Chapter 6

Ten Years Earlier

Sage’s attorney had contacted my dad to let us know that the bail hearing was scheduled at ten a.m. the next morning. London came with her mom, who sat in the front row of the courtroom. I sat on the left of London, her hand clasped tightly in mine, with my parents sitting right behind us.

Geoff, the attorney my father retained, indicated there was really no reason for any of us to be at the bail hearing because it would take all of fifteen minutes for the proceeding to occur. But nothing and no one was going to keep us from seeing Sage for the first time in three days.

Geoff spent a few minutes outside in the hallway when we got there explaining the process, but I spent that time holding London in my arms, trying to comfort and reassure her that it would all be all right. My dad had promised to do anything he could to post bail for Sage if it was granted.

Geoff warned us that in cases like murder and domestic violence, bail was normally denied by the judge unless there was no previous criminal history and there was little worry over Sage fleeing. In that case, the typical bond could be from a hundred thousand dollars up to a million dollars.

A million dollars in this small, redneck town was unheard of. And no way could my dad come up with that kind of cash. And neither could London’s family, even if her dad was willing to contribute.

None of that mattered, though, the first moment we locked eyes on Sage.

When he shuffled into the courtroom, his eyes were cast downward, avoiding our eye contact altogether. I’d half expected him to be in a bright orange jumpsuit and handcuffs behind his back. Instead, he wore his tattered jean jacket, an old concert t-shirt, old worn jeans with the knees ripped and his Converse.

The sight of him, his face bruised and purplish from the broken nose, his arm in a cast and the exhausted circles underneath his eyes had London immediately crying out.

“Sage,” she gasped, as I wrapped my arm tighter around her waist to hold her up as she swayed into me.

I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “We need to be strong for him, sweetheart. He needs that from us now more than ever. Can you do that?”

It was like seeing one of those inflatable balloons that was withered and collapsed, inflate with air and stand tall as London found her resolve. She stood up straight, shifting her shoulders back and nodded in agreement.

Because we were in the front row as the attorney and Sage sat in front of us, London bent down, stretching out her arm to reach for Sage. She touched the top of his shoulder, squeezing him with a reassuring gesture.

“We love you, Sage. We’re here for you.”

Sage ignored her, his head bowed in defeat and defiance, his exterior shell and armor in place for all the world to see. It was his “fuck all” attitude that he gave to the general public. The one that protected his heart from being hurt.

London and I were the only ones who really knew the true Sage. The light within him that would shine bigger and bolder than even a harvest moon in August.

The guy sitting in that courtroom, ignoring us with his steely aloofness, was not our friend Sage. This one was the product of a mean, abusive drunk and a system that didn’t care about boys who are beaten by their own fathers.

I watched as my father chatted quietly with Geoff and London blotted her eyes with some Kleenex her mother had handed her. I could feel the tension ripple off Sage’s shoulders. The anger and hostility that brewed just underneath the surface. The pain that lingered there like a thousand-pound boulder that he’d been carrying around for years.

I was so pissed that this is how things landed for Sage. Could this all have been prevented? Hindsight being twenty-twenty, the guilt ate away at my conscience. We should’ve spoken up before. Done something to get Sage out of his house and away from that cruel man.

“All rise for the Honorable Judge Bettencourt.”

There were close to twenty people in the courtroom, including those who work in the court system and other attorneys who were awaiting their clients’ hearings. I stood up on shaky legs, assisting London with a gentle grip on her elbow. The room suddenly felt like the air had been syphoned from it and I found it hard to breathe.

If Sage didn’t get bail, or my dad couldn’t afford to post his bond, I didn’t know what we’d do. Or how London would be able to handle it. Or how Sage would survive it.

If Sage was remanded to jail, I couldn’t bear it.

He was part of our lives for thirteen years. I didn’t know who I was without Sage and London in my orbit. I knew I couldn’t live without him. I’d suffocate and die without them.

The gavel’s harsh thud rang out and snatched me from my reverie. We sat down and I kept close tabs on the back of Sage’s head. Geoff leaned over to Sage and whispered something in his ear and Sage gave a curt nod. From the angle in which his face was visible to me, I could see the tight-lipped expression demonstrating his mood.

Solemn.

Angry.

Scared.

Alone.

Goddamn it. Had I pushed for Sage to come to prom with us, this would never have happened. The only reason I didn’t was because I was a selfish bastard and I’d wanted London all to myself at the dance. I didn’t want to share her that night and wanted her alone for as long as I could have her. So, when Sage told us he had to work that night and that he would meet us later at the hotel, I was thrilled because it meant London would be mine alone for a few hours.

I loved Sage – maybe more than I’d ever admitted to him. When we’d all been together sexually, it turned me on to greater heights with just the way he looked at me and watched us with that unapologetic heat in his gaze. Or the brief brushes of his skin against mine. Or the way he allowed me to let go when he took charge. It was so fucking hot.

But I also wanted to know what it was like to be one on one with London. How it felt not to have to share her with Sage.

I blinked and cleared my mind of the hot thoughts and memories that swirled in my head, covertly adjusting my dick that had grown semi-hard with the erotic memories.

All I knew for certain was that the outcome of that hearing better be a positive one so that Sage could come home with us.

 

Because I wanted more time with him before I had to ship off to boot camp.