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His lips brushed my temple. “Don’t you dare. This is not your fault.”
Of course, he knew where my head was going.
I blinked back tears. I’d managed to hold them in all these hours, but now, my head ached and my throat was raw from smoke inhalation and too much talking. “I’m so tired,” I rasped.
“Go to bed, sis. Get some rest. We’ll talk about everything when you wake up later.”
I didn’t know that things would look any better on the other side of sleep, but the idea of a few hours of attempted oblivion sounded like heaven. But first, a shower.
When I shoved up from the couch, Hoyt rose with me.
“No. I want a shower and a few hours alone.”
I registered the flash of hurt in his eyes and turned away before I caved. The seams of my control were fraying, and I didn’t want him there when they ripped. That wasn’t an intimacy I wanted to share with anyone. Not even him.
I made it up the stairs on my own. But as I turned on the water and stripped down, I couldn’t stop myself from considering the realities of what came next. We were free of our father. Maybe it was finally time for all of us to cut our losses and consider leaving the island.
No matter who we’d be leaving behind.
21
Hoyt
I stared after Caroline, feeling like I’d just been kicked in the gut. Somehow that hurt worse than the burns, worse than my raw throat and gritty eyes. It didn’t take a genius to see she was pulling away. That she’d taken everything Carson had said to heart and was blaming herself for all of this. And I didn’t know how to make it better for her. I didn’t know how to stop her from blowing us up in some deluded attempt to protect me.
Fucking Carson.
I’d never had reason to like the man, but I’d never truly despised him before. I did now. If he cost me Caroline…
“Lock it down,” Rios murmured.
I glanced up at the younger man, seeing the same rage simmering in his eyes. Something passed between us. An understanding we hadn’t had before. Sucking in a breath, I nodded.
Somehow I made it through shoveling in the breakfast Mom and Gabi made us, though I didn’t taste a thing. I let Mom fuss long enough to reassure herself I was really okay, then I claimed exhaustion—not a lie—and sent my family home to get their own rest.
The moment they were out of the house, Gabi seemed to deflate. “I’m going up for a nap, too.” She crossed over to me and slid in for a careful side hug. “Thank you for saving my sister.”
I’d never had a sister, but I found hugging her back wasn’t awkward. “Anytime.”
Her smile was a little wobbly around the edges. “You’re one of the good ones, Hoyt.”
“Thanks?” What else could I say to that?
She moved around the room, hugging Ford and Sawyer, in turn, before moving to her brother. Rios gave her a tight squeeze and sent her off with a murmur of something in Spanish that I didn’t understand, but held clear affection. None of us spoke as she trudged slowly upstairs. I considered making my own exit, but I understood Rios had things to say to me. Maybe I did to him, too. And I knew his friends were here to discuss next steps.
“You really care about her.” Rios’s soft voice wasn’t full of surprise or question. He said it as a calm statement of fact.
No pulling punches or pussy footing around it, then. That was fine. I didn’t have the energy for anything but straight shooting.
I turned to face him. “I’m in love with her.” No sense in hiding it. My actions last night had spelled it out clearly enough.
His steady gaze showed no surprise. “Have you told her?”
A million times in my head. “No. I’m not sure that would help the situation right now. She thinks she’s bad for me, all because of that fucking son of a bitch, Carson.”
The smile Rios flashed was bitter. “He’s certainly not winning any popularity contests with me.”
Too tired to keep standing, I dropped into one of the camp chairs. “Why does he hate your family so much?”
