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She laughed. “Oh, and Jay also looked great.”
“Just great? Not hot?”
“So it’s my fault you picked your friends out of a catalog?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, well, Jay’s doing a lot better.”
She pursed her lips. “It is strange, though... Jay with a bruised nose, you with a bruised jaw, and I think I saw a bruise on Ethan’s cheek. Something you want to tell me?”
There was nothing he wanted less than to tell her the truth about those bruises.
“Nothing to tell. We’re fine.”
“Yeah, all right. Let’s go with that version.”
“Mommy.” Nicky entered the kitchen holding his purple teddy bear. “Fuzzy peed the bed.” A wet spot covered the front of Nicky’s pajama pants.
“Oh, I’m sure it was an accident,” Melissa said.
Nicky held Fuzzy the bear tighter.
“Get back to bed and I’ll change you and Fuzzy,” Chris said.
“Fuzzy wants mommy.”
Chris chuckled and told Melissa, “I’ll finish cleaning up. Go change him and catch some sleep.”
“Deal. I’m beat.” She yawned and steered Nicky up the stairs.
There wasn’t much to finish cleaning, but Chris wanted to end the day with a nice, peaceful glass of wine. Tonight, they had opened the bottle that Ethan had given him for his birthday, and there was just enough left for one last glass. Once he finished arranging the chairs around the dining room table, he poured himself the remaining wine and sat in his favorite armchair. The fireplace wasn’t going at the moment, but it had been until recently, and a nice warmth still lingered in the living room.
He looked up at his old photo from the spelling bee, now framed on the wall. He wasn’t used to having a piece of his past in arm’s reach. A part of him resented the childish innocence the photo portrayed. The story it told was misleading, a fragment of a much darker tale, but it made Melissa happy having it around.
Chris had been worried about seeing the other three after the shitshow on Fire Island, mostly about Anthony and Ethan secretly blaming him for what happened. But there had been no signs of resentment from any of them. They had all become experts at forgiving one another.
Yesterday, Mickey officially announced he would run for mayor, not surprising since the man who had stood in his way was no longer an issue. Although having Mickey in a position of power was bad news for the world, at least it meant Chris wouldn’t need to see him every day in the office.Guess I’m voting for Michael Wilson for mayor.
Chris stretched and got up to join Melissa in the bedroom. He turned off all the lights and began climbing up the stairs when a knock on the door interrupted the silence of the house. Confused, he walked over to the front door. Looking through the peephole, he saw two men, one tall and one short. They were standing at an angle that made it impossible to see their faces, but their clothes seemed nice, and it wasn’t that late.
He unlocked the door and opened it.
In an instant, he wasparalyzed, his shock fierce enough to grab hold of his lungs and stop his breathing.
Trevor smiled and spread his arms. “Hi, little brother. Miss me?”
