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Passing the phone to Lucas, I said, "This was taken last night"

He looked at it for only a second as if it were e ever snapped, which was exactly the way it felt to ed "I think I was But today has been pretty crazy for all of us Look, the reason I wanted to show you this is because you know your dad He wouldn’t just kiss anyone like that He trusted ed to stop it before it rolled off "Travis" I faked a smile "He even asked me to be your doctor e first met And I’d like to think that he would still trust me to do what is best for you in this situation too" A lu I had no idea if I was lying to him or not

I hoped I wasn’t

But I was afraid I was

Tom and Brady were still adaer I thought about it, the nized that those were probably just the hopes and dreams of the wo my throat, I continued "I know you’re scared, and I know you’re overwhelmed Because I am too But I swear on my life I’m here for you, Travis And despite what happened at your house today, which I will again apologize for, I think your dad would like the fact that I’m here with you too"

He blinked up at led to beat back his emotions "Do you knohere he is?"

I shook my head "I’m sorry I’m just as lost as you are in all of this I don’t knohat’s going on outside of this roo to happen when you and I leave, but I pro to make it okay Whatever that means Whatever I have to do I will make this okay" A tear rolled downhappen to you again I swear"

His face softened, and his lungs still rattled far more than I would have liked, but the fear had thankfully started to fade fros, and I nervously cutus closely, but her expression held no answers Not a hint of sure, let the boy do it or even no fucking way She just stared at me like I was supposed to kno to handle this

"Please," he whispered, drawing aze back to his

Brady would have lost his mind

But that text wasn’t about him

It wasn’t about me

It wasn’t even about Porter

It was about a scared little boy One who, in the span of a few hours, had had his whole life flipped upside down

And he wasthe wrath of Brady Boyd, that could have stopped , "Sure"

His eyes lit "Really?"

"Of course Go ahead I’ht now, but he’ll see it whenever he gets it back"

He s and toothy Just like his father And I didn’t e His lanced up at me

I could have spent the rest of rin at that screen

In those seconds, he looked a lot like the woht places I wasn’t sure if that woet the way she felt

And, right then, I knew thatit too

I heard the swoosh of the send button, and then he passedon his face, slow and steady breaths flowing fros

"My sister, Hannah, would like your phone"

My inner s Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I asked, "Oh yeah?"

"It’s purple She loves purple"

"What color do you love?" I asked to change the subject

"Uh" His eyes flashed around the rooreen Or h…I don’t know"

God, he was cute

"Both are good colors"

"My dad likes blue"

My heart dipped, but I kept s else "You’re right He does"

We stared at each other, al about Porter, and he was daring me to tell him to stop

But I wouldn’t I didn’t care that it felt like he isting a knife inat me like that

The door opened with a creak, and I turned to see Brady co back in, panic in his eyes, a first aid kit in his hand