More Than Just Lovers (Book 2)

8. Blame

~Jackson

Josh let out an aggravated groan as he hung up the phone. "It's still going straight to voicemail," he said. "Why won't she just answer?"

I rubbed his back gently. "It probably died and she hasn't gotten the chance to plug it in yet. You know how that generation is with technology." I tried my best not to get overly worried. I had a feeling there was something more going on than Suzanne's phone dying, but I didn't want to freak Josh out more. From the couple of times I've met her, she didn't seem like the person to forget to charge her phone - she was on it too often doing something or other.

Suddenly the front door slammed shut and immediately Josh was on his feet and running out of the room. Alyssa and I quickly followed, needing to know what progress was being made on finding Logan.

As soon as I walked into the entry way, I watch Leo slap Josh across the face, unable to stop it. Josh stood there shocked, bringing his hand up to touch his cheek that was now turning red.

I was pissed. "What the fuck, Leo?" I wrapped my arms around Josh, who still wasn't moving, and glared at Leo. "What was that for?"

Just then, the front door opened behind Leo and Kyle walked in, grumbling something about Leo not needed to lock the door on him. When he noticed that something had just happened here, he slowly closed the door, his eyes landing on me, not like I had the answers either. "What's going on?"

I shook my head. "I was wondering the same thing. Leo?"

This whole time, Leo had been just standing there, almost as if he was also in shock. My question seem to snap him out of it though, and he shook his head quickly before pushing past us, heading down the hallway. I took the chance to turn Josh in my arms to look at him.

"Are you okay, baby?" I asked softly, moving his hand away from his face. It was seriously getting redder by the second. How could Leo hit him?

Josh threw his arms around my neck, crying. "Why did he do that?" he said through his tears. "Why did he hit me?"

I saw Kyle's eyes widen at Josh's words, finally realizing what had happened only seconds before he walked in. "The Andrews don't exist," he said slowly. "They gave us fake names, which means they were planning something from the start."

"But that's not Josh's fault," I said angrily, more angry at Leo than Kyle, but Leo wasn't here right now. "Of course it's not his fault!"

Josh backed up from me. "But it is. If I never invited them over or-or... or I don't know... asked more questions before I did, this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't say that," Kyle said, placing his hand on Josh's shoulder. "Please, babe, don't ever think that. It's not your fault."

"That's not true!" Josh shouted, pulling away from both of us. "It is my fault - I've been thinking it. Leo's thinking it. It's my fault for being a product of those people. If it weren't for me, you guys wouldn't even be in this mess."

I grabbed Josh's shoulders and spun him so that he was facing me. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even have a son. Or a daughter. We wouldn't have any children at all if it weren't for you."

"Also," Kyle added, making Josh look to him. "You never asked to be born into that family. You never asked to have them leave you. You never asked to be adopted by the two most amazing women on the planet. None of that is your fault, so neither is this."

"I used to blame myself - for years - when I was younger. I thought it was my fault my biological parents never wanted me. I wasn't unhappy at home, quite the opposite, actually, but there was always that little voice inside my head that said 'don't mess up or they'll ditch you too'. I knew it wasn't true, the same way I know it's not my fault Logan's missing, but that voice is back, saying it's true. And it doesn't help that Leo thinks so too."