Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
I nod. Maybe Cillian or Rory believe her, but I don’t. This has to do with Sloan. He hasn’t been happy with Tiernan lately. There’s a sick feeling in my gut that somehow this ties back to me. I don’t know how it would, how Sloan would know, but I can’t shake the guilt twisting me in knots that this is all my fault.
“Let me go get my phone.” She kisses my cheek before jogging to her room.
I toss a glance at Cillian, who shakes his head, telling me it doesn’t matter. Not right now. Still, these people have become my friends, if only because they know I’m Tiernan’s, and I like them, want to be a part of them. If I want them to ever trust me, to fully bring me in, I have to make some changes—namely, not hitting Cillian every time I’m pissed.
“I’m sorry. I’ll get better. I can’t fucking lose him.”
“You won’t. None of us will let that happen. But the only reason I didn’t take you down right there is because I know you only did it because you love Tiernan. If you want this, us, then that shit can’t happen again.”
Rory walks over and puts his hand on Cillian’s shoulder, standing in solidarity with him.
“I know. It won’t happen again.”
Aislin returns, her cell to her ear. “Hey, Mom. How are you?”
She’s quiet, and I assume it’s because her mom is speaking.
“That’s good. I just wanted to ask if you’ve seen Tiernan?” Another pause. “No, he just mentioned he might come and see you. I’m sure he’s with his boyfriend.”
My heart skips a beat hearing her call me that, but not in the same way as last time. This time it’s because I know it’s true, and I want it to be. I want his mom to know it too.
“How’s Dad?” she asks next. “Oh, he’s not home?” Aislin looks at us when she says it. “Did you guys do anything last night?”
We wait while she continues to ask questions in the most nonchalant way possible. If I didn’t know what was happening, I wouldn’t see what she was doing.
We all watch Aislin as she plays the game with her mom before she can reasonably get off the phone without it looking too obvious. The second she ends the call, she says, “My dad wasn’t home all night. That’s not unusual, but something is up. I know Tiernan. He wouldn’t have left without telling any of us unless he thought he didn’t have a choice. He wouldn’t have walked out of this house that late if it wasn’t for my father.”
“Fuck!” I shout, trying and failing not to lose my shit. “Why would he do this? It can’t be good, right?”
“He wouldn’t hurt Tiernan,” Aislin says.
The looks Rory and Cillian send my direction tell me they’re not so sure he wouldn’t. I don’t even know the motherfucker, but I agree with them.
“Should I call him? My dad, I mean?” Aislin wraps her arms around herself, the fear becoming real.
“When do you ever call him? He’ll know something’s up,” Rory says.
“Who cares if he knows?” I ask.
“I can call my dad,” Cillian says. “Feel him out. He’s a lot of things, but he loves Tiernan. Hell, I think he loves Tiernan more than me. He wouldn’t hurt him.” There’s an edge of hurt to Cillian’s voice that he does a bad job hiding.
“Uncle Rian loves you,” Aislin tells him.
“Not important.” Cillian makes the call but doesn’t learn anything new. Rian asks how they’re all doing, and he asks about Tiernan as if he expects Cillian to be with him.
“I don’t have parents, so I can’t call them,” Rory says.
“Jesus, Ror.” Cillian shakes his head.
“Me neither,” I add because as sad as that is to have in common with someone, it’s something Rory and I do share. “What do we do? Where do we look?”
“There are a million fucking places they could be,” Cillian says, “and right now, we’re jumping the gun. It’s probably just a fucking job, and Tiernan will come home pissed and all despondent like he does after hurting someone, and then he’ll be back to his normal asshole self.”
I don’t hold Cillian’s positive outlook. Should I tell them who I am? Without Tiernan here, they might think he doesn’t know, might not believe me, and then we’ll be distracted with my shit rather than worrying about Tiernan. Plus, I’m not sure that will do anything at this point except let them know I’m a fucking traitor and this is likely my fault.
“For now,” Rory says, “let’s get dressed and ready. If shit goes down, we need to be prepared. We’ll figure out what to do from there.”
I nod as if it’s that fucking easy to just shower and get dressed as if nothing is going on.