“Promise me that you both will be a better man than I ever was.”

Time stood still and then stretched impossibly long as each person in the room waited to see what Keenan and Keiran would decide.

At once, they finally nodded, offering some small mercy and comfort to the dying man who was the only father either of them had ever known.

I expected more.

Redemption.

Acceptance.

Love.

In the end, John died and neither of them ever shed a tear.

* * * * *

No one knew what to say so no one said a thing. It was devastating how unexpected and pointless death could be. The doctor announcing the time of death still echoed in my head.

What do you say to someone whose father just died?

Are you okay?

Sorry for your loss?

It’s going to be okay?

The real tragedy was in the lack of emotion that followed his death. Keenan and Keiran had both walked away without looking back. The only one who couldn’t seem to get a hold of their emotions was Lake.

Dash had agreed to take Kennedy to our parents’ home for the night, leaving me his car while he hitched a ride with Q. I paced the hall while Keenan and Keiran talked to the doctors searching for something to say.

When someone dies, you grieve. I didn’t know John all that well due to his absence, but he had become someone I could count on for Kennedy in the last four years.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed when Keenan approached and stood in front of me, watching.

“Are you okay?” The raspy sound of his voice drew my attention.

“I’m supposed to be asking you that.” He only shrugged, and I watched his emotionless eyes stare back at me blankly. “Keenan… what’s going on in your head?”

“My father just died. I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Talk to me. You have to feel something. I know you do.”

“I couldn’t even tell my own father that I loved him before he died and you know why? Because I didn’t. I couldn’t fucking love him. Our history is too ugly. How the hell will I ever be able to love my own kid?”

“Keenan, sometimes it’s not that simple. You’re not your father and Kennedy isn’t you.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t think that’s a chance I’m willing to take any more.”

And just like that, for the second time in my life, he walked away from me. Only this time, I followed. Right through the hospital doors and into the night.

During a less emotional time in the future, I may wonder why I chased after him. He sped from the hospital grounds, and I struggled to keep Keenan in my sights as I raced behind him. The roads were slippery from rain and traffic seemed to pour from every direction.

He was leaving.

How could he leave?

Why was I trying to stop him?

His father had just died, and without missing a beat, his only thought had been to get away. Maybe it was just for a few hours, but the look in his eyes had sent warning signals to my gut not to let him get away.

The course of this night would lead into forever, and it was up to me to choose the path. Right or wrong. I had to choose.

So I did.

“Come on, Keenan. Please slow down. Slow down. Slow…”

He shot through an intersection just as the light turned red and I had no choice but to floor it so as not to lose him. It was a mistake that became apparent by the blinding lights of an oncoming car, hindering my ability to see even more but it was too late anyway. I had never heard a worse sound than metal crunching and grinding, and there was no greater fear than the fear of falling.

Actually, that was untrue. The feeling like you were going to die was greater. The fear of all you would leave behind by dying was the greatest of them all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

KEENAN

I NEEDED TO turn around. Something was telling me to turn around, but which would I be listening to if I did—my head or my heart?

Rain poured by the boatload making it hard to see. I sped through the streets heading for the exit out of Six Forks.

My father was dead, and I couldn’t feel a damn thing. Tonight proved how empty I was, and I couldn’t get out of my head how Sheldon looked at me.

Like I was evil, unworthy, and cold. At least that’s how I felt. I couldn’t place the blame on her.

The stoplight up ahead turned yellow and I had to make the choice to stop or speed through. I chose the latter because stopping meant having the chance to look back.

I made it through just as the light turned red and thought I was home free until a series of horns blasted around me. At first, I chalked it up to disgruntled drivers until I looked in the rearview in time to see a car stupidly follow behind me. The car was quickly t-boned and spun out of control until a pole stopped it. Painfully, I watched the car wrap violently around the pole.

There was no way the driver could have survived.

In the space of seconds, the world seemed to stop when I recognized the car. It belonged to Dash, but he had left earlier with Kennedy and caught a ride with Q.

Fuck.

Sheldon.

I jerked the car to the side and hit the ground running. A crowd formed around the wreck, and I had to muscle through to get to her. The car had flipped over and was completely totaled.

Desperation and shame flooded my senses. Sheldon had been chasing after me.

I did this.

“Young man, you shouldn’t get too close. The car is leaking gas.”

A quick inspection of the ground confirmed the older woman’s warning. Already, I could hear sirens in the background, but I couldn’t wait for them. I called out to Sheldon, but when she didn’t answer or move, I realized she was unconscious. Blood leaked from her head and given her recent head injury, it made the situation all the more detrimental.

I yanked on the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. The glass was completely shattered so I reached inside cutting my arm and hand in the process. No matter how hard I shoved and yanked and pounded, the door wouldn’t budge. I ran around and tried all four until the rear passenger door gave way.

“Oh, dear,” the older lady from before gasped. “Son, you better get away and wait for help to come. That pole is beginning to spark.”

It didn’t take an explanation to know what would happen if a single spark reached the ground and gas that traveled closer to the pole by the second.

I refused to lose my father and her in the same night.

“Son, get away from there. You’re going to get yourself killed,” a faceless voice yelled from the crowd. There was no way I was leaving her or standing by for help. If it came to it, I would die with her.

Without her, I was dead anyway.

I crawled inside just as she began to come to, and I said a quick, silent prayer that she was still alive and reached out for her.

Screams ripped through the air, and when I looked back, I saw a single spark falling. I watched it fall for all of two seconds and then moved with renewed determination. I reached out again, but just as I did, hands grabbed onto me, pulling me away.

“No!” I screamed and clawed at the hands grabbing me, but there were too many pulling me further away. The spark had now reached the ground and raced toward the car. I threw an elbow and my head back, not caring who was on the receiving end and managed to break free.

Adrenaline surged through my veins.

On my hands and knees, I scrambled for the car once again and dove in without hesitation. I ripped the seatbelt away and caught her just as the car caught the first fire. Instantly, I could feel the flames heating my skin. Smoke filled the car making it hard to see, and the way I came in was already engulfed leaving my only way out through the driver’s door.