Savage Little Lies (Court Legacy 2)

A girl.

I was stiff when my buddy hugged me, nearly dropping his phone. From what I wagered, he’d been trying to call me on it.

“D!”

Wells and Thatcher weren’t far behind, literally crowding into the hallway, and when I say all my friends crowded around me…

They hugged the shit out of me, a group fucking huddle like when we were on the field. This was different, though. This was intense, and I felt them all grab for each other. I felt them grab me.

I grabbed right back.

I was fucking shaking, and I didn’t realize why until, well, I did. A lot of intense shit just happened. A lot of overwhelming shit. My grandfather was back. He was here in town, and I didn’t know what that meant for me. It took a lot to shake me.

This fucking shook me.

“We didn’t know where you were, kid. Where were you?”

That was Wolf, the one who looked just as shaken as I felt when I pulled away. He started to say something, but Thatcher grabbed my shoulders. His face was red, like legit red like a goddamn tomato.

“You don’t go off the grid. You don’t not fucking answer calls.” He shot a finger at me, his earring dangling. “You don’t do that to your boys. We didn’t know what to fucking think.”

He’d been worried.

They’d all been.

Well

s wasn’t even saying anything, squeezing his mouth. He forced a hand over his platinum-blond hair. “We thought you ran, but you didn’t have to. Our parents took care of—”

“Is that my son?”

Dad.

I shot in his direction, my father behind my buddies. He had his phone to his ear, his eyes twitching wide.

He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

Worse, he looked like I’d scared him, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen my father frightened. He was so strong, never scared.

“It’s him, Ramses,” he murmured into the line, and it appeared as if on autopilot. He blinked. “He’s back. No. No. He seems fine. You can call the others to come back. Knight, Jax, and the girls?”

Fuck, they really were out looking for me.

And my dad was coming over, my friends immediately parting for him. He grabbed me, headfirst, and my dad wasn’t really a hugger.

He seemed to be today.

He held me so tight I thought he’d break me, and I didn’t know how I kept standing there in one fucking piece. I wanted to break. I felt like I was going to break.

“Why would you leave, boy? Why?” he gritted, shaking his head. “You come to me when you need something. You hear me? That goddamn video? What the hell were you thinking?”

I didn’t know. I thought I was helping.

And he obviously knew about that.

For all I knew, my friends could have told them everything. Or maybe, after the video had dropped, he’d just known. I mean, that was my voice in it.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and all he did was shake me, pulling back. His hands held my face.