Page 34 of From That Moment

“Sounds good. Tell her…I don’t know, just tell her I’m glad she’s okay.”

Hazel gave me a weird look, and then I smiled and walked away, Nate right behind me. Macon walked back into the waiting room as we were leaving and raised his brows.

“Everything’s okay. We’re headed home.”

“Sounds good. I’ll follow you out. Let me just get this guy back to his mom.”

“I’m good on my own,” Joshua said.

Macon snorted. “Sure you are, kid. Do we honestly want your mom to rip me a new one for letting you walk around by yourself in a place that we don’t know?”

“Fine. I am almost an adult now.”

That made me smile.

Joshua continued. “You know they’re changing the age of a teenager to my age soon.”

Macon snorted again, shook his head, and led Joshua back to where his mom was.

I met Nate’s gaze, and we both cracked up laughing, shaking our heads.

I was pretty sure I had said something similar to my parents back in the day, and it reminded me that while life moved on, some things stayed the same.

I hated that I had no idea what was going on inside me when it came to Paris. No idea what I would have done if she had been hurt more than she had.

I was still going to fucking blame myself. I should’ve been faster. Never should have left her. Should’ve found a way to keep her safe.

And I hadn’t.

I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I hadn’t run when I did. If I had gotten into my car a second earlier, I might have missed that scream. And she would have been there all alone. And God knows what would’ve happened.

That bile came back into my throat, and I swallowed it down, then got into my car, saying goodbye to my brother before heading home.

I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I didn’t want to focus on anything.

Fuck, I had forgotten somebody important.

I was supposed to meet Allison—and probably break it off.

I hadn’t even told her where I was going.

Watching my friend get hurt had pushed all thoughts of everything and everyone else out of my head. Fuck.

I couldn’t deal with this.

Allison wasn’t mine anymore, and I had to make sure she understood that. I had to figure out how to explain that we had grown in different directions.

And fuck, this was probably why I wasn’t good at relationships.

I pulled into my garage, turned off my car, and rubbed my temples.

I just wanted a beer, needed to forget the day and relax, but that wouldn’t be happening. I was going to have to call Allison and apologize for standing her up.

And then find a way to break it off because it wasn’t fair to either of us to keep this going.

I made my way into my home and frowned when I heard sounds from the back of the house.

Considering that I had just left my brothers, it couldn’t be them.