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He knew I loved it. And I didn’t conceal the fact that I did. I just kissed the fuck out of my boyfriend. And the delivery of the present got to me as much as the actual knife. No wrapping paper or bag.
She’s the definition of a crotchety old bat, and whatever she wants to say, she can say to my face.
“No, he wouldn’t have,” I say plainly. “There is no one better for Maximoff than me.”
“That’s his mother,” I retort. I love Lily Calloway, and she’s one of the closest things that I’ve had to a mom. So no, I won’t let this fucking old bat try to drag Lily or Lily’s son down.
Lo sends her a seething glare. “I don’t know what you’re saying, Samantha, but unless you’re here to wish my son a happy birthday, you need to move along.”
“Can you please stop talking about her like that?” Maximoff says like his heart is breaking into a million pieces, and at the same time, like he’s constructing iron walls around his world. I cup his neck, and before Lo asks, I say the truth, “He was just under the water.” Shit, I’m twenty-eight; I never thought I’d need to defend something like this. We’re part of the older crew here. We’re not the teenagers.
Lo makes a face at me. “It doesn’t matter what you were doing or not doing. You’re fine.” He narrows in on the grandmother. “What did you say to my son?”
“Jesus Christ, you’re going to break her goddamn heart,” Lo says, shaking his head in disbelief with the same shocked disappointment that struck Maximoff.
“You’re off the damn boat,” Lo snaps. “This family has no room for your hate or judgment. I’ve told you that before. Go straight down to the rib: it’s the smaller boat that’ll take you to the city. I’ll have a stewardess pack your bags.” He’s about to leave but then he stops and turns back. “If you try to talk to Lily before you go, I will make sure your tombstone reads here lies Samantha Calloway, the worst goddamn mother in all of the century. And don’t fucking kid yourself, I will do it.”
Lo flashes a bitter smile. “Decades later, and you still don’t know your own daughters.”
“Thanks, Dad,” he says. Lo searches his son for signs of breakage.
His dad opens his mouth, but Maximoff beats him to speak. “Can you just go be with Mom?” he asks. Lo nods. “Yeah,” he sighs. “I’m sorry, bud.” He focuses on me. “Whatever Samantha said to you, her opinions are light-years away from ours.” I’m positive “ours” encompasses all the families. “I know,” I say.
And out of everything, it just fucking rips me apart that the full frontal was of him and not me. So easily, it could’ve been me, and I would’ve done absolutely anything to change that, to protect him, to save him. And I know I fell short this time.
I understand why, and I love her for protecting me. But I wish I could protect her from hurt. From that pain.
“Because Beckett is the family member who keeps questioning my intentions with you, and normally I’d just say fuck him and move on. But our relationship should bring you closer to your family, not farther away. So I gently explained some things in a manner I thought a Cobalt would appreciate.”
“Redford!” Oscar yells. “Get your ass over here! Bring the Boyfriend!” The Boyfriend. I’ve heard Oscar call me that a billion times, and I’m not gonna lie, it still fucking gets to me. In a good way. I’m someone’s boyfriend.
Oscar laughs. “Come on. Donnelly and Kitsuwon miss your face, and my little bro is acting like he lost his favorite Golden Retriever.”
“The parents awake?” Oscar asks. “Most of us have been drinking. We’re off-duty tonight, but five-sixths of us care about making bad impressions.” “Who’s the one-sixth?” Jane asks curiously, knuckles to her chin as she leans closer to the cell. “Donnelly,” Farrow tells her.
I blink. Those are my three siblings. All the Hales.
And I’m left here. I hurt him. I hurt him. I crack my taut neck, pressure on my chest.
“No, don’t be. You’re giving me more than enough, wolf scout. I’m here for what you need, and you need privacy.” He lifts his brows. “Later?” I nod. “Later.” And I exhale even bigger.
“I like him, by the way,” Beckett tells me honestly. “Farrow, he’s really good for you.”
“Moffy?” Luna peeks her head out, concern and fear wobbling her voice. I’m not sure how much my siblings heard, but I have one mission now: shield them from this doomsday.
“I’m okay,” I say strongly. My eyes have to be bloodshot because they stare at them like it’s the only evidence that I’m not. “I’m okay. You’re all safe, and I’m going to shut this door—” “No, Moffy!” all three shout like I’m exiting a bomb shelter to face certain death. The intensity of their reaction startles me a
“Summers,” I say with the shake of my head. “You could tell me to rot in hell, and I’d still overwhelming, unconditionally be there for you and love you—there is nothing you can do to push me down. Alright?” Xander rakes his hand over his face, hot tears pouring out. “I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry. I didn’t mean what I said earlier. I love you, you know I love you, right?” I didn’t think I needed to hear that, but maybe some part of me did. I breathe more, and I nod. “Yeah,” I say. “In every universe.” I wrap my arms around my brother’s shoulders. Same height, he hooks an arm around mine, his
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New mission: find Farrow and then push Rowin off this yacht.
