Conviction(59)

“I don’t know Con, but I swear to you, I asked Soph to call you from the hospital and I gave Josh a letter to take to the remand centre to give to you.”

He rakes his hand through his hair. “I don’t get it, Meebs. They’re our mates. They wouldn’t. Why would they lie to us? Why would they want to keep us apart?”

My throat can no longer contain the sob it’s been fighting to hold back and it bursts out as I answer him. “I don’t know… I don’t know, but I swear, I swear to you, I asked her to call and I wrote you a letter. I loved you, Con. I loved you so much. My heart broke. I was so confused, so hurt and angry.” I’m struggling for breath now. My sobs have escalated into full-on heaving, snot bubble, ugly crying.

He turns and pulls me into his arms and holds me tight. He sways us from side to side, running his hands over my head, up and down my arms and my back.

“I’ve missed you so f*cking much, Meebs, so f*cking much.”

This just makes me cry harder.

“Please don’t cry baby. Please, I hate seeing you this upset.”

He called me, baby. He just called me baby and the word is like a drug, a sedative. I suddenly feel like I can’t stand up anymore, that I need to go to sleep, right now.

“I’m getting to the bottom of this. I want some f*cking answers.” He grabs my hand and pulls me, stumbling, back through the house and to the sofa. He reaches for his phone, which is sitting next to mine on the coffee table and makes a call.

I can hear someone answer, but Conner doesn’t greet them.

“I don’t care where you are or who you are with. You find your sister and you get to my house now.”

I’m assuming it’s Josh and although I can’t hear the words, I can hear from his tone that he’s protesting.

“Don’t,” Conner roars, making me jump. “Don’t f*ck with me, Gardner. Get in a cab if you’ve been drinking. Get your sister from wherever she ended up and get to my house, now.”





Conner



I spend the next hour sitting on the opposite end of the sofa to Meebs. She tells me exactly what went on that New Year’s Eve and I tell her what happened when she didn’t show up. For the first time in a long time, I talk about the accident and how it all unfolded. I tell her about the court refusing me bail because of a stupid conviction for shoplifting when I was a kid and a few other minor run-ins I’d had with the police. I tell her about busking in London, my chance meeting with Jet and joining the band.

“That was one of the worse few hours of my life,” she says very quietly. Her pale blue eyes are wide and as the sun is now coming up, I can see them shining with unshed tears. She looks so young, small and fragile? all curled up in the corner of my sofa.

“What was?” I ask. Not sure what she’s talking about.

“When the news first started to come out about Jet’s death. The first reports were unsure if it was… They didn’t know which…” Her hand goes to her mouth and she touches her lips with the tips of her fingers and I’m instantly hard. She blinks and a tear rolls down her cheek and I’m still hard.

“I thought at first you were dead. I thought, I thought…”

I can’t leave her to cry like this anymore. I move to where she’s sitting and pull her into my lap. I brush the hair from her face and I kiss away the tears. For a few delicious moments, she lets me but then she stops and pulls back.

“Con,” I can feel her breath on my mouth as she whispers my name. I breathe in the citrusy scent of her skin and the minty smell of her hair. My dick twitches and my balls pull tight. I lean in to start kissing along her jaw…

“Con, I’m married.”

No.

My breath and my words stick in my throat while my brain fights to process this news.

She’s married. To someone else.

“I’m in the process of getting a divorce but, yeah, technically, I’m still married.”

Yesssss. Thank f*ck!

I actually have to mentally restrain myself from fist pumping the air above our heads.

“That’s… I’m sorry that you’re going through that.”

I’m lying.

Totally lying.

“It’s all good. He’s a dick. I never should’ve married him.”

No, you shouldn’t.

I nod my head, agreeing with everything that she’s just said.

“Why are you nodding your head?” she asks.

Busted!

“I, I was just…”

“Con, are you trying not to smile?” she accuses.

“No, I, of course not…”

She leans back, taking in all of my face with those wide blue eyes.

“Conner Reed, I’ve known you since I was five-years-old. I may not have been in your life for the last fifteen years, but I still remember how the corner of your lips twitch when you’re trying not to smile, and I remember how you could never look me in the eye when you lie.”

She remembers all of that about me? All these years and she still remembers. I don’t know why, but I can’t think of a single word to say. The fact that she knows me so well and still remembers those small details, it’s f*cking with my brain’s ability to think straight.

We simply sit in silence for a few seconds. Both of us trying to wrap our heads around the fact that we’re here, together. The revelations, the unanswered questions. There’s just so much to take in.