Page 138 of Summer Holiday Lifeline

“Five.”

“Relentless,” Jet muttered as he gently pushed her off him.

She tumbled back onto the couch, giggling, but Jet did pull out his wallet and hand her a five-dollar bill.

“Make sure it gets into the jar,” he warned.

“Come on.” Her hand in his was tiny, but fiercely tight. “I’ll get you pie.”

“Who says I want pie?”

“Pie makes people smile.” She was so matter of fact about it that Jet did, in fact, smile. “See? Come on.” Like a loving little tyrant, she led him from the room towards the kitchen.

Heart thudding and restricted at the same time, Myles slumped back. He couldn’t give Jet a future with Priory. He couldn’t make the man love him, or even stop him giving Jet the fortune Jet didn’t seem to want. He could, however, make sure he backed off about school and Jet’s future that he wouldn’t be around to be a part of.

“Fuck that.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Priory.

It took another few swears and some veiled threats to get the man himself on the phone. Rich people had a lot of buffers between them and the people they didn’t want to talk to.

“What is it you want, McCreevy?”

“Jet said you pulled some shit to get him into university?” He wasn’t going to bother with niceties if Priory wasn’t.

“What business is that of yours?”

Seriously? The man was delusional if he thought this wasn’t Myles’s business. “He hasn’t even graduated high school. You don’t think that’s a bit premature?”

“Don’t worry about it. I have the situation in hand.”

“It isn’t your situation to fucking worry about. You won’t even be around when it happens.” Shitty thing to say maybe, but true.

“Is it wrong for me to want to spend time with him?” He didn’t even deny it, and Myles’s temples began to throb. “He is my kid, as you just pointed out.”

“You’ve had sixteen years, and you picked now, when your time was running out. Shitty move.”

“You’re right. Of course you’re right.”

Myles drew in a sharp breath. He hadn’t expected Priory to fold that easily.

“I know his mother is gone,” Priory said. “I wanted to be sure he had a path forward. Who was going to help him⁠—”

“Me, Priory. Me. The person his mother—who loved and cared for him his whole life, who knew him best—left in charge of him. I’ll be there to make sure he finds his path forward.”

“I wanted to help.”

“You should have wanted that sixteen fucking years ago. You don’t get to swan in now and fix things. Especially not things that aren’t broken. You want to leave him a trust, go for it. You want to see him again, you go through me, and it happens if—and only if—he wants it. Do you understand?”

“I have enough money I could bury you in legalities.”

“For fuck sakes. That how you want to spend the end of your life? Antagonizing him? Or do you want to build something good he can remember you by? If you want him to care, you put him first, not you. Think about what he wants. Listen to him. If he wants to go to your alma matter, fine. If he doesn’t, that’s his choice.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long time. “Will he want to see me again?”

“I have no goddamn idea. But I’ll ask him.”

“How do I know you will?”

“You’ll have to trust me. I don’t hate you, Priory, and I’m not going to try and keep him from seeing you. But I am going to give him the choice, then I’m going to honour it. I suggest you do the same.”