Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“Oh?”
“Yeah. He’s strong in a way that is hard to describe. He’s always concerned with what’s right.”
I nod. “I can tell that about him already.”
“He’s always been that way. If he thinks something is unjust, it bothers him.” She looks at my ice cream bowl. “Come on. Let’s sit down with the others before that mass of ice cream melts.”
We walk back to the table, and I sit down next to Vinnie on the end. Raven sits across from him.
“Where are Falcon and Savannah?” Raven asks, pointing to two unfinished bowls of ice cream on the table.
“Falcon got a call, and he left to take it,” Robin says. “Savannah went with him.”
“Baby,” Vinnie says to Raven, “I’m going to need to head home after the ice cream. I have a meeting that I can’t miss. Do you want to stay?”
“Yeah, I think I’ll stay,” Raven says. “But you could probably take Daniela home.”
“Did you need a ride, Daniela?” Vinnie asks me.
I sigh. Hawk drove me here. “Yeah, I could use one.”
“Okay. We’ll finish our ice cream and you and I will leave. You keep us posted,” he says to Raven.
“Absolutely.”
Robin, who’s sitting next to Raven, glances to her sister. “I feel terrible about all of this, but mostly for Hawk.”
Raven raises her eyebrows. “Hawk?”
“Yeah, this is going to hit him hard. Hawk likes to be the fixer of the family. He’s going to blame himself for this.”
Vinnie clears his throat and wipes his lips on his napkin. “I don’t mean to be blunt here”—he glances at Star, who’s in her own world, watching her ice cream melt—“but this is Eagle’s fault and Eagle’s fault alone.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Robin says.
Star lets out a choking sob.
Raven rises. “For the love of God, Robbie.” She helps Star up. “Come on, Mom. Let’s go to the bathroom and get you fixed up.”
Once they’re gone, Robin glances at Vinnie and me. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to upset your fiancée.”
“She’s fine,” Vinnie says. “I’m the one who said it first. You just agreed with me.”
“Still—”
Vinnie holds up his hand to stop Robin. “We’re all just worried, and Raven always says that Eagle was her baby.”
Robin nods. “I know. She considers herself his second mother. I shouldn’t have been so cynical. The thing is that Hawk and I kind of have a middle-child bond.”
“But you and Raven are twins,” I say.
“We are, but Raven was really close to Mom growing up because she’s so much like her. And she was born first. Falcon’s the oldest, and Eagle’s the baby. So that left Hawk and me stuck in the middle.”
“I get it.”
“It’s just so strange, though,” Robin says. “Eagle’s been clean for eight years. Eight freaking years. Why would he use now?”
“Maybe because of your father?” I say.
Robin inhales. “I’ve thought of that. But Eagle is… Don’t get me wrong. I love my brother and I want him to pull through more than anything, but Eagle isn’t one to really put others before himself. Part of being the baby, I guess.”
Vinnie nods. “Raven is a bit blind when it comes to Eagle, but even though I haven’t known this family for long, I’ve been able to see that side of him.”
“And then Hawk…” Robin begins.
My ears perk up at Hawk’s name.
“He’s the opposite of Eagle. He puts others first all the time. Even to his own detriment sometimes.”
I nod.
It all makes a certain kind of sense.
Robin and Hawk have that particular kind of closeness born not from being the oldest or the baby, but from being the bridges. The peacekeepers. The ones who learn to stretch in both directions to keep the family from falling apart.
That’s Hawk. Always reaching, always holding. Not loud, not flashy. Just there. Quietly catching what others drop.
I think about what it means, that bond. The way he sees people. The way he tries to fix everything. Not the way he looks, though he’s the best-looking man I’ve ever seen. But the way he moves through the world like it’s his responsibility to make it better for the people he loves.
And I wonder—dangerously—what it would be like to be one of those people.
I smile. Maybe I already am.
Except…
He basically told me to go away.
5
HAWK
“Come on,” I whisper, gently nudging my brother. “Come on, man. Don’t do this, Eagle.”
His name catches in my throat like it doesn’t belong there, like saying it might make it real.
“You don’t get to quit,” I say through gritted teeth. “You don’t get to check out like this, you son of a bitch. You promised me, remember? You said you were done. You said you’d fight. So fucking fight.”
My voice cracks, but I don’t stop. I won’t stop.
“You’re my brother. You don’t get to leave me like this.” My hands tremble, my breath short. “I don’t care how tired you are. I don’t care how dark it got. You fight, you hear me?”