Page 58 of Until Him

“Well, that’s much, much worse!”

Theo chuckles. “But, contrary to popular belief, squirrels don’t carry rabies. So, you can let go of me now.”

“Really? Wow, you really are like a walking encyclopedia. Did you—” My words are suddenly cut off when a squirrel leaps out of the leaves and lands directly in front of me.

A squeal of epic proportions bursts from my mouth and Theo doubles over laughing hysterically as I hop and dance away from the tiny possessed creature.

But this isn’t fucking funny. It’s chasing me around in circles and trying to nip at my ankles with its sharp, pointy demon teeth.

“Oh. My. God,” he cackles, tears streaming down his face as he watches me kick out at the evil fluffball. Finally, it gets the message and scampers away back under the brush. I just stand there and scowl at Theo. He’s still laughing so hard he’s crying and I try my best not to smile at him because he looks so fucking sexy all happy like that. His eyes are even twinkling.

“That sound you made…” he says as he swipes at his eyes. “Who knew a giant man like you could scream like a seven-year-old girl.”

“Well,” I huff. “You obviously haven’t seen my dad encounter a spider.”

Theo takes a deep breath. “Jesus, I haven’t laughed like that in ages.”

“Well, I’m glad someone enjoyed my near heart attack. I’m never recovering from this, you know.”

I nudge him again and the two of us make our way down the trail, my eyes constantly scanning for the squirrel.

I hate the woods. Everything in the woods is just pure nightmare fuel.

When we catch up to Landon and Finn, they’re just standing in the middle of the trail staring back at us.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as we approach. “Why are we stopping?”

“We were just watching you scream like Dad,” Landon says, a smile on his face.

I glance down at his leg and then run a hand through my hair.

“Yeah, well it’s not my fault the squirrel had it out for me,” I mutter, my eyes still on his leg.

He huffs loudly. “Logan, will you stop staring at my damn prosthetic? I haven’t had a leg in a fucking year. I’m used to it by now and I’d really hoped you would be too.”

My cheeks heat and my words come out stammered. How can he talk about it so calmly, like it’s no big deal? It’s huge. My mistake changed his entire life.

“Stop looking at me like that. I hate it,” he says and then leans into Finn. “Tell him. Tell him I’m fine.”

Finn clears his throat, his arm snaking around Landon’s waist.

“He really is fine, Logan. I’ve told you this.”

I swallow roughly and feel my eyes begin to sting again. Goddammit, here I go again. I’m turning into a fountain; kids are going to start making wishes and throwing coins at me.

I feel pressure against my side, and realize Theo is leaning up against me.

“Come on, Logan,” he says softly. “I want to see what’s up ahead. Plus, we should keep moving in case the squirrel comes back.”

I glance over at my brother and see the pity in his eyes. He knows. He so knows why I’ve been avoiding him.

Shit.

“Landon…” I begin but he just shakes his head.

“It’s fine, Logan. Let’s just keep going, yeah? I want to be done in time for lunch.”

I swallow and nod. Okay, yeah, he doesn’t want to ruin the day by rehashing it. I get it. I’m making this weird.

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