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“But…”

Calvin chuckles, and she turns to shoot him a glare that many men would be scared of, but he doesn’t look fazed in the slightest.

“Oh my god,” she suddenly gasps. “Was it him?”

“Who?” Calvin asks.

“It doesn’t matter. The night didn’t exactly go as I’d hoped, so …”

I slip past them, not wanting to think about what happened tonight, let alone talk about it.

“So what? Come on, you can’t say things like that and then try to escape. Wasn’t he who he said he was? Was he a woman?”

I don’t respond for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to even answer those questions.

“No. He was exactly as I thought and hoped he would be.”

“So what’s the issue?”

“It’s…He’s…”

Sienna’s eyes widen, desperate for me to give her more.

“It’s complicated,” I finally settle on. It’s the understatement of the century, but what else do I say? I can hardly tell them the truth.

I want to. God, do I want to. But I would never betray Nash like that.

His secret is sacred. If and when he wants the world to know who he really is, it’s up to him to come clean.

“Are you going to see him again?” she asks, not willing to leave it there.

“I have no idea,” I say honestly. “I want to, but…It’s not just about me, is it?”

As I step into her guest room, those words press heavily on my shoulders because of how painfully true they are.

It’s not about me. And something tells me it’s not about him, either.

It’s about whoever was on the other end of that phone call.

18

COOPER

“It’s okay, bud,” I assure Huxley as he explains that Ryker had a nightmare and his usual tricks aren’t working.

“I tried everything. He won’t calm down. I think he’s having a panic attack.”

I drag my hands down my face, forgetting what I just walked away from, and focus on the situation at hand.

No matter what profile I put my cell on, there are two numbers that will always make it ring. It doesn’t happen all that often in the middle of the night. In fact, I can’t remember the last time Huxley needed support. Not that I think that means Ryker hasn’t been having his regular nightmares.

It fucking kills me that my little brother is on the other side of the country and suffering. I wish I could be there. I wish I could pull him into my arms and tell him that everything will be okay. That the nightmares will fade eventually.

Honestly, I don’t know if that’s true or not. The kid has been through some trauma I can only try to understand. For all I know, these nightmares will haunt him for the rest of his life.

I pray they don’t, though. It’s bad enough that he’s haunted by the memories of that night during the day. He doesn’t need to be tormented by them when he’s trying to get some rest, too.

“Put me on speaker, Hux.”