“I’ve missed you guys,” I say before looking at Druim. He babbles, his face split into a wide grin. Half of his words don’t make sense but a few fly through that I catch likehiandbeeandDada. He’s got the most adorable chubby cheeks and his skin is just as golden as I remember. “I’ve missed you, Corn. I’m yourgodfather,” I tell him, reaching out and taking his little hand in mine, giving it a little shake. “It’s lovely to re-meet you.”
“Why are you being so cheery? I’m not complaining,” Miles says, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m just really confused.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back to my asshole self shortly. I think I’m just in shock that we’re together again, that’s all.”
“Right,” Miles says slowly, nodding his head. “Makes sense. Some people go into shock and shut down. You go into shock and turn into sunshine personified.”
I narrow my eyes at him, my smile falling away. I cross my arms over my chest. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Oh good. There you are. I was worried they somehow replaced you on the spaceship.”
“You’re such a dick.”
Miles grins. “I know! But you love me!”
“I do,” I say, rolling my eyes. I wrap my arm around Miles’ shoulders, guiding him out of the crowd and towards the road that leads to our homes.
There’s supposed to be a night of celebration, but all I want to do is get back home and get myself settled. I want to toss my things in my cabin before going back to Miles’ place that he shares with his mate and his child. I want to sit on the couch together and catch up. I want to see if things have changed or if they’re exactly as I remember them.
“You don’t want to stay?”
“Can we just go back home? I want to hear about everything that’s happened while I was gone.”
Miles and Timalah share a look before Miles is nodding. “Okay, you can come back to ours. Maybe you can even stay the night. It’ll be like old times,” Miles says with a grin.
“I think I can manage to walk across the street at the end of the night,” I say with a snort. “Just because I’ve been gone a year doesn’t mean I’ve lost the ability to find my way back home.”
“Sure. Right. Of course,” Miles says with a chuckle that sounds completely out of character. I’m about to call him out on the weirdness when Timalah jumps in.
“Thank you for keeping an eye on Gendry while he was gone.”
“It wasn’t difficult. Though itwassurprising when he fell for Aldo. The first day they met, he was head over heels almost instantly. It would have been all kinds of adorable if it wasn’t so nauseatingly sweet.”
“There you are,” Miles says, chuckling to himself. “Still not sold on the whole love thing?”
My heart skips a beat as one face comes to mind. My lips are still tingling from the quick kiss I gave Ghenie. As happy as I am to be back with Miles, I can’t stop thinking about when I can slip away and try to find Ghenie again. I need to talk to him and the sooner I can do that, the better.
We step into Miles’ and Timalah’s house. Timalah takes Druim into his room while Miles and I go to the couch. I toss my shit onto the floor, feeling the weariness of travel wash over me. It’s nice to be in a comfortable, homey space again.
“I’m not so sure anyone really wants to loveme,” I say, finally answering Miles’ question. “But I’m not as against it as I was in the past. I don’t know. It’s complicated. I’m really fucked up, Miles.”
Miles freezes, turning to face me. “Don’t say that.”
I shrug. “It’s true. A lot of shit happened when I was a kid that fucked me up.”
Miles opens his mouth so say something before snapping his mouth shut again. He processes what I’ve said. “That’s not your fault, Miles.”
“It’s not and I know that a lot better now. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and it certainly doesn’t mean I’m not dealing with the fallout still to this day.”
Miles’ eyes dart between my own. “Jesus, you really have changed.”
I rub the back of my neck, staring down at my feet. All of those insecurities and hurts threaten to choke me all over again. I’m allowed to let people in. I’m allowed to let Miles in. Out of everyone, he’s the one person I’ve let in. He loves me. I repeat this over and over in my head, desperately working on believing it.
“Hopefully for the better,” I finally say. “I know I’ve never talked about it but my childhood was kinda fucked up. My parents were gone all the time.”
“Fuck,” Miles breathes out.
“Yeah. Umm, substance abuse. I stayed with my grandmother but she died. And then I hopped couches. Eventually I just got a place of my own. Told everyone I was eighteen, got a fake ID. It really screwed up my outlook on life for a really long time.”
