Sacrificing Sloan (Sloan Series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

man enough to admit it, you just need a hug, no matter what. I was scared. I hadn’t said as much, but I was. Terrified. And I didn’t want to show it. But somehow, Mr. Lawrence knew. Who knows, maybe he was scared, too. Maybe he needed reassurance that everything would be alright. Maybe he needed a way to feel connected to the cabin because obviously his son was being a brat.
    Whatever the reason, he hugged me. He patted me on the back. And then he let me go and without even looking back, headed again to the door. This time, he opened it. Wind and rain pounded in, and my heart sank. He couldn’t go out in that. It was suicide.
    “I have to try.” He nodded as if reading my mind. “Boys, I’m counting on you. Stay here. Stay dry. Work together to keep the fire going. And please… please… when I come back, make sure you both are still in one piece.”
    “I make no promises.” I answered, after Mr. Lawrence had already shut the door and disappeared into the storm.
    The clock ticked.
    The radio sang songs about bullfrogs.
    There was silence.
    A day alone with the jerk who nearly murdered me twice. The guy who shot my brother. The guy who tried to rape my girlfriend. Whatever could I do to kill the time?

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Sloan
    8:51 AM
     
    I T WOULD NEVER STOP RAINING.
    That was the determination I drew.
    Never.
    Not going to happen.
    Ugh!
    Ray woke up about thirty minutes before and was super groggy. I supposed anyone would be if they were drugged. It took a while, but he seemed to be almost himself again. That is until the doctor came back in.
    It wasn’t a friendly reunion. Ray glared at him like he’d done him a terrible injustice. Maybe in Ray’s mind he had. Who would want to be subjected to that? Injected with an unknown substance that knocked him out? It had to feel like he was betrayed, and I prayed to God he didn’t think Mackenzie or I were in on it.
    “How are you feeling today?” The doctor had the nerve to say, and I held my breath and bit my lip, waiting for Ray to answer.
    I didn’t think it would be a very nice conversation.
    “I was drugged and knocked out. How do you think I feel?” Nope, not good at all.
    “Mr. Hunter.” The doctor pushed his glasses back on his nose and ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair. “I understand your frustration, but you have to realize we did it all for your own good.”
    “My own good!” I’d never seen Ray snap. It had always been Aaron. Aaron had the quick temper, and Aaron had the fuse no one in their right mind would want to light. Ray was the calm one. He was the one who made everything better and told me that it would be okay.
    So when I saw this side of him, I flinched. I couldn’t help it. It wasn’t ‘my’ Ray and yeah, I understood it, but it didn’t make it any easier to watch. Everyone has a breaking point, even sweet Ray.
    “How can you say that was for my own good?” Ray sat up in his bed, and I saw him flinch, but he recovered quickly. I didn’t think he wanted the doctor to see. “My brother is out there in this mess of a rainstorm. He’s hurt. He has to be hurt. He needs me, and you want me to calm down and stay here?”
    “Mr. Hunter…”
    “I can’t stay here! Do you understand me? I can’t. I need my brother.” Ray swung his legs over the side of the bed. His legs were bare from the hospital gown he had to wear. I’d worn one of those on only one occasion, and I tried to forget it every day. The day I had to come to the hospital to see if Boyd had raped me. I’d been knocked out, too. I knew how Ray felt. The anger. The betrayal. The confusion. My hand began to shake, and I tried as hard as I could to keep the tremor to myself. This wasn’t about me. This was about Ray, and it was time I stopped acting like this story was all about me. There were so many other people who were important. Not just me. So I held my shaking hand in my lap and willed it to stop. I willed the images of my own time in a hospital