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.Youfight, you hear me?”
His eyelids twitch—barely.Or maybe I’m imagining it.Maybe I’m desperate.But I take it as a sign.
“You’re not alone,” I whisper, voice shaking.“Not now.Not ever.So take the fucking hand I’m holding out andcome back.”
A throat clears behind me.
I look up.
My mother.
“Mom,” I say.
“Hawk,” she chokes out.
I rise to give her my chair.
She nods, not offering any thanks.But now is not the time for me to bemoan the fact that my mother and I aren’t close.That’s just a fact of my life I accepted a long time ago.
The only person I have to worry about now is my brother.
And Mom, for all her faults, will take care of him no matter what.
I have to go the bathroom, anyway.“I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Mom ignores me, her hand clenching Eagle’s.“Please, baby.Please,” she murmurs.
I walk down to the end of the hallway where the bathrooms are, touch the door to the men’s room, when a voice stops me.
“Hawk?”
I turn.
Daniela stands there, looking more beautiful than ever.If only I could sink into her soft body at this very moment and forget everything else.
