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“Jeepers creepers,” he yelled as he clutched his chest.
I nearly smiled at the ridiculous anti-swear word.
“Sorry,” I offered. My eyes roamed over Isaac’s body. His coat was unbuttoned, so I saw that his shirt was a hot pink color and had a unicorn farting rainbows on it. There was a bright purple glittery scarf wrapped around his throat. He was wearing eyeliner again, but this time it was a deep shade of purple. And the gloss was there, making his lips look full and very kissable.
God, what was happening to me? Was it really going to be this over-the-top, weird, outrageous, vulnerable-but-oh-so-strong kid who was going to finally get my body to wake up and act like the horny teenager my mother had tried to accuse me of being, but that I’d never actually been?
Newt appeared at Isaac’s side and wrapped his arms protectively around his brother’s waist. His blue eyes, which were so like Isaac’s, pinned mine. “Don’t say mean things to my brother, Mad,” Newt said, his finger coming up to wave in my direction. “Or I’ll tell your mommy on you.”
Isaac’s hands dropped to Newt’s head. “It’s fine, Newt, he’s not going to.”
“You can’t be in the family if you’re mean,” Newt declared.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but clearly, I’d made an impression with the boy. And a legitimate one.
“Hey,” Isaac said as he knelt down in front of Newt. “He’s not going to be mean to me.”
“Yes, he is. He made you cry.”
I startled at that. Had Isaac actually told him that?
But Isaac seemed equally surprised. “What? No, he didn’t,” Isaac said.
Newt began to nod, and to my horror, tears began sliding down his face. “Uh-huh, he did. Last night.”
“Hey, hey,” Isaac said, his voice full of worry when he lifted Newt into his arms. Newt wrapped his arms and legs around his brother. “What are you talking about?”
“You told him to stay away from you. Then you started to cry. I tried to wake you…”
Understanding dawned as Isaac’s eyes met mine and I felt like the lowest form of human life on the planet.
“Buddy, look at me,” Isaac said. Nolan had made his way to us after putting the violin in his case and I could see the concern in his eyes.
Newt looked at his brother through watery eyes and let out a little hiccup.
“I was having a bad dream last night, wasn’t I?”
Newt nodded. “And you cried.”
“Remember how our dreams sometimes get things mixed up?” Isaac asked. “And that the things that happen in dreams didn’t actually happen in real life?”
“Like the time I dreamed Lightning drove to our house in Frisco.”
“San Francisco, right,” Isaac said. “And you ran down to the street in your pajamas to talk to him and it was still just our same boring car out there?”
Newt nodded morosely.
“Well, that’s what I did last night. I was remembering things that didn’t happen and mixing stuff up in my mind. Maddox didn’t make me cry and I didn’t tell him to stay away from me.”
Isaac was lying through his teeth because I’d done all those things and worse. I felt Nolan’s eyes on me and could practically hear the wheels spinning in his head.
“He didn’t?” Newt asked, sounding unsure.
Isaac shook his head. “It was just a dumb dream, okay? And he’s not going to be mean to me or to you, and you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because Loki will eat him if he does,” Nolan cut in. His hard eyes were on me, so his warning was clear. And I didn’t blame him in the least.
“Not Loki,” I said, trying to make my voice sound terrified as I laid pleading eyes on Newt. He watched me suspiciously and then said, “Gentry too. Gentry likes me and Isaac.”
“Gentry’s a smart bear,” I said. “Ok, Gentry, too. But just don’t… just don’t sic you-know-who on me,” I whispered as I pretended to look fearfully around me.
“Who?” Newt asked.
I shook my head violently. “Oh, no, I can’t tell you that.”
“Dallas!” Newt guessed.
I shook my head.
“The dogs?”
Another shake.
It went on and on like that for several seconds with Nolan and Isaac finally chiming in to “help” Newt guess. The little boy was finally smiling, but my guilt was a heavy, dead weight in my belly.
Dallas appeared a moment later and stopped at Nolan’s side, his arm automatically going around the slimmer man’s waist. He seemed confused as to what was happening at first, until Nolan leaned up and whispered in his ear. Dallas’s eyes settled on me and I didn’t miss the condemnation there. I had no idea if Isaac had told them about what had transpired between us at the motel, but Dallas clearly was as protective of Newt as Isaac and Nolan were. I saw him get his phone out and pull up something on the screen, then he gave Newt’s little sleeve a tug. I’d noticed the night before that my brother’s fingernails were covered in bright green and pink nail polish, but it appeared that Nolan’s were too, but just in different colors.
