AllFreeNovel
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I’m about to tell Lo that Willow is doing great, as far as I know. She never told any of them about how I punched her college friend or the fact that I visited her in London for all of two hours.
Can this stay between us? I asked her. I was ashamed. Still am.
She agreed.
But before I can say anything to Loren, his wife cuts in. “Lo,” Lily says softly, but loud enough to pull his attention.
“Hmm?” He swishes around the salsa with a chip. His other hand is planted on Lily’s leg. She’s still on his back.
Their embrace just makes me ache to hold Willow. My heart physically clenches, and I knock my head back against the cupboard. Come on, Garrison.
“Do you think Connor might be Batman or Superman?”
Lo drops her instantly.
She lands on her ass. “Lo!”
My lip twitches, almost smiling. God, I want to.
There are some things you don’t bring up in front of Loren Hale. DC comic book characters might actually be number one on the list.
He waves a chip at his wife. “There are a goddamn thousand superheroes, and you chose two that I can’t stand?”
“They make the most sense.”
“They make about as much sense as calling Connor the Swamp Thing.”
I almost laugh.
Lily picks herself off the floor. “That’s just silly. Swamp Thing isn’t even close to being Batman and Superman.”
Willow would love this conversation. Comics remind me of her. She’s the only reason I started reading them in the first place, and she still loves superheroes more than me. I’ll tell her about this. It’ll be a light thing after a lot of heavy shit.
Lo’s glare sharpens and intensifies. “Please let me know where I can find my other wife. This one in front of me is a sellout.”
Lily touches her heart and hurt cinches her brows. “I’m not a sellout. I just happen to not be an elitist about the whole Marvel versus DC thing, and I can appreciate all superheroes equally.”
“You think they’re all made equally?” Lo asks passionately. “Do you want to talk Green Lantern? We can talk Green Lantern.”
“Okay, okay,” Lily immediately concedes. “So I have my favorites, just like you.” She’s moved close, fingers in his belt loops, and she gazes up at her husband like the whole conversation is a giant turn-on. Lo wraps his arm around his wife.
I lean forward and grab a couple chips from the bag. Trying not to wish for Willow to be here.
Lo declares, “My best friend is not Batman or Superman.” Best friend. That’d be Connor. It’s weird hearing him say that out loud. Not that I don’t know the fact. But because Connor is my boss. Loren is Willow’s brother. Our connections to one another are too fucking tangled at this point.
“Then what is he?” Lily asks.
“Connor Cobalt,” Lo answers without a pause. “He’s Connor fucking Cobalt, and whatever powers he has, they’re all his own.”
I narrow my eyes, watching their exchange. Connor doesn’t surround himself with people who only blow smoke up his ass, otherwise Ryke Meadows wouldn’t be in this room. But pure admiration comes from Lo.
For me, I remember being a seventeen-year-old kid who vandalized a house. I remember the guy who gave me the handout when I needed it but didn’t deserve it.
I don’t know—Loren Hale is the one who has powers to me.
Lily’s gaze drifts to a Celebrity Crush tabloid on the counter behind Lo, and her smile fades. “What is…” She seizes the tabloid.
I crane my head, trying to read the headline.
[POLL] Which Calloway sister has the cutest baby?
That’s fucked up.
And the poll won’t blow over well with Ryke, Daisy, Connor, or Rose either.
They’re all insanely protective of their kids. Like they should be. Parents should protect all of their children. Not just the ones they like the most.
Shit, if I had a baby right now, I’d be gutted every time their name was in print. I can’t even handle media attention. How could I expect my kid to deal with that?
And why the fuck am I thinking about a baby?
I’m twenty-one.
Willow and I are in the rockiest place we’ve ever stepped foot in. We may not make it to tomorrow. Babies are an unquantifiable part of my relationship. The more I think about the foggy future, my stomach knots.
Pain suddenly flares in my ribs as I focus more on the injury.
So I turn my attention.
Lo rips the tabloid out of Lily’s hands.
“They polled our babies by cuteness,” Lily explains. “They can’t do that.”
Lo’s brows bunch. “They can do whatever they want.”
“I just wish there were some ethical limitations,” Lily says while Lo flips to the right page. Lily tries to stop him, pushing his hands. “Don’t! What if Moffy is ranked the ugliest.” She lowers her voice. “We’ll know and we’ll feel bad and it’ll give him a complex.”
