Chapter Thirty-Seven
Corey
Corey lay awake long after Dom’s breathing evened out and his arm grew heavy on her hip. Thankfully the boys’ loud movie finally ended and the house was blissfully silent. She couldn’t seem to still her mind though. She kept going over the past couple weeks in her head, chastising herself for the things she didn’t do or the questions she never asked. She could have prevented all of this. Well, she probably couldn’t have saved Henderson, whatever had happened to him. But she could have saved Jasper, and maybe she could have started Jace on the path to getting the help he so desperately needed.
Instead, Jasper had spent two nights in a row in her living room healing his broken body, and Jace was MIA. Corey carefully moved Dom’s arm and got out of bed. She pulled on some yoga pants to go with the St. Leasing baseball shirt of Dom’s she’d been sleeping in. She headed, silently, into the kitchen where she saw Jasper’s cell phone plugged in on the bar. She reached for it, scrolling through missed calls and texts. He had a couple missed calls from his mom, and she recognized the names from some of the other boys on the team. When she checked his texts, she hit the jackpot.
Jace: Jasper call me. They are going to call my father.
Jace: I’m sorry, call me.
Jace: My father’s on his way here.
Jace: My father left. Leave before he finds you.
Jace: Are you okay? Please call me.
Jace: Jasper?
Nothing in the texts said where Jace was or if he was okay. But these texts showed that he did in fact feel remorse, and that he was worried about his brother. And that he feared his father. The texts showed that he was capable of love and emotion. He wasn’t so far gone that they could never bring him back. Suddenly, Jasper’s phone buzzed again in her hand, scaring the shit out of her.
Jace: I’m in the woods. Please come talk to me.
Did he mean the woods behind her house? Did he know this was where his brother was staying? Dom would kill her if he had any idea what she was about to do. Corey slipped on her flip-flops from where she kept them by the back door, and soundlessly snuck out of her own house. She sent Jace a text from Jasper’s phone.
Jace: Come meet me at the tree line.
She hoped like hell this didn’t backfire. She saw a dark form take shape at the edge of the woods. She walked toward whom she assumed—no, prayed—was Jace. “Jace, is that you?”
“Ms. Cooper? Where is Jasper?”
She narrowed her eyes, trying to see in the dark. “He’s inside, he’s sleeping. Where have you been? We’re all worried about you.”
“Why would anyone worry about me? I’m a monster, like my father. Right? That’s what you think.”
She shook her head. “No. Jace, please, let us help you. You’re right. Your father is a monster. But you aren’t. You’re a kid who has spent his life surviving the only way he knew how.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt Jasper so bad. I wanted to take his mind off the shift and punish him for losing control. You have to be punished or you won’t learn. But once I started I couldn’t stop. I kept thinking about how good he had it, how it could have just as easily been me with the great life and him living in hell. I snapped.”
“I understand completely.” She took a cautious step toward him. “Now that we know, that we understand, no one blames you. We can fix this. I can fix this if you’ll let me help you.”
“I don’t need your help. I don’t need anyone’s help. I can take care of myself. I have been for years. He was always away on business, and when he was home? Fuck, I wished he wasn’t.”
“I know you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. But you shouldn’t have to. Let us take care of you. Please let me help make things right.”
Jace grabbed his head and shouted out to the sky. “This is bullshit. Everything is so messed up.” He moved closer to her. “Do you know what I’ve lived through? Do you know what my father would do to me if he saw me freaking out like this? Do you? I’m not allowed to show my feelings. Feelings are weakness. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve heard the word weakness?”
“Corey.” Dom’s voice boomed across the night.
“Aww crap.” Corey took a deep breath. She could tell Jace had gone rigid. “Don’t leave, please don’t run.”
“Corey, what the fuck do you think you’re doing? I wake up and find you gone? And now you’re out in the woods?” His voice got louder the closer he got to them.
She prepared herself for the shit that was about to hit the fan when he saw who she was talking to in the dark, in the woods, alone. She turned to face him and put up her hands to stop him from getting any closer to Jace. “Dom, calm down. I’m fine. I checked Jasper’s phone and saw that Jace was out here and wanted to talk to his brother. I came out to make sure he was okay. Please take a few deep breaths and think like their coach, not like my mate.”
Dom’s breathing was heavy, his hands fisted at his side. He looked murderous, and his brows were drawn together. He did what she asked, but the deep scowl never left his face. He kept his eyes trained on her when he addressed his ballplayer. “Jace. Where have you been?”
“I’ve been here, hanging out in the woods. After my father left I followed him and Baze. I could hear what happened.” Jace looked down, his eyes closing for a brief moment. “I wanted to make sure Jasper was okay. I know what my father is capable of. Jasper doesn’t. Jasper knows he is harsh, but he doesn’t know about his temper or his aggression.”
“Why didn’t you come knock on the door?” Dom seemed to deflate some.
“I knew that after what I did to Jasper… Well, I figured you thought I was crazy. I figured that I was going to be kicked out of school. I can’t go back to living with my father full time. I won’t go back. I’ll run.”
“Jace, you never have to go back to him.” Corey took a step toward him, slowly, afraid he would bolt if she tried to touch him. “Do you hear me? Ever. I will do everything in my power to make sure of that.”
“Corey.” Dom’s voice was hard, a warning that he was seconds away from losing the little bit of patience he’d mustered.
“Come here, Jace.” Corey put her arm out, letting it be his decision. It took several seconds of them staring at each other before he ducked into her embrace. She let out the breath she’d been holding. “All right, buddy, it’s all right now. We’ll go inside, and you can see your brother. He’s been worried about you too.”