Page 525 of End Game

Exhausting.

Griffin parks.

“You want me with you when you start?” he asks.

“Yes.”

No hesitation.

His fingers lace with mine.

“But don't answer for me.”

“I won't.”

“And when they inevitably start asking if you're okay—”

“I know.”

Clay opens his door. “Are you two done establishing rules of engagement?”

I look back at him. “Ronan has infected you.”

“Pretty sure that isn't how autism works.”

That gets an unwilling laugh out of me.

Fine.

Maybe I needed that.

Mom opens the door before we knock.

For a second, she just stares.

At me first.

Then Griffin.

Then Clay.

Her eyebrows pull together. “Well, this looks ominous.”

“Hello to you too.”

“Cameron.”

There it is.

Government name.

I haven't even crossed the threshold.

Excellent start.

She hugs me anyway.

Tight and long enough that I feel some of the old tension in my shoulders answer automatically.