“How do I get over this?” he asked Ethan. “How do I forget this happened, and start to live again?”
Blackhawk was honest.
“You’ll have to talk it out at some point. With us, with your parents, or with a therapist. Maybe with Will.”
His heart hurt.
He’d been thinking about him.
A lot.
“I’m breaking up with Will,” he whispered. “I can’t be with him anymore.”
Ethan hurt for him. He knew how much the man loved Corbin, and how much he cared about Will. He’d wanted to marry him after one day.
That said a lot.
“He loves you, Corby.”
Honestly, Corbin couldn’t face it.
The shame, the horror, and the pain were too much to bear. There was no way his life would go back to normal again, and he couldn’t saddle him with a broken shell. Corbin didn’t think he’d ever be able to have sex again.
The mere idea made him ill.
“When I get out, can I borrow your phone?” he asked.
Ethan wanted to say no, but he’d just told Alice to be neutral and let the man heal how he wanted. Breaking up with Will wasn’t a good plan.
“I love him, so I have to let him go,” he whispered, the tears falling.
Ethan was to the point.
“Yes, you can, but I’m going to ask that you give it a day. Once you dump someone, they don’t come back, Corbin. Make sure it’s what you really want to do.”
Corbin knew he was right, but he was also pretty sure Will wouldn’t want him now.
Who would?
He was damaged goods.
Because he needed to change the subject, he did.
“I’m sorry that I washed away the evidence,” he added. “I’m sorry I’m not strong enough to face them in court.”
Ethan stared into the shower at him.
“You’re stronger than you believe. You’re the strongest person I know, Corbin. If you want to get through this, you will. I believe in you.”
The tears dripped.
“I want to heal,” he said. “I want to go back two days ago and not do this job. I’m so sorry I went undercover. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”
Ethan said nothing.
Instead, he let him vent and get it off of his chest.
“I thought I had it,” he said. “I thought I was good, but I was an idiot,” he stated. “They told me that I had to see the room in the back ofBull’s,” he added. “I should have known it was bad. I never thought…”
