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over the phone, and it wouldn’t be easy to help Cam if the name Evan was involved. It was one of the worst experiences during their time in that basement, and it had only been the beginning.
    *
    "How can you not react?" Austin whispered, agitated. He watched as Cam stood up, no emotions on his face whatsoever, walked the few steps to the heavy door, and announced his fake name. Evan.
    Whereas Austin had spent his days looking for a way out, thinking about an escape, and checking and double checking everything in their cell, Cam had sat on his cot. Doing nothing.
    Cam didn’t answer his question, instead asking one of his own. "Can you fight?"
    Austin's eyebrows shot up. "I can hold my own." When he wasn’t drugged, he amended internally. Drugged and cuffed. "Why do you ask?"
    "It'd be fucking stupid to let this opportunity get away, wouldn’t it?" Cam fired back with a cocked brow. "We gotta try to beat him."
    That had Austin's immediate approval. He nodded once and stepped closer to the door, then waited as the man outside padded closer to their cell.
    Soon enough, the hatch was opened, and Cam and Austin came face-to-face with the same black mask and dark brown eyes they'd seen every time food was delivered. A creepy smile slid into place as Mr. Whoever-the-hell tossed two small keys inside the cell.
    "Uncuff yourselves."
    Confused and on edge, Cam and Austin obeyed, not about to let this opportunity get away, either. Free hands meant leverage, for Christ's sake. There were two of them; crazy kidnapper was only one. Done deal, right?
    Or not.
    Once they were free of their restraints, the man on the outside said, "Now you cuff each other again. Behind your backs."
    Austin gritted his teeth together, refusing to let his deflating hope show on his face. "And if we don’t?"
    The man smirked and raised a gun. "I shoot."
    *
    Austin shook his head, focusing on the road and Cam telling him about his new dog. It seemed to work, though not enough. Cam's breaths still came out choppy, and he stuttered here and there. If it went on like this for much longer, he'd get dizzy from hyperventilation.
    When Cam got quiet, Austin asked, "What else is new? How are Jules and the babies?" Jules's pregnancy was big news in the Nash family.
    "Fuck," Cam spat out. "I hate this shit, Austin. I f-feel like a fucking idiot."
    "Get over it!" Austin snapped. "Look, I know this isn't really you. Okay? You've already told me you haven't had regular attacks in years before this, but come on, man. What we've been through…" Obviously it was going to leave its marks. "Just keep talking."
    Having broken all the speed limits across town, Austin soon drove on to Cam's quiet street.
    Right now, Austin didn’t feel the same kind of anger he was getting used to struggling with these days. He was frustrated with his friend, but it was different. Austin didn’t have to hide anything around Cam. They understood each other. They were even alike in some ways, mostly when it came to downplaying their issues.
    "There's nothing else to tell, asshole!" Okay, so Cam was getting pissed. He could deal with that, though. Wouldn’t be the first time. "My parents were here, my b-brother and sister-in-law, couple c-cousins, a few guys from work and their women, partners, what-the-fuck-ever, and we ate, and I stuck to m-myself, and then they left, and that’s it! Jesus Christ!"
    At that point, Austin rang the doorbell.
    It was quiet for a beat before Cam groaned into the phone. "Don’t fucking tell me…" Another silence, and then the door was ripped open. Cam scowled. "I thought I heard you were in a car, but I—What're you doing here?"
    Austin ended the call and pocketed his phone. A stab of envy hit his chest at the sight of Cam's defined abs, but he told himself it was just envy—not attraction.
    "I wanted to check in on you. Make sure you were okay." He lifted a brow, taking in Cam's disheveled state. He was only wearing a pair of black basketball shorts, and it