Hard to Hold on To by Laura Kaye Read Free Book Online Page B

swallow drew Easy’s gaze to his friend’s face. More than a little emotion was visible there. “What y’all did . . . and that you were willing to do it . . . for them and for me, it means a lot.”
    “We’re family,” Nick said simply, as if that said everything. And it did, didn’t it?
    “Family,” Beckett said, nodding.
    “You know it, McCallan. Dysfunctional misfits and all,” Marz said, pushing out of his chair enough to clasp hands with Shane from across the desk. “Charlie, that includes you, too,” he called over his shoulder.
    “Oh, sure,” Charlie said with a smirk. “Why does the computer nerd get lumped in with the misfits?” Despite the sarcasm, his expression was more than a little appreciative, and Easy could imagine why. It didn’t sound like Charlie’s father had been very accepting of the fact that Charlie was gay. From what Easy had heard, Merritt had been a real asshole about it, actually. Given the tension that existed between Easy and his own father, he knew what it meant to find and make your own family—one that accepted you for who you were.
    “Hey, you’re in good company,” Beckett said, pointing at Marz, who flipped him in the bird in return.
    Chuckles went around the room.
    Even Easy managed to laugh. Because what Marz had said fit him to a T.
    “Family,” Easy said in a low voice, the emotion of the moment making him miss Rimes so bad, it was a physical pain in his chest. But even with that acute reminder of what he’d lost, Easy took a small measure of comfort. Because, this . . . this was the meaning and the belonging Easy had been missing for the past year.
    “ Y OU OKAY IN there?” Sara asked from out in the hall.
    The hot water of the shower rained down on Jenna’s head. She’d finished bathing herself at least ten minutes ago, but she didn’t want to leave the white noise and heat of the shower—because after her admissions and that panic attack, she really wasn’t looking forward to seeing anyone. Embarrassment and shame made her cringe when she thought about her panicky freak-out and the fact that she’d shared what she’d promised herself she’d keep quiet. Now, she had no doubt that Sara was going to want to talk more. And she couldn’t begin to imagine how she would face Easy.
    “Yeah,” she called as she wiped her hands over her face. “Be out in a minute.”
    Guilt cut through Jenna’s belly. Sara had helped rescue her. Jenna should feel happy and relieved and grateful to be reunited with her sister. And she was.
    Except.
    She shivered despite the spray’s warm temperature.
    Being in Sara’s presence reminded Jenna of what a freaking burden she was and all the ways that her illness—hell, her very existence—had hurt Sara over and over again.
    Time to stop hiding. She turned off the water, grabbed the towel from the toilet seat, and dried herself off.
    Then, almost holding her breath, Jenna did something she hadn’t allowed herself to do when she’d come in the bathroom. She stepped in front of the mirror, lifted her eyes, and looked at her reflection.
    “Oh, God,” she said, as her gaze scanned over the black-and-blue ringing her right eye. She leaned in and tilted her face this way and that, getting a closer look. Everything between her eyelashes and eyebrow was purple, and the bruising extended above her eyebrow, too. A reddish purple beneath her eye extended to the side of her nose, where the bruising turned a sickly yellow. More purple colored her puffy cheekbone, where three little white strips held together a split right over the bone.
    The hit to the mouth has bruised her, too. Not as bad as around the eye, to be sure. But the whole area below the corner of her lip was a reddish purple. Her gaze scanned downward to find that a bruise marred the skin at the top of her left breast and that purple fingerprints dotted her arms here and there.
    Man, how she wished she could say, “You should see the other guy.” Except, all her