom will be pissed if I name this one after a drink, too?"

Landon smirked. "You were seven the last time. You weren't supposed to know about booze yet."

Well, their dad had approved of Irish Coffee. Two names—a dog had to have two names; it was a rule. Irish for short.

Cam wasn’t big on affection with just anyone; personal space was important, but his brother and Jules weren’t strangers. They'd earned his trust years ago. Walking over to them, he kissed Jules on the cheek and hugged Landon, saying thanks more than once. He doubted they knew how much he appreciated this kind of gift.

"Thank you," he said again, averting his gaze to the puppy. When shit got emotional, he didn’t like direct eye contact. "What do you think about keeping it Irish?" After all, their mother was Irish, even though she was born in Cali. Her maiden name was Mulligan. "Or we could piss off Mom and say we're keeping it Irish, then we call him Bourbon."

God forbid if Lily Nash was around to hear you call Irish whiskey bourbon, or even worse, Scotch. The woman knew her booze.

"Harsh," Jules laughed.

"How would she know your intention?" Landon countered.

Cam shrugged. "Bourbon Mulligan oughta do it." He nuzzled the soft patch of fur on the top of the puppy's head. "Yeah, I'm sticking with it. Bourbon." Hey, it went well with the dog's coloring, too. "Let's go introduce the Irish." He grinned and carried Bourbon out on the patio where his parents were talking to some of the guys from Landon's garage and a few cousins on Jonathan's side. "Mom." He came up behind her and draped an arm around her shoulders. "I want you to meet Bourbon Mulligan."

Lily stared up at her youngest son with a blank expression.

"Oh, boy." Jonathan snorted. "Here we go."

"You think that’s funny?" Lily asked flatly. "You know, honey, I'm all for peace and love, but perhaps you're not too old for a damn spanking—"

"Oh!" Cam cracked up. "You kiss your husband with that mouth?" He winked and left his parents to grab a beer.

Everyone knew Cam didn’t like to be crowded, so they didn’t get too close when he sat down on one of the patio chairs next to Landon. He sipped his beer, mostly staying quiet, and watched as his new dog played around with a tennis ball.

It was the only toy he had in his house, so he made a mental note to pick up some more tomorrow. From the guys at work, he was given a gift card to a pet superstore, a bag of puppy food, a leash, and a bowl set for food and water, all of which had Jules's name written over them. That was how men worked. They handed their money to the women, who went shopping.

"You got the usual from Mom and Dad?" Landon asked.

Cam nodded. That meant five hundred bucks in a savings bond and a year's subscription toHot RodandAutomobile.

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