“You and Rob were great! He might not have beenthe onebut he was a good start. We’ve learned that youcandate decent men and have a healthy relationship.”
Sky squinted as he worked through that statement.
They were a great failure and Sky was surehehad been a great disappointment for Rob. Accidentally leading a man on for months and then screaming another man’s name during sex wasnota good start, in Sky’s opinion.
“I don’t think any of that is factually true…” he said slowly, shaking his head. “I should probably stay away from decent men because I’m not fit for a healthy relationship.”
Kayla set down her poke bowl and grabbed his face. “What happened to healing and finding happiness? I still believe you deserve that.”
“I did too, but then I failed miserably with Rob and learned that my uncle was actually my father. He was also sleepingwithmy father. Sometimes, both of my parents at the same time. My sister’s marriage is fake and her son is also my brother. But Adele is still my real mother, unfortunately. My understanding of what any of those relationships mean or how they are supposed to work is so distorted now.”
“That would confuseanybody,my love.” Kayla pulled him into a hug and stroked his hair. “But that doesn’t mean you should give up and become a…boxing monk.”
Sky laughed as he bent and rested his cheek on her shoulder and they started to sway. Her cocoa butter body cream and vanilla perfume were often the first things he smelled when entering their shoebox. Her hugs were home, and Sky felt safer when he was with Kayla. Which was silly because she was almost a foot shorter than Sky and hid behind him if she saw anything that crawled or had a tail.
“A boxing monk sounds pretty cool, and you’ve just given me a plot bunny,” Sky said, wondering if a boxing monk could be good at solving mysteries and be afraid of ghosts. “I honestly think it’s best for the men of the world, and for me, if I’m single and celibate. Forever.”
“No! You can’t mean that!” Kayla gave his back a swat. “Look at how healthy we are and how long we’ve been together.”
“Do you think it’s a coincidence that we’ve never had sex or liked seeing the other person naked?”
“Speak for yourself! You’reawesometo look at, I’m just notsexuallyaroused by the presentation. You’re like a beautiful sculpture that can reach things off the top shelves and in the back of the freezer. Speaking of, can you get me the sesame seeds? They forgot to put some in my bowl,” she said with a nod at the cabinet behind Sky.
“Sure.” He turned and hunted until he located them and handed her the bottle. “What about you? When was the last time you went on a decent date?”
She stuck out her tongue as she opened it and shook some of the seeds onto her bowl. “The wrong ones want to get serious right away and the right ones aren’t ready to get serious. I thought Liza might be special but then I found out that she lied about breaking up with her ex.”
“So…why are you so convinced that dating would be good for me?” Sky asked.
Kayla’s jaw swung open. “One of us needs to get a life orImight take up boxing,” she threatened and picked up her poke and chopsticks. “I’m glad you’ve found a healthy outlet for stress, but the bag is getting to me.”
“What if I bought you some fancy headphones and looked into sound-proofing my room?” he said, then held up a finger when his phone vibrated in his back pocket. He took it out and frowned when Nadine’s picture filled the screen. “We just talked this morning. I need to take this.”
“Of course!” Kayla gestured for him to hurry up and answer the call.
“Hey, Nadine,” he said when he swiped at the screen and pressed the phone to his ear. “Is everything okay?” Sky asked as he strolled the short distance to the sofa.
“No!” Nadine was crying. “It’s Sam Sr. He had a stroke! I talked to your sister while he was in surgery, but I’m still waiting for more news.”
“Sam Sr.?” Sky dropped onto the sofa, sad, scared, and overwhelmed as he was bombarded by memories.
How long had it been since he had seen Mason’s father? Sky felt a swell of guilt because he admired the hell out of Sam Sr. and had nothing but wonderful memories of him.
Except for the day Sky had almost died because of a peanut butter sandwich. He was eight, and they had been playing over at Mason’s house in the backyard, preparing his treehouse for a sleepover and a possible zombie invasion.
Sam Sr. had sent up a bucket with peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches, bags of chips, and Capri-Suns. Hungry and not wanting to be a bother, Sky didn’t complain about the peanut butter and hadtriedto eat his. But he had never been able to handle the texture of peanut butter and there wasa lotof it on his sandwich. It had stuck to the roof of his mouth and the soft white bread had turned into a paste, causing Sky to panic. Afraid that it would choke him, he started to gag and heave.
His sister realized he was in distress and grabbed the bucket. “We’re losing him! Get me some fruit punch, STAT!” she had shouted, then proceeded to calm Sky down and talk him through his panic attack until the need to vomit had passed.
Mason’s dad feltterribleand still apologized every time he saw Sky for forgetting that he couldn’t eat certain foods. There was nothing to forgive as far as Sky was concerned but peanut butter was still his nemesis.
“Is Mason okay?” Sky asked, knowing good and well that he wouldn’t be.
“Probably not. You know how close they are. Sarina said she talked to Mason when he was on his way to Mineola, and said he sounds like a wreck.”
“But Sam Sr.’s going to be okay, right?” Sky demanded as he rocked, fear and helplessness building up inside of him and making him too anxious to be still.
“We hope so!” Nadine said. “Your sister was with Sam when it happened, thankfully. She had him flown to NYU Langone. She thinks they caught it early, but it was too soon to say. All I know is that Sam was headed into surgery, and Mason was on his way there.”
