Page 121 of Forever Golden
Which, for so many reasons, is perfectly fitting.
Sterling and Joss follow Dane’s lead, and despite all that’s gone on throughout this highly charged, terrifying day, the Golden boys are going to be fine.Betterthan fine.
The others are a few paces ahead, letting West and I trail behind to talk a bit.
“Are you good?” he asks. “I can imagine you lost your shit when you saw Pandora’s stream.”
How can he worry aboutmeat a time like this? I’m not even a little bit surprised, though.
“I’m okay. It would’ve been worse if Ricky hadn’t called as soon as the video ended. He let me know you were fine, and that Roby had things under control.”
“He’s okay? He took off pretty quickly.”
The urgency in his voice when asking about Ricky catches me off guard. It’s almost like, on some level at least, he cares.
“Yeah, he’s fine,” I answer.
We descend the steps and casually stroll the sidewalk toward Sterling’s car. I hadn’t had a moment to even think about it until now, but with all this shit behind us, there’s no need to pretend anymore. No need to hide that we’re together and in love.
Vin’s reign of terror in Cypress Pointe is over.
In my periphery, I’m aware of the white SUV that’s just parked near the curb on the other side of the street. Realizing this has West’s attention, too, I keep my eyes trained there, shocked to see his mother climb out.
Even from this distance, it’s clear she’s been crying—from her red-rimmed eyes, to her flushed cheeks. Tucked beneath her arm, there’s a small leatherbound book.
“Is that—”
“The ledger,” West answers.
I glance at her again, wondering what brought her to this moment. She and West have been on the outs lately, but it would seem she’s on her way inside to hammer the final nail into Vin’s coffin.
“Should you go talk to her?” I ask, peering up at West.
He shakes his head. “No. She needs to do this on her own, needs to see she’s strong enough.”
As if having just heard West’s words, his mother approaches the steps of the station and stares up at the building, breathing deep. A few seconds later, she finally finds the nerve to go inside.
West stares at the empty space on the sidewalk where his mother just stood, only glancing toward me when I squeeze his hand.
“Let’s get out of here.”
His response to my suggestion is to lean in and warm my lips with his. The relief I feel holding him again,kissinghim again, it’s unmatched.
As God is my witness, the fear ends here, and I swear I’ll never be ruled by it again. From here on out, the only emotion that’s ever allowed to consume me… is love.
Chapter 47
One Month Later…
BLUE
At the risk of being perceived as the resident fun-sucker—that person that sucks all the fun out of life—I’m watching West like a hawk. It has nothing to do with the brunette shooting her best shot while he grabs us drinks, but has everything to do with this being our first real outing since Vin’s arrest. I thought we should continue to lay low for a while, but King Midas insisted that we come out and live a little.
So, here goes, I guess.
A smile touches my lips when West says something to the brunette, then leaves her at the table where she now sulks like someone ran over her puppy. Meanwhile, West is unaffected, weaving through the crowd, making his way back to me.
He drops down onto the couch and my body slumps toward his weight. Then, I’m handed one of the canned drinks he nabbed.