“Bullshit,” Ray spits.
“So now you know how I feel?” I ask, my voice shaking slightly.
His jaw tightens. “I want to know more about Josh.”
The question hits me out of nowhere and I freeze, pulling the sheets tighter around me, like they might shield me from it. I stare at him with my heart pounding uncomfortably.
“Just what you want to tell me. No pressure,” he adds, like he’s having second thoughts.
“Why?” I ask.
He watches me for a moment, like he’s weighing up how much to give. “Because you’re trying to convince me you’re okay, so talking about Josh should be easy, right?” He sighs. “And because you were right. I don’t know enough about you, and I think now is a good time to change that.”
I shake my head slightly. “Then tell me about you. I’m tired of being the one under the microscope.”
His mouth twitches, but there’s no real humour behind it. “What do you want to know?”
“About your childhood.”
Something shifts in his expression. “That’s a loaded subject,” he says. “I don’t think you’re ready for it.”
“Try me,” I reply softly. “Who are your parents?”
His jaw tightens. “I don’t have any. Well, obviously I do,” he adds after a second, like he’s correcting himself, “but they put me into care when I was young. I don’t remember much. Not enough to matter.” There’s a quiet bitterness there.
“And that’s where you met Anika?” I ask.
He nods. His expression softens in a way I haven’t seen before. “She used to follow me around at school, I think the teachersmust have told her we were in a similar situation,” he says, a faint smile pulling at his lips. “She wouldn’t shut up. A hundred words a minute. Drove me insane.”
I can almost picture it. Her bright, him irritated.
“So, what did you do?” I ask.
“I shoved her against a wall and kissed her,” he says simply.
My eyes widen slightly. “That’s one way to deal with it,” I mutter.
“It worked.” He shrugs. “She shut up.” There’s a pause. “But it wasn’t . . . that,” he adds, quieter now. “Not really. We figured out pretty quick we were better as friends.” His smile fades. “She stuck with me, proved that not everyone leaves,” he continues. “Through everything, we became something like a family. The kind we never had.”
“With Dale?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says, and this time the smile is real. “With Dale.” His gaze drifts slightly, like he’s seeing something else. “We did some bad shit growing up,” he admits. “Things I’d never want my kids anywhere near. But we survived it because of each other.” There’s something raw in is words, and I see the vulnerability behind his mask. “They saved me,” he adds quietly. “More than they’ll ever know. They gave me a reason to fight—for them, for us, for our better life.”
I swallow, my chest tightening. “What made you and Anika cross that line?” I ask, unable to stop myself. “If your friendship meant that much?”
It’s been sitting with me, eating at me.
He shakes his head immediately. “We didn’t,” he says, firm. “Not like that. I didn’t lie to you.”
His hand finds mine and I don’t fight it as he interlocks our fingers. And despite everything, I still feel it.
That stupid pull.
“You can’t tell anyone this,” he adds, seriously. I nod. He studies me for a second, then continues. “Anika fixed the DNA test,” he says.
I blink. “What?”
“She knew Luke,” he goes on, his voice tightening, “and she knew the second he realised he’d get no money, he’d walk away. Not just from her but from Sebastian.” I exhale slowly. “She couldn’t risk that,” he says. “Couldn’t risk her son ending up in care because of his spite.”