Seeing as how six protective motherfuckers have been towering above me, I’ll take an educated guess and say it’s someone from SFO.
“Are you…?” My face twists in agonized thought. “Are you saying that you came onto my boyfriend?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I yell between my teeth. SFO yells over one another, trying to separate me from Rowin before we even collide. My ex stumbles back and holds up a hand in surrender. “You’re a piece of shit,” I sneer and shrug off my friends that try to restrain me, and I glare at Donnelly. “Let go.” He does. They all do.
Find him. I push past SFO and hawk-eye the sliding glass door, about to go inside. Four steps there, I change course. Instinct propels me, and I swerve onto Rowin. In one swift move, I twist his shirt in two white-knuckled fists and slam his back up against the glass. “If I find out you touched him, I will kill you,” I threaten. Rowin is only looking at SFO behind me. He’s waiting for the six guys to come to his aid. But not a single one moves. None of them save him. None of them want to.
Because they’re not his friends. They’re mine. And they know he’s a piece of fucking shit. I release my grip because I see a figure through the glass. Inside the saloon, Maximoff just steps off the winding staircase.
“You’re safe, wolf scout.” I kiss his jaw, and he grips my neck with a shuddered breath. “Fuck,” Maximoff growls, pinching his eyes. He buries his face in the crook of my neck. And he screams. An angered, tormented noise barrels out of him. All this caged emotion is muffled against my shoulder and neck—and I hold him. Fuck, I’m not letting go. I clutch him more securely. So he feels like nothing and no one will breach this embrace.
His face drops. “Did it rain?” Maximoff. I tell him I wasn’t alone. I tell him that I love him. I tell him not to worry because I’m not worried about it, and he lets me hold more of his weight.
“I knew when I gave it to Beckett that I’d be giving it to your whole family. I’m good with that.”
I should have told you that I’m in love with him. An indescribable kind of love. And I realize now, loving Maximoff entirely means letting his family in. Because the day that I’m the reason there’s tension between him and you is the day I’ve failed him.
I should have told you that without him, my life would be empty.
He’s already taught me more than enough about goodness, morality, and unconditional love. But I still hope for a future where that doesn’t end. Where he’s still teaching me things that I’ll tell you I’d already known. I should have told you that I care about what you think. And I want you to trust me with him. One day, I hope you can. Sincerely, Farrow Redford Keene
“You’re human,” Farrow says toughly, clutching my face with so much love and care. “You’re human. Step back, wolf scout.”
“You know,” he tells us, “we still have time to build something other than Hogwarts.” My smile widens as Xander, Kinney, Luna, and their parents look at Maximoff like he’s spoken blasphemy. “Because I love you,” his dad says, “I’m going to forget you said that, bud.”
We pass Team Cobalt, and their ridiculously large castle. Nine people are building this thing. Lo edges closer and purposefully steps on one of the turrets. Demolishing it flat to the ground. “Cheater!” most of the Cobalts boo and yell.
“Loren!” Rose yells above her seven kids. “You’ve reached a new level of low. Ruining the children’s sandcastle.” “So now they’re children?!” he yells back. “Because for two decades, I thought you’ve been calling them gremlins.” She does call her kids gremlins. It’s widely known. Rose curses at him, and he walks off, smiling.
Lo looks at me with this soul-cutting empathy, his care and understanding usually reserved for family or the broken, fragile people he meets.
This is a side of Lo that I haven’t seen in a while. At least not towards me. “I’m pissed,” I say, being honest. I shake my head a few times, and I run my tongue over my molars. “I hope you’re not blaming yourself,” Lo tells me. “It’s not your fault.”
but for Lo to even say them to me—when his son is the one who was in the crossfire—it sits with me for a while. It stings my eyes.
His face almost twists, letting this sink in. He looks pained for me.
“Would you like your job back on security?” My pulse shoots to my throat. I must’ve heard him wrong. I shake my head. “I don’t follow.” “Your old job,” he reiterates. “Do you want it back?”
“I love being a concierge doctor to your family. I don’t want that to change.” “You can do both,” he says those words and it’s like someone has offered me something that makes no sense. Like golden eggs and fairytale bullshit.
“Why?” I ask him. “Why offer me this?”
Lo stares up at the sky again, and when his sharp-edged gaze falls to me, he says, “Because I was raised by a bad man who was also a bad father.” He pauses. “And despite whatever feelings I have about it, my son thinks I’m good, and every day I try to prove him right.” He stares into me like he’s reaching into the bottom of a pool. “You want this. I think you do. And I want to give it to you.” I rub my mouth, trying to collect myself. “So I’ll be…” “You’ll be his bodyguard again.” Truth. I never thought I’d hear those words. Because to me, it’s more than just a job. It’s so much more. “Thank
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Farrow Redford Keene fell in love with the imperfect me. The human me. And whatever happens today, before or after, it’ll probably, most likely be imperfectly human.
