Page 81 of The Spellreader and the Phoenix

She sucked in a breath and protested immediately, “I didn’t say that! Max, you’re my favorite brother.”

This surprised a laugh out of him, though he said dryly, “Thanks for that.”

He could tell that she was grinning now. So was Rory.

“I’d love it if you felt comfortable enough to come out here for a visit at some point,” she told him. “I’ll save all the dessert for Rory.”

“Thank you!” Rory called.

Max didn’t have the phone on speaker, but it was clear his shifter hearing was picking everything up anyway.

“I can’t wait to meet him!” Evie said in the tone of voice that meant Rory was going to be subjected to a lot of questioning. Max was pretty sure there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Rory was beaming like this was a great thing, and Max was just going to… let them figure it out.

“He looks forward to meeting you, too,” Max said.

“And you and I are going to talk later,” Evie promised.

Yeah, he definitely had his own questioning to undergo. He objected on principle, except that the idea of needing to talk a lot about Rory wasn’t nearly as alarming as anything else would have been.

“Yeah, yeah,” he told her. “I have to go. We’re wrapping everything up soon, and we have to make sure Alex gets home safely.”

Alex rolled their eyes, and sure, it was only going to be a little after eight, but people could get out of hand on Halloween, and there was no way Max was going to risk anything happening to Alex.

They had one more story time, gave out yet more candy, and then it was finally time to wrap up for the night. They escorted out the stragglers—Rory made sure they had an extra helping of candy—and then walked Alex home. There were still a lot of costumed people out, and it was kind of nice to see the normal order of the world suspended for a few hours. People could (mostly) dress however they wanted, let their silly side out, and ask strangers for candy.

They got stopped three times for pictures and once for a duel, but then they successfully delivered Alex safely home. Then they made their way back to the shop. Rory had requested they leave the bulk of the Halloween decorations up on Sunday and Monday so that it would still be in effect for D&D, and then they’d start taking them down on Tuesday and just leave a few touches for fall.

(At that point, they were going to start “ramping up for Thanksgiving.” Apparently, Rory had a plan. Max didn’t want to know.)

He and Rory strolled back to the book shop, continuing to admire all the decorations around them and the costumes of the people they passed.

When Max uncertainly brushed his hand against Rory’s, he immediately twined their fingers together, and Max relaxed, soothed by the point of connection more than he’d thought he would be.

“Thank you for this,” he said sincerely. “I would never have done any of this on my own. And if you’d asked, I’d probably have told you it was all completely unnecessary. I can’t imagine doing it all the time, but it was pretty amazing to do with you—or, you know, pose where you told me to pose.”

Rory grinned at him, honey eyes bright even as they passed between the street lights.

“I had so much fun! And I have so many ideas for more things we can do.”

Max had a feeling his quiet existence was gone for good… and he minded far less than he’d thought he would. Plus, he knew there’d still be quiet evenings in the back room, and Rory was still going to curl up with him so they could read in bed at night.

Max was gaining so much, mostly things he hadn’t known he wanted—or maybe hadn’t wanted until Rory.

“I’m glad,” Max said impulsively. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Rory’s smile got impossibly wider. “I’m so glad to be here! You’re the best!”

“I’m really not,” Max told him. “But I’m glad you think so.”

“You’re the best for me,” Rory argued stubbornly.

Max had the feeling he wasn’t going to be able to change Rory’s mind about this. Rory had seen Max before coffee and annoyed with customers and white-knuckle driving and arguing with his cat. Really, he probably knew Max better than just about anyone (which might say more about Max’s life than anything, but the point remained).

“I think you’re the best for me, too,” Max told him quietly. “This isn’t at all what I expected.”

“What did you expect?” Rory asked curiously.