The tension in his body eases slightly. With rosy cheeks, Z adds a shy half-wave as they slip out the door.
The moment they’re gone, I pull out my phone and call Stas. It goes straight to voicemail.
I call the hospital next, and a receptionist connects me to the neurology unit where a nurse informs me that Beau is no longer in their care.
What. The. Fuck.
Fear drags hot claws through me. Immediately, I hang up and call Beau.
“...you’ve reached Beau Whitaker. I’m probably on stage shredding right now, so leave me a message—”
“Damn it!”
Why didn’t he tell me he was released? I could have picked him up.
Is that why Stas left? Do they not want me anymore?
Rushing to lock up, I speed home to find a random car parked in front of my porch. I knock on the driver’s window. The guy apprehensively rolls it down.
“Who the fuck are you?” I demand.
Alarmed by my aggression, he holds out his phone with the Uber app displayed. “Uh, I’m here to pick up Beau?”
My pulse hammers in my ears as I storm into my house. I nearly collide with Beau coming down the stairs, his backpack slung over his shoulder. There’s still fucking tape residue from the IV on his arm.
“Liam.”
His panicked tone shreds me. I think about how wrecked Hail was last year when Z left him for Ireland. How I’d held him in a hotel room while he collapsed and cried until he was nothing more than a husk.
My heart rate spikes. “Explain.”
Dropping his head, Beau slips past me. No matter how much I want to grab him and demand answers, I refuse to lay hands on him like that. I have no right to be upset if he wants to leave me.
I left him once.
His hand rests on the doorknob, and then I’m breathing too fast.
“Fuckingreally, Beau? Will youtalkto me for a minute?”
I have no right to be mad at him. I know that. But I’m not in control of my feelings right now, and it’s a terrifying thought.
“Did this summer mean nothing to you?” I ask in a softer tone.
The hand not clutching the doorknob balls into a fist. “Fuck. It meant everything, Liam.”
“Then stay. Don’t break her heart. I’ll step aside.”
He turns around and brings his body flush against mine, tears glistening in his eyes. “What’s it gonna take for you to forgive yourself?”
My breaths are coming in short, hot pants. “I don’t know.”
His head falls to my shoulder, and I give in to the need to slide my arms around him. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Beau chokes on a laugh. “You don’t know how badly I’ve wanted those words from you.”
“Then stay,” I repeat.
He buries his face in myshirt. “Liam. Ican’t.”
