Velvet Midnight - Max Walker Page 0,38

bugged before you left?”

Rex looked to me, and I could see the gears spinning. His thick brows inched closer together, and a few rows of wrinkles appeared on his forehead. “You know, that isn’t as wild as it sounds…”

“I could be totally wrong. But if he had access and was reading what we were sending each other, then he might be extra invested in making sure we stayed apart.”

“Fuck, Benji. If it was my own father who did it— I was fine with him cutting me off. I get it. I’m an adult, I should be carving my own path. But if he—if the reason you and I—” He balled his fist and shook his head, a red flush creeping up his neck. His anger was palpable.

“Talk to him. See what he says. And just remember that whatever happened is in the past, regardless of what he says.”

“Still,” he said, taking in a deep inhale. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You’re right. You’re right.”

“Come on. Let’s forget about the bullshit for now. I shouldn’t have even brought it up,” I said, patting Canyon’s neck, before opening the gate and guiding her out. Rex followed suit, and Electra seemed as relaxed as I’d ever seen her.

“I want you bringing it up. Whatever’s on your mind, I want to hear it.”

That was refreshing.

“Why did the government declassify evidence of alien spaceships and yet no one seemed to have cared for more than two days?”

Rex gave me a very confused look, his eyebrows practically touching.

“You said you wanted to hear whatever’s on my mind.”

He laughed, which jumped over to me. Soon, the two of us were laughing about nothing as we finished getting the horses ready. Tammy, who always seemed to be attracted by the sound of laughter, hopped out from around the corner, chirping her happiness to be around us.

“Looks like we’ve got a plus one,” I said, getting onto Canyon’s saddle.

“Should we saddle up a horse for her?” Rex asked. He got Electra moving in a slow and measured trot. Canyon fell into place beside her, with Tammy bouncing along on the side.

“I think she’s better off on foot.”

“On paw?”

“Yes,” I said, giving him a head tilt that said really, bitch? “On paw.”

And then we laughed again, my spirit feeling so much lighter than it had when I had woken up that morning. The smiles and rib-rattling laughs came naturally, which was such a relief after years of feeling like I had to force them. Not all the time, but most of it, I had felt like I was wearing a mask. No one really saw the dark clouds that filled my head, not through the fake smile I’d been able to perfect.

Today, there weren’t any fake smiles or fake laughs. It was all genuine, and it was all so, so, so freaking needed.

“God, my mom would have loved this,” Rex said. We were leading the horses out of a side gate that opened onto the wooded trail, willows draping the path with branches that were stripped of their leaves. Spanish moss clung to the branches, adding another layer of magic to the backdrop. On the other side of the trees was a river lending its peaceful sound of running water to the soundtrack of birds singing and trees rustling.

“I hate how we never met.”

“She would have loved you, too. After my parents divorced, she moved back to her hometown in Puerto Rico. A few years later and we lost her forever.”

“What happened?”

“A brain aneurysm. The doctors said it was so bad, there wasn’t any chance of her having survived it. From one day to the next, everything just changed. Crumbled. It felt so unfair, even with the doctor saying there was absolutely nothing anyone could do. It just felt so fucked-up.”

“God, I’m so sorry, Rex. A death is always excruciating, but an unexpected one, I don’t know, it just, it doesn’t feel fair.”

“I feel like things would have been so different if she were around, too. It’s probably not good to think about, but I do imagine a life where I came out early because of her support. She was always there for me, no matter what. Even when she was living an ocean away from me, I knew she had my back. She would have taken me, but I didn’t want to leave my friends, my school. Or my dad.”

“You guys got along back then?”

“Oh yeah. Even though my parents separated, they were both the world to