to go play with a new ball," Nash mocked and Blake shrugged as he continued to caress Tatum's leg and she shifted as she leaned back against me.
"What was your request, Saint?" Tatum asked, as she gave Kyan a playful smack to his arm, making it clear we were staying for the sunset.
"It's a simple one," I said. "Or at least I hope it is. And after all of these years, I think it's time I got it."
"Intriguing," Nash said and I huffed out a breath because I still expected to get nothing out of asking this question, but it was like an itch in my damn brain that had been haunting me for far too long. I needed the answer. The internet wouldn't provide it, no one I had asked had been willing or able to give it to me straight, but there were people sitting here with me now who knew. And it was past time they told me.
"I just want to know," I said, stealing myself for their bullshit but pressing on all the same. "What does the squid mean?"
A beat of silence passed before all of them fell about laughing and a flash of irritation drove its way right through the fabric of my being.
"Forget it," I growled, moving to push myself out of my seat, but Tatum caught my wrist and held on tight, refusing to let me go.
"Don't run off," she pouted.
"Yeah, there's no need to go getting your squid in a twist," Kyan added, smirking in that way that made me want to punch his damn face in.
"You wouldn't want to get your tentacles tangled," Blake added and I narrowed my eyes on him. There had been a time when he'd been as in the dark about all of this as me so either one of them had spilled or he'd figured it out years ago and I'd been left alone in my quest for this knowledge.
"Jesus, Saint, you look like you might bust a nut if you grind your teeth any harder," Nash joked, nudging me playfully and I huffed out a breath.
"Is that really your birthday wish?" Tatum asked, turning so that she could look at me and I narrowed my eyes as I looked back
"You have no idea how infuriating it is for me not to grasp something the rest of you share," I replied evenly. “Even the kids seem to understand it. And I just…it’s not…I don’t fucking get it!”
She glanced between the others and my phone buzzed in my pocket. One look at Kyan as he shoved his own phone back into his pants’ pocket should have been enough to tell me what it said, but of course, I couldn't resist the urge to look.
Kyan:
*squid emoji*
Saint:
It's not funny. It hasn't been funny for sixteen years. It never was funny.
Blake:
It's like when you *onion emoji* in your pants, but you get a little teared up so you *otter emoji*
Nash:
Kinda like *flamingo emoji* but with more *crab emoji* and a little *salt emoji*
Saint:
I hate all of you.
Kyan:
There you go, being all *squid emoji* again. It's tiring, dude. Why don't you just *squid emoji*?
Saint:
I AM SICK OF THIS SHIT!
Tatum:
Okay. I'll tell you x
Tatum:
*squid emoji*
I looked up from my phone as Tatum tossed hers down on the steps and turned to climb into my lap, straddling me and pushing her fingers into my hair while the others all chuckled.
"Truly?" I asked and she nodded, smirking at me like this joke had never once gotten old for her.
The bright orange rays of the setting sun gilded her hair with a halo of light and I wound my fingers around her waist, the soft material of her white dress slipping against my skin as I looked at her. I loved this colour on her, fucking adored it and I swear she knew. That was why she’d worn it today, the light to my darkness.
The others were still laughing, their arms brushing against us as they pressed close, the five of us always gravitating together like that, especially when Tatum was at the heart of us like now. Where she belonged.
Despite everything we'd been through, the good and the bad, the fucked up and the feral, we really were happy. Our little family against the world. And I wouldn’t change a damn moment of what we had or what we had to come for anything.
Tatum leaned in and placed her lips against my ear as she spoke to me in a breathy voice and my