Snared(26)

They laughed again, lightening the mood. “Are you sure?” Linc gazed around the store. While a lot had been purchased, there was still quite a bit still to go. Pride filled my heart. That was my sister, all right. Bex, the ball buster who would give you the shirt off her back. We knew what it was like to go without and now all she wanted to do was help others.

“Beyond sure,” Johnny said. “You give us a total, and we’ll have Natalie wire you the money.” He took an envelope out of his back pocket. “Oh, Bex wanted you to have these, too.”

Linc took the envelope like it was a snake that might come out and bite him. When he opened it and saw they were VIP tickets to our Orlando concert, tears filled the big rocker’s eyes. “Get that bitch on the phone,” he said, wiping his eyes. “I have a bone to pick with her.”



“I’m fucking proud to be part of this band,” I said, setting my sweet tea down next to my sandwich and chips. Johnny and I had stopped for lunch before heading back home. We were both wearing hats low over our eyes, and so far, we hadn’t been spotted. Johnny had left Heath with Bex, so we were on our own.

“You and Bex were the beginning of this band,” Johnny said, pausing to chew. “If it weren’t for the two of you, there would be no Jaded Regret.”

“I don’t think of shit like that,” I said. “She just bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of instruments to not only help Linc, but to help all these kids as well.”

Johnny nodded. “Yes, she did.”

Silence stretched over us for a few minutes as we ate, both of us lost in our thoughts. Bex had not only created a safe place for kids who had aged out of the system to learn how to be adults, but now she was going to give teens a place to escape life in a healthy way and mentor them, too.

What would’ve happened had we had someone like her in our corner when we were impressionable teenagers? Thankfully, we’d turned to each other and played music instead of what we could’ve turned to, but still.

I remembered the day I first laid eyes on Bexley Bryant like it was yesterday.

Natalie and I sat outside, anything to escape being inside the house. We’d only been here a few weeks. We had no idea how many houses we’d been in over the last four years, but we knew this one would be the last one we’d stay in. We already had plans to get the hell out of here. Natalie was about to age out soon, and there wasn’t any way in hell I’d stay in there without her. It’s not like anyone would care if I disappeared out of the system. That would just be one less kid they had to keep track of, and I didn’t want to be tracked anymore. I wanted to be free of hoping I’d have a family again. I had Natalie. She was all I needed.

We’d almost been adopted once. Until the prospective parents read my file and our family history. They’d gone as far as meeting us and taking us for ice cream. We never saw them again. I’d like to say I was surprised, but I wasn’t.

As we sat there in silence, a nondescript car we knew belonged to one of the social workers pulled up to the curb. She stepped out, her frizzy hair reaching us before she did. We squinted up into the sun, watching as the back door opened and a teenage girl stepped out. My first impression was she was gorgeous, but looked like the most pissed off person I’d ever seen. Her dark hair covered half her face and her dark clothing hid her body.

I immediately connected with her. I didn’t know her name, what her story was, or how long she would be here. She walked up the steps and stopped next to us, silently regarding us. Natalie smiled, but I didn’t. The girl, who I’d later learn was Bex, rolled her eyes at Natalie and nodded her head at me.

“Hey,” was all she said, and I knew this girl would be part of my life forever. Our broken souls connected that day in a way only long lost family could. While some of the guys—okay, all of them—in the foster home drooled over Bex and wanted to get her into their bed, I never saw her that way.

I didn’t even want to think about what had happened the day I found out who had hurt her.

To this day, I would kill anyone who tried to hurt either of my sisters. It had taken me a long time to be okay with Johnny being in Bex’s life. To be honest, it wasn’t until I saw her holding Lennox that I felt like maybe he wouldn’t take her heart and put it in a blender.

“Beau.” Johnny’s voice broke my daydream.

I realized I hadn’t taken another bite of my lunch and probably appeared to be a freak sitting here staring into space. “Sorry. Wow. Don’t know where my head went.”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve been fucked up lately,” Johnny said. “Bex is worried as fuck about you. I just know you don’t like people in your business, so I’ve been staying back. Just know, you’re my brother, man. I’m here anytime you need something.”