I hold up the novella for them to see, and Sunny smiles as I approach them.
“Wait, did you write a novel?” Xavier asks.
I shake my head. “My poetry got published.”
Xavier frowns as he steals the book from my hand to take a closer look. “For real?” He sifts through the pages and grins. “Well, well, well, I’ll be damned. I don’t know how you did it man, but I’m proud of you.”
He opens his jacket and pulls out a new notebook. “Speaking of. I promised you something a while ago, and I’m a man of my word.” He hands me a brand-new notebook just like the one I penned down all my poetry in. The same one he ripped a paper out of. “For the trouble.”
“Thank you,” I reply.
“Of course. So how did you actually get your poetry published?”
Sunny snatches the book from his hand. “I secretly submitted it to an agent.”
My eyes widen. “Wait, that was you? I thought that agent just landed in my inbox out of nowhere.”
She proudly wades through the poems. “It looks good.”
“It’s all thanks to you,” I say, placing my hand on her arm to pull her closer. “And I couldn’t be more grateful for my muse.”
I lean in to peck her on the forehead, feeling infinitely grateful that I’ve gotten this far thanks to her. My words would’ve dried up long ago if she hadn’t existed at the forefront of my mind.
“Nicely done, Orion,” Xavier says, patting me on the back, before he waltzes to the cabinet to take out some hard liquor. “We should toast to that.”
I hold up my hand. “No thanks, I’m good.”
Xavier frowns. “Why not? You love—”
“I quit,” I interject.
“Wait, for real?” Sunny’s eyes widen.
“Mm-hmm,” I say. “It’s true. I don’t need it anymore.” I cup her face and lean in, a smile forming on my face. “When I have the imminent threat of murder lingering over my head, I have nothing else to drown in.”
She snorts. “You’re a strange one. You know that, right?”
“We’re all strange here,” I muse, kissing her on the lips because I just can’t get enough of her taste.
“Does the family know?” Xavier asks.
My lips pull away, and I stare at him for a moment, having an epiphany. “No,” I reply, excited as hell. I don’t think I’ve ever been this elated in my entire fucking life. “Fuck, I should go tell them. I’m a published poet!”
Xavier
“Pull!”Sunny yells. Her dad pulls the lever, and the target pops out. She shoots it down with ease, and everyone in the family cheers.
“Nice shot, Sunny,” Atreus chants, whistling after her.
“Why does she always have the fucking highest score?” Silas growls.
We’re having a casual picnic in the woods while shooting targets, courtesy of Atreus Foley, who brought his gear with him just so we could all have a little fun get-together with the entire family.
“Because my sister is better than you at shooting,” Elliot taunts.
“Pull!” Sunny shouts.
BANG!
