Chapter 146
Summer's POV
I was out the door before my mom could argue, my heart hammering against my ribs like it was trying to escape. The cold hit me immediately, biting through my hoodie and jeans, but I didn't care. I practically ran to the T station, my breath coming out in white puffs.
On the train, I gripped the pole and tried to steady myself. What was I even doing? Kieran had made it clear he didn't want me involved in whatever was happening with Drake. He'd asked me to trust him, to wait, to let him handle it alone. And here I was, breaking that promise less than a month later because I couldn't stand not knowing if he was okay.
But the thing was, I'd trusted him before. I'd trusted him in another life, when I was too wrapped up in my own problems to notice he was drowning. And he'd died because of it. He'd died saving me, and I hadn't even known he loved me until it was too late.
I wasn't going to make that mistake again.
At South Station, I switched to the bus heading into Southie. The buildings got older, grayer. The streetlights flickered. I watched triple-deckers blur past the window and thought about how this was Kieran's world—the one I'd never bothered to see before, the one he tried so hard to keep separate from me.
When I got off the bus near The Happy Patty, my hands were numb and my teeth were chattering. I pulled my hood up and shoved my hands deep into my pockets, scanning the street for Catherine's food cart.
There it was, parked under a buzzing neon sign. The griddle was still hot, steam rising into the cold air. But the person standing in front of it wasn't Kieran.
It was a man in his forties, narrow-faced with deep-set eyes that had Kieran's shape but none of his warmth. He was leaning over the cart, talking to Catherine in a low, harsh voice. She had her head down, shoulders hunched. Behind her, pressed against the back of the cart, Lily was shaking.
My blood turned to ice.
Drake.
I stumbled backward, my sneakers slipping on the wet pavement, and ducked into the alley across the street. There was a van parked there, and I crouched behind it, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
Drake was still talking to Catherine. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could see the way she flinched every time he raised his voice. Lily had her hands pressed over her ears, her face pale and terrified. The cart looked oddly exposed without Kieran's tall figure standing guard beside it, and I realized with a sickening jolt that this was exactly what he'd been trying to prevent—his family vulnerable and alone while he was somewhere else, probably running deliveries to scrape together enough money to keep them safe.
I fumbled for my phone with shaking hands.
Me: I'm near The Happy Patty right now. I don't see you. Are you not here tonight?
I tried to keep my voice calm in the text, like I was just casually checking in. Like I hadn't just seen the man who'd put Kieran in the hospital threatening his family on a street corner.
My phone rang two seconds later.
"Summer." Kieran's voice was flat and cold, colder than I'd ever heard it. There was a distant sound of traffic in the background, like he was on a street somewhere. "I need you to go back to the T station. Now."
"I just wanted to see you—"
"Now, Summer." There was an edge to his voice that made my stomach drop, and I heard the sharp scrape of a bike chain, like he'd just thrown himself onto it. "If you took an Uber, find somewhere with people and call another one. Don't look around. Don't attract attention. Just go."
"Kieran—"
"Where are you?" His voice cracked slightly, and I could hear his breathing quicken, the rush of wind against the phone. "Exactly where are you right now?"
"East Broadway and G Street," I whispered. "Near the—"
"Wait at the T station. Broadway stop, exit one. I'm coming to get you." His voice was tight with something that sounded like panic barely held in check. "I was doing a delivery in Dorchester. I'm on my way back now. Just—stay where there are people, okay?"
He hung up.
I stayed crouched behind the van, my whole body shaking now. Across the street, Drake turned his head suddenly, scanning the area like he'd heard something. I pressed myself flat against the cold metal, barely breathing, until he turned back to Catherine. The realization hit me like a punch to the gut—Kieran had been making a delivery when Drake showed up. He'd left them alone not out of negligence, but because he had to, because money for Lily's cochlear implant didn't materialize out of thin air, because protecting them meant more than just standing guard.
I didn't wait to see more. I ran.
---
The Broadway T station was nearly empty at this hour. I sat on the concrete steps near exit one, my backpack clutched in my lap, and tried not to think about what I'd just seen. About Lily's face. About the way Catherine had looked so small and defeated.
About the fact that Kieran had been dealing with this alone for weeks, and I'd been sitting in my warm bedroom eating take-out sushi and wondering why his texts felt distant. About how he was probably racing through Southie right now, single-handed, pushing himself past exhaustion because I'd wandered into his worst nightmare.
I pulled out my physics homework and spread it across my knees, but the equations blurred together. My fingers were too cold to write properly. The little pink bow on my ring caught the overhead lights, and I twisted it around my finger, over and over.
Forty-five minutes later, I heard the scrape of bike tires on pavement.
Kieran appeared at the bottom of the steps, breathing hard, his old bike listing to one side under his weight. He wasn't wearing his school uniform—just a dark gray t-shirt that clung to his chest and shoulders, half-soaked with sweat despite the cold. His hair was plastered to his forehead, and there were dark circles under his eyes that looked like bruises. A delivery bag was still strapped to his back, empty now but marking exactly where he'd been when I'd called.
I stood up slowly, my legs shaky. He dropped the bike and crossed the distance between us in three long strides, grabbing my shoulders hard enough to hurt.
"Did he see you?" His voice was rough, almost desperate. "Summer, did Drake see you?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so. He was busy yelling at your mom. He didn't look up."
Kieran's grip loosened slightly. His hands were trembling against my shoulders, and I realized with a jolt that he was scared. Actually, genuinely scared in a way I'd never seen before.
"That was him, wasn't it?" I asked quietly. "Your dad."
He didn't answer. Just kept staring at me like he was checking for injuries, for proof that Drake hadn't touched me. His chest was still heaving from the ride, and I could see the way his right hand hung stiffly at his side, probably cramped from gripping the handlebar for so long.
"You need to eat something," I said. My voice came out smaller than I wanted. "It's late, and you rode all this way, and—"
"Summer—"
"I haven't eaten yet either." The lie came easily. "I came straight here from school. I'm starving."
He looked at me for a long moment, his jaw working like he was trying to decide whether to believe me. Finally, he sighed and stepped back, reaching for his bike. The delivery bag slipped off his shoulder and he caught it awkwardly with his left hand, slinging it back into place with practiced efficiency that made my chest ache.
"Fine. Get on the bike."
I blinked. "What?"