Page 126 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“And you’re sure you’re still straight?”

“Fuck yes.”

“Language.”

“We like all the same things. He’s cool.”

“You’re going to miss him.” He didn’t have to ask. He could tell by the way Jet and Wyatt were spending every possible moment together, just as he wanted to do with Steven.

“Don’t make it weird.”

“Absolutely nothing wrong with a strong friendship. Remember why it’s here we came when I needed support.”

Twisting his lips, Jet shrugged and studied the floor. “It isn’t like we had the same lives. His parents were dicks. I was really lucky. But I don’t miss Mom every breath when we’re hanging out. And he gets it when I go quiet. Maybe if he came with⁠—”

Myles put a hand on Jet’s shoulder, cutting him off, heart twisting, because he intimately knew Jet’s desire to have someone like Wyatt close, but he also realized what Wyatt needed. “Understand, I want Wyatt to have every chance of getting his life back on track, yeah?”

Another nod.

“And with everything we’re dealing with, I don’t think that would be the best thing for him. Here, he has a lot of people in his corner. There he’d only have us, and we have too many distractions right now to be the kind of support he needs.”

“Figured you’d say something like that. Ozzy sort of said the same thing.”

“The stars must be aligning,” he muttered.

Jet glanced up. “What?”

“Me and Ozzy agreeing on something.”

“Whatever. I’m going up.”

“You do that. Call if you need anything.”

“Yeah!” He was already halfway up the stairs, so Myles let him go, and headed out the front door himself, still bemused about Jet getting the same advice from Ozzy that Myles had offered. Would wonders never cease.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

When he arrived across the street, the door to the bookshop, as always, swung open to greet him.

“Hey.” Steven smiled at him as he entered, and Myles’s heart took yet another twisted turn. He was going to have a coronary at this rate. If his heart kept jumping between Jet and Steven like this, it would have more miles on it than could possibly be healthy.

Steven was seeing a customer out, handing over a heavy bag that looked to be full of big books, so he didn’t seem to notice Myles’s reaction. Or maybe, despite how it felt, it was purely internal and not even visible to the naked eye. “See you again,” Steven told the customer, who nodded enthusiastically and grinned at Myles who stepped out of the way for them.

“I’ll definitely be back. I had no idea you carried so many vintage cookbooks. This is going to be great for my channel!”

Steven laughed. “Good luck. Though I’m still skeptical. Some of those recipes are…” He made a face.

“That is the whole point. This is going to be great. You’ll see.” They left then, and Steven shut the door behind them.

“You okay?” Steven asked.

“Not sure.” Myles studied him.

“Okay.” Steven glanced at his watch. “Lunchtime.” He flipped the sign to CLOSED. “Or close enough.” The door locked itself as Steven took Myles’s hand. “Come upstairs.”

Myles let Steven lead him up the stairs past the piles to the attic. For once, Myles managed to ignore the stacks around the edges of the room as he followed Steven past the couch they usually occupied to a door at the far end of the space.

“You’ll have to forgive the mess. I peeled the bed so I could change the sheets this morning, and only managed to get as far putting the new sheets on. Ooof.”