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I look to Kodiak.
“Uh, yeah, that’d be great, Alex. I mean sir.”
“I’ve changed your diapers, Kody. You don’t have to start calling me sir.” My dad gives me an apologetic smile. “I only ever want what’s best for you.”
“I know. You wouldn’t have put all that money into therapy and sewing machines and an art room if you didn’t.”
That gets a chuckle out of everyone.
The house alarm beeps, a signal that either Maverick or River is home.
Everyone turns when River shouts, “Whose bomb-ass truck is in the drive—” He comes to a very abrupt halt the moment he enters the dining room with Josiah at his side. “What the hell is going on?”
River’s eyes lock with mine, and I give him an apologetic shrug. “I texted you.”
“Right. Okay. I didn’t check my messages.”
Mom stands and pulls him into a hug, then gives him a questioning smile. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?”
“Huh?” He glances at Josiah, and I can see the moment he decides not to disappoint him.
Kodiak squeezes my hand.
River clears his throat, gaze darting from me, to Dad, and then to Mom. “This is Josiah. And uh . . .” He looks at Josiah. “He’s my boyfriend.”
And just like that, me and Kodiak moving to New York together isn’t the biggest news anymore.
Mom nods knowingly. “I figured. Well, let’s get you two boys a chair so we can get to know Josiah better.”
Three hours and a whole lot of yummy food and surprisingly easy conversation later, our parents gather their things and get ready to head home.
Dad pulls me into a hug. “You’ve grown into quite an incredible person, Lavender. It’s hard to let you go.”
“I know, and I love you for it, but I promise I can hold my own these days.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I know you can, and I know Kody will be a good partner for you. Otherwise he’ll have me to answer to.”
I laugh, because what can I really say to that. He’s my dad, and I’m always going to be his little girl.
Mom slips her arm around my waist. We’re close to the same height. We watch as Dad and River have a whispered conversation.
“You knew River was gay?” I ask.
She lifts a shoulder in a slight shrug. “I suspected. I mean, whenever we went to the beach, it was never the girls he was staring at.”
She has a point.
Dad puts a hand on River’s shoulder, and his expression shifts to one I’m familiar with. It’s the one I called his marshmallow face when I was little, when he would go all soft and warm and compassionate. Whatever he says to River makes him duck his head. Dad pulls him in for a hug—and not one of those manly, back-pat jobs, but a real hug. I can practically feel the emotion in it.
They needed this.
We all did.Chapter Thirty-FiveA Piece of Peace
Lavender
Present day
AS SOON AS finals are over, and Kodiak and Maverick graduate, Kodiak and I pack our things and move into a condo sublet our parents found in New York City. Although the internship offered accommodations, my dad and Kodiak’s mom researched the most statistically safe location within walking distance of my internship and a short subway ride from Kodiak’s training camp. Hence the sublet.
New York is busy and noisy and overwhelming. The bustle makes my heart race, but the internship is totally worth it. It takes all of twenty-four hours in the theater for me to come to the conclusion that this is my dream job.
My mentor, Priscilla, doesn’t coddle me. And even better, everyone I work with asks for my opinion. They push my creative boundaries and test my skill set. I love everything about it. For the first time in my life, I understand what it means to feel truly comfortable in my own skin.
Kodiak and I are learning how to manage life together. It isn’t seamless, or perfect, but it’s real, and it’s honest, and it’s us. He’s an excessive neat freak, and I’m less rigid about immediately putting everything away as soon as I’m done with it.
Regardless of our differences, we get each other on a level that feels soul deep. Sure, we’re young, and we have our entire lives ahead of us, and so many things could change. But in those first few weeks, we carve out a hectic existence for ourselves, and I finally feel at peace with our past and how we managed to get here, to this place where we’re wholly in love.
I stayed late at the theater tonight so I could finish a particularly tricky part of the costume I’m working on. Priscilla has been so supportive, always there to answer questions and teach me tricks to make things easier. It’s almost eight o’clock by the time I get home to our ridiculously nice, two-bedroom sublet on the twentieth floor.
