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thought about another man, she d drag him to the church and have his ass in a confessional
so fast he wouldn t have time to protest. Right after she told him what an abomination he
was and how he was going to burn in Hell. She loved him, but she loved her religion more,
having found comfort in it after Ian Calhoun seduced her and tossed her aside. Nick couldn t
blame her for it, but he didn t share her enthusiasm at all. It was a sore spot between them,
but she was still the only family he had, wasn t she? Annabelle wouldn t hate him any less
than she did just because they shared half the same DNA, and Rory would likely follow her
lead.
And Josh had told him to leave, so there wasn t any reason for him to hang around
any longer. Nick stuffed down the emotion that threatened to surface. He wasn t going to let
himself feel anything from now on. He d go back to the occasional date with a woman to get
laid and forget about Josh and all the things he wanted to do to the man.
Nick snorted and zipped up his grooming kit. He didn t even know what he wanted to
do to Josh. Or what he wanted Josh to do to him. Had wanted Josh to do to me. No more. But
Nick s heart and brain weren t paying attention, because both seemed to race at the thought
of touching Josh, being touched by him.
Goddamnit! Nick pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled his mother s line. It
was more effective than an ice bath, hearing her strident voice through the phone. After a
brief conversation letting her know he d be returning, Nick turned his phone of and, after
one last look around the hotel room to make sure he d got everything, he closed the door and
went to the front office to turn in his key card. Fifteen minutes later, he was out of the county
and telling himself he d be glad to never see Josh again. Maybe eventually he d even believe
it.
WHAT MATTERS MOST Bailey Bradford
80
* * * *
You re sure? Josh asked again, sweat slicking his palms and beading on his brow
and above his top lip. His pits felt absolutely drenched, which was disgusting, but it was
summer in south Texas, i.e., Hell.
Evan nodded again and gave a put upon sounding sigh. I told you, I know what I
saw. He looked devastated. If I m wrong, your pride takes a hit. If I m right, well, maybe you
get a happy ending, huh? Or at least a happy beginning and something to work towards.
Josh wasn t sure about that, but if he d hurt Nick& he just couldn t stand the idea. And
he was still going to be in deep shit with everyone, he hadn t forgotten that and told Evan as
much.
Evan rolled his eyes and nodded. Well, yeah, they re gonna be upset, but they love
you well, Rory probably just likes you, but he s got a soft heart and Annabelle and Justin
will eventually stop hollering and just want you to be happy. I ll probably catch hell, too, for
not telling them immediately, but we ll get past it.
Great. Josh slumped down in the seat, feeling more like shit than he d ever thought
possible. Now he d got Evan into another secret, albeit one he wouldn t have to keep long,
but still. His mood plummeted even further when they turned into the parking lot of the
hotel Officer Stanton had told them Nick was staying in. The big black truck was nowhere to
be seen.
Shit, Evan muttered, slowing his own truck down before stopping in front of the
lobby. Maybe he went for a drive to cool off.
Josh couldn t even utter a token agreement. He could barely breathe as panic wrapped
his muscles in steel bands and squeezed his heart painfully. It didn t get any better when
they got out and walked into the lobby, where the clerk informed them that Nick had
checked out almost an hour ago. Josh s knees went all wobbly on him and little grey dots
littered his vision. Only Evan s strong arm around his waist kept Josh upright.
Come on, I ll take you home. The sympathy in Evan s voice tore at Josh, making his
eyes fill and tears spill over before he could stop them. Josh, don t, we ll& we ll do
something. We can keep this between ourselves for a few days, maybe
No, Josh croaked, his nose burning and stuffing up at the same time. No more
secrets. I ve already fucked up everything. Take me to your place.
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81
Evan hustled him outside and gently helped him into the truck. He didn t close the
passenger door, instead halting Josh s attempts at buckling up by grasping his trembling
hand. Josh looked at Evan, or tried to through the deluge of tears.
You should get some rest, maybe try to call Nick or text him, explain why you told
him to leave, Evan urged, squeezing his hand. Take care of that first. If you want, I can
even talk to Annabelle, tell her what s happened and why
Josh shook his head. I should have said something sooner. I can t possibly feel any
worse than I do right now, and I am not letting you do what I should have done to begin
with. I ll& I ll think about calling Nick, once I talk to Annabelle and everyone else I have to
grovel to. I just want to get it over with. Get all the bad parts out of the way so he could
figure out what to do. Right now he couldn t think for the weight of the guilt bearing down
on him.
I don t think Evan began. Josh cut him off immediately.
It s my mistake, my choice, my responsibility to make it right. Take me or I ll get
there myself.
Evan let go of his hand and took a step back, watching him like Josh was a couple of
aces short of a deck. All right, we do it your way, but I m not letting it turn into a shouting
match.
Josh almost laughed at that. As if Evan could stop either of his lovers from
rightfully chewing his ass. He snapped his seatbelt in place then looked at Evan. The man
looked serious, and that could cause problems for Evan, Justin and Annabelle.
I want you to stay out of it no matter what, Josh said, rushing to finish when Evan
opened his mouth to protest. I have enough guilt to crush me right now, don t pile more on
by arguing with your lovers, okay? I can t handle it, but I can handle their tempers. He d
had plenty of practice dealing with Justin s, and he d calmed Annabelle down from a hissy
more than once.
Fine, Evan muttered tersely. I don t like it, and they wouldn t toss me aside for
defending you, but I will try to stay out of it. That s the best I can promise.
Josh nodded as Evan shut the door. If that was all he could get from Evan, he d have
to take it.
WHAT MATTERS MOST Bailey Bradford
82
Chapter Twelve
Every mile he put between him and Josh spiked the duelling emotions of anger and
despair in Nick. He was gripping the steering wheel so hard he figured his hands were going
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