Tender (Book 1 - Complete)

Chapter 31 - Lynn

"Oh, you don't know her parents," Rosa tells him, her voice dark and ominous. "They once organized a search and rescue team for Justine..." she pauses for dramatic effect, "and she was only an hour late."

Dillon hums in response, his brows lifted high in surprise.

Taking a vote, we decide to risk it and find a way through the fence. Justine's parents are scary strict, and if we're out past curfew, I'm positive they'll have my mom and Rosa's mom on the phone within seconds devising a plan on how to properly punish three irresponsible children. And then we'll all be denied the privilege of sleep-overs until the summer's over. Deciding that a few scratches are worth the pain, we prepare ourselves to crawl beneath the nasty fence.

Dillon and Jamie pull the wires up high enough for us three girls to fit through. Then, I take over Dillon's spot and hold the wires while he crawls through. Jamie has the most trouble and I hear that same painful hiss press against his teeth when one of the wire claws snags his shirt.

"You okay, man," Dillon asks.

"I'll be fi—" Another hiss. "Dang it! How'd you all make it through without a scratch?"

It's a rhetorical question, and based on Jamie's obvious irritation, he's not interested in a response. So, we all just watch as he struggles his way through the wires and finally makes it out on the other side.

"You're bleeding," Justine observes, her eyes raking over several red strips along his back.

"I know."

"How did you manage to get so torn up?" Dillon wonders, his eyes taking in Jamie's injuries. "I'm way bulkier than you."

"Dunno, man," Jamie shrugs, his eyes hiding humor within them. "I'm prone to injuries. Kinda surprised I didn't lose an arm this time."

Dillon chuckles and then jogs to meet up with Justine and Rosa who are several meters ahead of us. The trees have started to thin out, and I can see cornfields in the distance. Can't say I'm thrilled by the idea of walking through them, but it's better than having handcuffs thrown around my wrists—though, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been arrested for entering an abandoned house... right?

"You're limping!" I suddenly notice, spotting Jamie's awkward gait out of my side vision.

"Yep," he responds shortly.

At first I worry that it's his prosthetic causing him the problem, but then I realize that he's focusing his weight onto the prosthetic to keep pressure off the right.

"Did the barbed fence snag your leg too?"

"Nope."

"What happened?" I question, not caring that he's clearly not in the mood to discuss it.

"Stepped on something."

Oh yeah. He'd mentioned that when we were in the basement. I just hadn't realized the extent of the damage.

I nod slowly, my eyes scrutinizing his face to see if I can register how much pain he's in by the subtle grimace he keeps trying to hide. My face softens as I watch him stumble, and he must sense my sympathy because his shoulders stiffen and he attempts to mask the severity of his limp.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask softly, confused by the irritation that seems to be so directed at me.

"What?" He turns sharply to look at me. "No. Of course not." He takes a breath, turning his face toward the sky for a moment and then mutters a quiet, "sorry."

I follow his gaze, relishing in the vastness of the dark that cloaks itself around us. "What's wrong then?"

He doesn't respond for awhile and I wonder if he will. Instead, he drops his gaze to his hands before shoving them into his jean pockets.