Page 28 of Acceptance
Hailey climbs off the back of Colt’s bike and helps Lindsey off of Gavin’s once they reach the clubhouse. All she wants to do is climb into bed with Gavin and feel his protective arms around her, but she doesn’t have the right to ask. Not anymore. He has the waitress now.
Until tonight, Hailey had gone her entire life not needing a single person to save her. Now, she finally understands what Lucas has been telling her. These people love her no matter how difficult she makes it to do so. She has to learn how to let people love her.
“Gavin, bring Lindsey to one of the empty apartments, and then find some clothes in your dad’s apartment for her to sleep in. You’re safe here, Lindsey. I promise you that,” Colt says.
Gavin doesn’t look too happy, but he does as he’s told without argument. “Come on, Lindsey.”
“Wait, you’re Gavin? Like, Hailey’s Gavin?” Lindsey asks him. “The one sleeping with the waitress?”
Hailey wants to laugh. She wants to find something amusing in this entire situation, but she just can’t. Even when Gavin simply mutters, “Something like that.”
They follow behind into the clubhouse, and Lucas dives at her and nearly knocks her down as he clings to her. His arms wrap around her so tightly that she struggles to breathe, but it doesn’t matter. She holds him right back.
“I’m okay.”
There were moments she couldn’t stop worrying that she’d never see her brother again. Either of them. And not seeing Calla grow up felt like a special kind of torture.
“I was so scared, Hails,” Lucas says, and his tears hit her T-shirt over the uncomfortable lingerie.
His fears break her, and she bursts into tears of her own, her legs giving way. Her brother holds her up, and she can’t fight the reality anymore. Something worse than she’s ever experienced before almost happened, and she needed help to get out of it. She needed her family.
“I love you, Lucas. I’m sorry I didn’t say it before. God, please know what I said the last time we spoke kept haunting me. If that was the last thing you ever heard me say, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”
“I know,” he whispers. “Me, too. And I love you, too.”
Regaining her footing, she releases him and wipes her eyes. Lex stands next to Lucas, but she waits to reach out to her. In this moment, she can no longer ignore how patient Lex has beenwith her. Still is with her. She’s let Hailey pick the pace of their relationship, and she’s respecting boundaries.
New tears form, and she throws herself at Lex. The only real mother figure she’s had since she was eight. Lex holds her tightly and whispers, “Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?”
Shaking her head, Hailey sniffles. “Just bruises and cuts from zip ties. Colt showed up just in time.”
“Grayson said he talked to someone in Riverview, and they’re sending out a crew of people to the building. They’ll take care of the girls,” Lex tells Colt as she continues to hold Hailey.
“Good,” Colt says, his hand reaching out to rest on Hailey’s shoulder. “There were so many girls there. I can’t remember a time I’ve wanted to murder so many people at once.”
Pulling away, Hailey wipes her eyes. “Thank you.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Lex asks, leading her to a chair. “Kent, can you grab us some water?”
Kent Conway. The same year as Gavin and a legacy Prospect, too. Hailey can’t remember which member he belongs to in this moment, but she gives him a small smile in thanks when he hands her the drink. She doesn’t remember the last time she ate or drank anything.
Lucas disappears, and she worries about him. She’d go after him, but she’s so tired.
“I knew something was wrong,” she says. “I didn’t do this, Lex, I swear.”
“No one thinks you did.”
Her lip trembles. “It’s still my fault. I’m so sorry. I was mad, and that’s why I lied and told Lindsey I didn’t have any family. That I was an orphan. This never would have happened if I wasn’t so stubborn.”
“Hailey—”
“Lindsey started seeing Gary. I didn’t meet him until last night, and I knew something was wrong. He kept buying herclothes to make her look both younger and slutty at the same time. She already looks twelve without all that. She has fucking unicorn sheets, for crying out loud. And fuckingCare Bearson the wall.”
She isn’t sure if Lex is about to tell Hailey that she didn’t lie to Lindsey, so she interrupts and jump into the story. The last thing she can handle now is being told she’s passed over too many chances, and she’s not their family.
“Lindsey didn’t think it was weird?” Colt asks.
“She’s from an overprotective family in rural Oregon. She just liked that a guy wanted her. He came to the dorm last night for the first time, and I knew something was off the moment I laid eyes on him. I’d turned off my phone when Lucas called, and I slipped it into my pants without him noticing.”
