Chapter 58
Noah
69%
I couldn’t sleep that night.
I stayed on the phone with Emily for a while, trying to comfort her from twelve fucking hundred miles away, using every breathing technique Aiden had drilled into me this week. But it still felt like suffocating.
And as she whispered about how he’d been all week–short–tempered, looking for something to take out on someone–1 felt that old, familiar pull in my chest. The same one I’d felt a hundred times before. The one that always ended with me stepping in, taking the hit so she wouldn’t
have to.
That’s how it had always been in our house,
Dad drank, Mom tried to disappear into the background. Emily hid. And me? I was the wall. The target. The one who could take a hit and keep
standing.
It hadn’t started that way. At first, his temper swung wild–sometimes toward Mom, sometimes toward Emily if she was unlucky enough to be in the room. But I learned early that if I stepped in, if I put myself between them and him, he’d redirect. Every single time.
So I made it my job.
I got good at reading the signs–the heavy footstep in the hall, the bottle Hitting the counter harder than it should, the low mutter before his voice rose. I’d get in his line of sight before he could even reach them. A smart comment, a shove, anything to make him turn on me instead.
And he always did.
Eventually, I didn’t even have to try. If he was mad, if he was drunk, his eyes went straight to me. All that rage, all that venom–it had a home. And it was almost always mine to take.
It was hell. But it meant my mother didn’t flinch every time he walked in the room, and Emily could go to bed without the sound of him screaming in her head.
By the time 1 left for Texas, his abuse was almost exclusively focused on . 1 told myself that meant they’d be safe if I wasn’t there to provoke him. I never thought he’d just… find someone else to break.
By morning, it felt like I hadn’t slept at all. My lead pounded, my bouly felt heavy, and try focus was shot to hell.
On the field, every pass came u beat too slow, every mad a fraction of Ch’s voice cut sharper than wit any as me, maybe not butt still landed like a hut i kept my eyes down, riding evergusse, especially ten i could feel him watching from the windings, and I didn’t want him seeing me like this
After practice, I tried to ship cast before we stopped for bot harms wha
gig drakk biks riep he adid.
TRAP ay bar, gemang ke he’d been waiting
“Tuains, Lemnieurd, trying to suit but only lying monetting has th
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10.34 Fri, Feb 13 BB ·
Chapter 58
His grin faded. “You okay?”
I hesitated, staring at the inside of my locker a moment too long. Just… stuff at home,” I said, my voice fatter than
“What kind of stuff?”
My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag. Family crap. It’s fine.”
He tilted his head. “You wanna come out tonight? Clear your head? The guys are grabbing bod
I shook my head. “Nah. I just….. need to be alone for a while
“Alone?” His brow furrowed. “No offense, man, but you’ve been ghosting us for weeks. You can’t just let yourself in your devine
after training.”
I shrugged. “I’ve got it handled.”
“Maybe,” he said, watching me closely, “but it doesn’t mean you have to handle it alone. You know that, ngh
The words landed heavier than I expected, but I still kept my mouth shut. Really. I’m fine.
He studied me for another beat, like he was deciding whether to push. Then he nodded slowly Clay Burim here and so are the rest of the guys. Don’t forget that.”
I promised I wouldn’t, even though we both knew I probably would.
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