Kings of Linwood Academy - The Complete Box Set: A Dark High School Romance Series by Callie Rose (sight word books .TXT) 📕

as a million things I want to tell her crash against the walls of my chest. “I’m not staying with River anymore.”

“Oh.” She sits up straighter, worry sharpening her brown eyes. “Where are you staying? Are you with the Black family again? Samuel said you were welcome as long as you wanted.”

“I know he did, but I’m actually—I’m actually staying with Dax and Chase. You might’ve met them at one of Samuel and Audrey’s cocktail parties. Their parents are the Lauders?”

Her eyelids flicker for a second as she sorts through her memories, and then she nods slowly. “I think I remember them. The twins, right? With the brownish-red hair?”

I nod. The two boys really do stand out in a crowd. Their looks would be striking enough on just one of them, but the fact that their gorgeous features are repeated twice over makes it hard to look away.

“And that’s going okay?” Mom presses. “Their parents are okay with it?”

I can tell she hates this. Hates not being able to do normal parenting things like call their folks to make sure it’s all right for me to stay with them. Like know where her daughter is living, for fuck’s sake.

Maybe that’s why I open my mouth and say what I do—because I don’t want my mom to think she’s lost me completely, that she has no idea what’s going on in my life.

“Actually, I’m sort of dating them. Dax and Chase.”

She blinks a few times. I don’t think she’s even quite processed what I mean by that, but I rush on anyway before I lose my nerve. This wasn’t exactly how I planned on telling her, but it’s too late to stop now.

“And Lincoln. And River.”

Now she doesn’t blink. At all.

She stares at me for such a long, loaded moment that my stomach knots and unknots itself over and over as I wait for her to say something.

But she doesn’t. She doesn’t speak a word. I can’t hear anything through the phone’s earpiece but her soft breathing, the only indicator that she hasn’t turned into a statue.

Panic flares in my chest. Fuck. I shouldn’t have told her. What the hell was I thinking? Like this? While she’s in prison? While she has so much else on her plate?

I thought I was doing it for her, but maybe I was doing it for me, being selfish because I miss her so fucking much, because I just wanted my mom back for a few moments.

Desperate to undo the blank stare on her face, I open my mouth and start babbling.

“I know it’s—it’s probably not what you were expecting. Hell, I wasn’t expecting it, but it just happened. I care about them, Mom. A lot. And they’re good to me. They’re good for me. They make me better, stronger. And they love each other so much, being with them makes me feel like I’m part of something good, something unbreakable, that could stand up to anything.”

The words are pouring out of me now, like they’ve been lying in wait for weeks, trapped in my heart with no way out.

“Some people will never get it, and I know it’s different, but it’s not any less real than if I was just with one of them. They all fit me in different ways. Lincoln is so strong, no matter what gets thrown at him. And Chase is like you—he finds the good parts of everything. Dax has the biggest heart, and River is so fucking smart. He sees so much; he sees right through me.”

My heart is bashing against my ribs, and Mom is still gazing at me, a look of something like shock on her face.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. Or maybe I shouldn’t have even told you now. But I’m happy with them. Please don’t hate me, and please don’t tell me I’m wrong. Because it’s not wrong, Mom. I know it. I’m falling in love with them.”

When I finally stop talking, I let out a shuddery breath. It’s done. I can’t take it back. Not the first thing I said, and not any of the things I blurted after.

Mom keeps staring at me, but this time, I don’t fill the silence. I just let it be.

And then, suddenly, her expression cracks. Tears flood down her face, and even though burning disappointment fills my gut, I cry too. Because I never meant to hurt her with my choices, and I hate that I brought this up when there’s a literal wall between us. I shouldn’t have. It was fucking stupid.

Mom’s shoulders shake with sobs, and she drops her head, her free hand pressing against her stomach like it might keep the emotions contained somehow. I sit with her and watch her cry because I can’t fucking hug her like I want to, and I hate it more than I’ve ever hated anything.

When she finally speaks, her voice is a raw, stuttering whisper.

“I’m so scared, Low. I’m so scared I won’t get out of here. Ever.” Another tear slips from her eye, and she reaches up to swipe at her cheek as she pulls herself back together. “I’m terrified of leaving you alone. I think about it sometimes, and it feels like my heart just dies inside my chest, like I can’t breathe, I can’t live.”

My heart clenches, and we both lean toward each other, our faces so close but so distant.

“I hate it,” she says. “I hate that they took me away from you. I hate that you’re out there on your own trying to navigate this insane, messed up world we live in. I want to be there for you, Low.” She smiles sadly at me. “For everything.”

“Me too, Mom.”

My voice is small, and I feel like a little kid in a cancer ward again, leaning on my mother for support when it all becomes too much.

Mom presses her lips together, her nostrils flaring as she draws in a slow breath. Then she presses her hand to the glass, and my