Velvet Midnight - Max Walker Page 0,60

as well.

“He’s doing well—I talked to him this morning actually. They moved him to a foster home down in Savannah. It’s a drive, but we try to make it out as much as we can. He really wants to be here.” Mia’s words hitched. Mama reached over and rubbed mom’s back, kissing the side of her head.

“We’re hopeful,” Ashley said.

“As you should be. This will all end—”

“Rex!” I jumped up, apologizing to the crowd before running around Leah and Helena, going straight for Rex. He stood just outside the door to the guesthouse, his hair a mess and his face a rosy pink, the color matching his eyes.

I ran into his open arms, wrapping mine around his.

“I’m sorry for storming off like that.”

“No, what? Are you kidding me, it’s fine. Are you okay?” I put my hands on either side of his face, not really caring that we were still in full view of everyone back in the yard. I couldn’t imagine the pain Rex must have been feeling with such an intense violation of his personal privacy.

“I’ll be okay,” he said, artfully dodging the question.

“Rex, I will personally find whoever did this and throw them in a cage for the pain they’re causing.”

He smiled, a twisted, gnarled smile, but one nonetheless. “Theo’s still on it. Just… promise you won’t ever watch it, Benj.”

“I would never. I swear.” I leaned up and kissed him. “And anyone who is watching it is a dirty rotten pig that deserves to be shat on by a herd of flying elephants.”

“Flying elephants?”

“I get creative when I’m furious.”

“Ah, gotcha.”

Rex’s turn to kiss me. He smiled against my lips, his hands on my side.

“Besides,” I said, “I’ve got it all in full, glorious, Rex-alicious 4-D right here.”

All right, now I cared that we were in full view of everyone back in the yard.

“Let’s go inside,” I whispered. “Let’s just forget about the world. You and me, let’s order pizza, watch corny rom-coms, and fuck until we pass out.”

Rex’s eyes lit up. The worry that had been circling inside the blue depths seemed to be pushed away for a moment. He grinned and kissed me again.

“Give me two hours.”

That got a brow arch out of me. “Two, huh? Where are you going?” I asked, just now realizing he had keys in his hand.

“I, uhm, talked to my father.”

That made both brows leap. “You did? How did it go?”

“It went well. It was quick, but he… well, he saw the video. Or at least news of it. He told me he wants to talk to me and doesn’t care about the tape. He sounded really shaken up.”

“So you’re gonna go?”

“I’m gonna go.”

That made my heart grow a pair of wings and beat up toward the sky. This felt good, like progress was just a hug, talk, and a cry away. I knew there had been a large rift between Rex and his dad, but I could feel a bond even stronger than that. And if this bat-fucked situation ended up bringing out something good from it, then, well, good.

“Okay,” I said, giving him another kiss. “Good luck. Call me when you get there.”

“I will.”

With that and one last kiss, Rex left, waving at the baby deer–feeding group. I let myself into the guesthouse and flopped onto the couch, unsure exactly how this day would end.

Hopefully better than it started…

24

Rex Madison

My dad lived in a modest house in a suburb of Atlanta, on a quiet, tree-lined street with a brick front and a well-manicured lawn and hedges. I used to hate it. We moved out of our massive water-front property and into a house half its size, my dad wanting to downsize and start new after my mom passed. It marked a terrible time in my life, and the negative emotions never left me until I left this place.

The new house had always been constricting, like the colorless walls were all closing in on me. I’d ride bike only to get out of the neighborhood and onto the Silver Comet Trail, a state-crossing bike trail that offered an escape from the cookie-cutter norms that the suburbs had to offer.

Now, though, my view shifted. I thought back to the chaos of the New York city streets, the shoulder-to-shoulder mass transit, the constant smell of car exhaust and questionable body odors.

It was a contrast that I’d come to appreciate after the last few months I’d spent at the Gold Sanctuary. The quiet life sounded better and better by the day.

Things weren’t