“That sounds bad ass.”
“Until you realize I didn’t even make a whole flipping block.” I shook my head, chuckling before I glanced up at him again.“You must really enjoy your nieces and nephews if you love kids so much.”
“Oh, yeah. I adore them.” A fond smile curved his lips. “The whole damn army.”
“A whole army, huh? How many are there exactly?”
“I’ve lost count,” he said between measured breaths. “My siblings are reproducing at a truly alarming rate. It’s like they’re trying to repopulate the earth, but every new addition to our family makes me wonder how we ever thought we were complete without them.”
“Wow, you really do love them.”
“Yeah. Kids are way better than most people.”
Honestly, the way he was talking kind of made me want a whole bunch of nieces and nephews of my own. He wasn’t vague or detached about it like people sometimes were when talking about kids. This was different. It was sincere and genuinely warm, like he truly missed them.
“You must be cool uncle,” I said. “I bet your siblings love that. You feed their kids sugar at bedtime, don’t you?”
“You know it.” He grinned. “Getting in good with them is way more important than whatever my brothers’ rules are.”
“Only your brothers’ rules? What about your sister’s rules? Don’t they count?”
He snorted softly. “She’s younger. Around your age, actually, but her rules are a whole different ballgame. I’ll definitely follow those. Her kid is still just a baby. I haven’t been able to feed him sugar yet, at bedtime or at all, but I don’t think I will. She can be real mean when she wants to be.”
“That’s a sister thing,” I said. “We had a meeting about it and consensus was reached that we’re allowed to be mean whenever we want.”
“That sounds about right,” he teased. “The mean-sister club. It has a nice ring to it.”
I laughed, asking a little more about his family as we walked. “Where do they live? Your siblings, I mean.”
“Oh, they’re all over.”
Very informative.
But I was coming to expect that from him. Theo was weirdly careful about how he answered questions about himself. He wasn’t outright evasive, but he didn’t really mention any specifics either.
At first, I’d thought maybe he was hiding something bad, but now, I wasn’t so sure. I was starting to think his family situation might just be complicated, so I didn’t push.
The trail opened ahead of us, effectively ending our conversation for the moment. Black Mesa Canyon at sunrise still took my breath away, despite how many times I’d seen it in the past.
Sunlight spilled over the cliffs above. The narrow river below reflected streaks of pink and red. The massive canyon walls glowed like gold, slowly swallowing the shadows stretching across the stone.
“Holy shit,” Theo breathed, slamming to an abrupt halt beside me.
I smiled. “I hate to say it, but I told you so.”
“No, seriously.” The sunrise caught his green eyes as he looked around in complete awe, his head shaking like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “It’s a shame my bike is broken.”
I blinked hard, a little startled by the comment. “Why?”
“Because I would’ve liked to take you on it as a thank you for this.” He looked out at the view, his voice hushed and his jaw a little slack. “It might actually be the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been all over, but you were right. It really is phenomenal. Absolutely the best view ever to wake up to. Top two at least.”
Theo glanced at me and I wondered what that meant.
CHAPTER 11
THEO
Life in Quartz Pass was starting to feel normal to me. A month ago, I’d been crossing borders with only a backpack strapped to my shoulders and no real destination in mind, but now, I had a preferred gas station and people waved when they saw me in public.
