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The room is filled with silence. Just the hard breaths coming from Orion, Granny’s soft sigh, the even softer sighs from Cass, and a grunt from Lennox can be heard. I can practically smell their freaking disappointment, but maybe that’s the anchovies on the pizza reanimating in the kitchen.
That should really be added to the stench scale.
“You’ve acted like an imbecile,” Orion says roughly. He stands up and walks over to me. Instead of brotherly punching me in the gut or tackling me to the floor the way I deserve, he claps me on the shoulder. “But you’re here now.”
“I second that,” Lennox concurs. He pulls Cass up into his arms, and they walk over together.
Granny closes the circle around me, and we all group hug. We don’t normally group hug as we’re more of a group hack if we’re looking for an activity we can all do together to take us back to our roots kind of family, so this is extra special.
“Oh my god, what is that smell?” Cass breaks the circle fist, pulling back and sniffing the air.
“Anchovies and mushrooms coming back to life, I think,” I volunteer.
“Dear lord, who ordered anchovies?”
Silence. Total. Silence.
Cass rolls her eyes and puts her hands on her hips. “No one’s going to fess up to it?”
Lennox shrugs guiltily. “I had a craving for them. I’m sorry. You’re still going to kiss me, aren’t you?”
“Not until you’ve brushed your teeth and chewed a pack of gum,” Cass says, but she looks happy enough for someone who should be grossed out by her man’s extremely questionable taste in pizza. I mean, seriously. Who puts fish on pizza? That’s just taking things a little too far, and by little, I mean not so little.
Orion shudders. “I need a mind wash now. Just the mention of fish on pizza is enough to curdle one’s stomach, let alone the smell. We’re definitely adding this to the stench scale.”
Yup, my brother and I most definitely think alike.
“I need your help,” I tell my family, and my god, it feels good to say those words. I’m not one of those guys who can’t ask for it, and it took me way too long to get here. “I don’t know where to go from here or how to do it.”
“Well…” Granny pauses. “With the exception of Ayana, because Ransom talked to her alone while I talked to a whole club full of burly biker dudes, we’ve talked it out as a family. We told Azalea as a family, and we told Cass when we were together, all of us, so I think we should all go with you. Or invite her over here.”
“If you do, I’ll be sure to save her some of my pizza.”
We all groan at Lennox’s “generous” offer.
Orion steps over to Lennox and elbows him in the ribs. “We’re trying to help him, not chase her away. Or kill her. Because I think tasting a pizza that smells like molding foot fungus would definitely chase her away.”
It’s hard to voice my fears, but I go for it. This is a safe place, and this is my family. I’m surrounded by their love, and now that they’re not so angry with me, I know they have my back. They’d have it regardless because they’re my family, and we always stick together. Always.
“What if she’s not into it? What if we tell her, and she says thanks but no thanks, our life isn’t for her? What if she doesn’t want to leave her family behind? Or the house that is brand new now? What if she doesn’t want to uproot everything and go into the great unknown to be with a stranger and a strange family?”
“You’re not a stranger,” Granny says calmly. “And we might be strange as a family, but what’s wrong with that?”
“I like it,” Cass says with a shrug. “I know Lennox didn’t want to tell me either because he was afraid it would be unfair to me, but I wanted to go with him. My family thinks I’m just pursuing better career options and seeing the world right now. They haven’t lost me. I’m just off on an adventure with the man I love, and even if they might be worried about that, they’d be worried if I had stayed in San Diego too. If she wants to be a writer, as you said, then what better opportunity is there to hone her craft than to gain more experience by seeing the world? She could rent her house out or something. Or we could pay someone to look after it. Like a caretaker or something. She could tell her family that she’s pursuing her career like I am. She could come back every so often. I’m sure that could be arranged.”
I swallow thickly because, yes, I do know Granny could arrange it, but that’s not what keeps stabbing at my guts like a fork I shouldn’t have eaten. Wait…
