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He could say that again.
“So…” Toby hesitated. “Ty’s right, you both deserve happiness more than anyone else. What’s the deal with Romero? He kind of freaks me out, if I’m being honest. There’s something intense about the guy. All of us think so.”
He had the right of it, Romerowasintense. It was something I loved about him. I had a feeling Rain loved it about him too.
I didn’t even feel bad about telling these two boys parts of my guys’ stories. I knew my guys wouldn’t be upset, they weren’t hiding anything or even trying to. I only hesitated because this was all unhappy crap to be talking about.
“Romero’s story is, well… sad. Like Rain’s was sad, in a way. The Council pretty much owned him for all of his adult life. He was basically sold to Dash’s mother and grandmother. Apparently they werenotnice women. I guess they abused both Romero and Dash. Then, I don’t know the why of it, but the Council took Romero and locked him up. He spent most of Dash’s life locked in a cell and forgotten while Dash spent most of his life thinking that his dad was dead. It was horribly sad for both of them really.”
I hadn’t really thought about Rain and Romero like that before. They had both missed out on the majority of their children’s lives. It really was sad.
“So Romero deserves his happiness too,” Baylie murmured and then shoved an entire cookie into his mouth.
Boys and food. Clearly his stomach was not affected by the sadness filling up this kitchen. It definitely made me feel a little bit lighter watching him eat my food.
“And this Finn has had a messed up life too?” Toby asked nosily.
Ah, and we were back to Finn, having somehow gone full circle.
“I’m not entirely sure of Finn’s story. We’re taking things slowly, and I don’t want to rush him into sharing before he’s ready. It’s not a race. This is real life, and I can’t afford to make a mistake with my future happiness at stake. Though, I will say that with what I’ve learned so far, it’s not looking like he’s had an easy go at life. I think he belongs with us, and Romero thinks so too. Rain is coming around to him, and he’s finally met Baxter because the kid comes with us. It’s new, and I don’t want to do anything to mess it up. I also refuse to allow anyone else to mess it up either.”
Well, damn. I had overshared more than I had planned, but once I started talking, it was almost as if I couldn’t shut myself up again.
“I’m glad they are dead,” Toby blurted out. At my blank look, he clarified, “The Council, I’m glad they are dead. They were pure evil. All they ever did was hurt people and destroy lives, which is disgusting because they were meant to be the ones to keep us all safe.”
“Toby,” Baylie said in a quiet, carefully tight voice.
“What?” Toby shot back at his friend. “They are all dead, it’s not like they can come back to life to punish me for my smart mouth now. Their days of hurting people are over.”
He spoke of punishment as if he was very familiar with it. Maybe we did have more in common than I had originally thought. What a horribly sad thought.
“You can never be too careful, and you’re smarter than this,” Baylie scolded his friend.
There was clearly a story there they weren’t going to share with me. Baylie sounded like he was used to watching over Toby and had a bit of practice attempting to keep the guy out of trouble. I wasn’t surprised by this, but Iwassurprised to find out that Toby had a smart mouth. He seemed like the quieter, more cautious one of the two.
My cellphone inside my bag on top of the counter vibrated while it sounded with the alert letting me know I had a text message. I pulled my phone out of my bag while trying not to look too eager. I was hoping and expecting it to be one of three people—three male people.
Instead, it was the one and only Ariel Kimber.
She was done waiting on me and was ready to have this conversation once and for all so we could be done with it.
I dreaded it but knew there was no more time for me to put it off any longer.
I said my goodbyes to the boys and left them to fight over their delicious baked goods.
I also knew that I left them knowing I was going to put my all into becoming real friends with both of them. There was no doubt in my mind that they’d both receive it well and they’d both give it right back to me.
We could all use more people in our lives who had the potential to become our family. It would never fully fill the hole that we had from losing our blood families, but it for sure would go a long way toward making our lives better, and that was really all we could hope for at this point.
Of courseI found Ariel outside, sitting under an umbrella at a table right next to the stupidly large pool.
Fuck that pool. At least it wasn’t dark and murky because the sun was high up in the sky and shining bright. The water was a clear crystal blue, but still… fuck that pool.
I knew the water didn’t bother Ariel anymore. It had at one point, but because she was the person that she was, she worked her ass off to face her fear and conquer it.
I had yet to get to the place where I was capable of doing the same thing. It was weak, but I owned that. One day I’d get there. Hopefully.
Thankfully I now knew I wouldn’t have to try and get there by myself. I had good people in my corner backing me.
