them, slightly winded. “I’m so sorry I’m late. My last class was on the other side of campus.”
“Totally fine, girl.” Dot jumped up to give me a hug, and I held her tightly for a moment. The horrific shit I was seeing in the news every day made me want to hold all my loved ones a little tighter. “We ordered you a latte.”
“I love you!” I was hungry, but I needed coffee just as badly.
“Hey, Beau! Haven’t seen you in a while, man. How’ve you been?” Charlie shared an enthusiastic handshake with my shadow, and the man’s seemingly permanent scowl actually relaxed.
“Good to see you up and about, Charlie. I had to take some medical leave after rescuing your ass in Thailand. Had a couple broken ribs and shit.”
Charlie laughed. “Well, thanks, man, and good to see you back on the job too. Wanna join us for lunch?”
Beau flicked his gaze to me before straightening his posture. “Thanks, but I’m on duty. Better get back to it.” With a nod, he stepped back and positioned himself near the corner of the building, where he could see the whole square and keep me in easy reach.
“Eve!” Charlie didn’t miss a beat. He was more animated and talkative than I’d seen him . . . probably ever. “Meet Eduardo.”
He reached his arm out. A guy with short curly hair and a tan complexion stepped into Charlie’s embrace and smiled at me shyly, his dark eyes meeting mine for only a fraction of a second.
“Hello.” His voice was smooth and masculine but soft, almost hard to hear.
“Hi. I’m Evelyn. It’s so nice to meet you!” I stuck my hand out and plastered a wide, genuine smile to my face.
He stepped away from Charlie and squared his shoulders, but instead of shaking my hand, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in for a hug.
“Oh!” He seemed so shy and quiet. The sudden display of familiarity took me aback.
I returned the hug, but he pulled back quickly.
“Thank you, Evelyn.” He had a slight Spanish accent. “You saved our lives. More and more Vitals were not coming back from the lab. I don’t know how much time we had left before he went too far and . . . I don’t know how to repay you.”
Now it was me who was unable to keep eye contact. I’d received multiple emails and DMs on social media from grateful Vitals and their families. Many people had approached me at Bradford Hills with the same depth of gratitude Eduardo was showing now. It always surprised me.
“You’re welcome.” I smiled, keeping it simple.
“For someone who hounded Alec for months trying to deliver your own ‘thanks for saving my life’ speech, you sure don’t know how to take it,” Dot teased, breaking the moment.
“Hey! At least I accepted the thanks.” I wagged a finger at her, and we all settled into our seats and ordered.
Once our food arrived, I turned to Charlie’s new boyfriend, eager to get to know him. “So, Eduardo—”
“Please,” he cut me off, “call me Ed.”
“Ed.” I smiled. “Your brother is your Variant?”
“Yes.” He swallowed his bite of pasta before continuing. “He has a strength ability. It was hard for him to have me leave again, but he couldn’t get time off work, and I had to see Charlie.”
“I wish you could stay longer.” Charlie pouted.
“I’m staying for a whole month!” Ed laughed but rubbed Charlie’s knee.
We chatted easily for the next half hour, the sun pleasantly warm on my back. As the waitress cleared our table, a familiar noodle of fluff caught my attention. Squiggles came running out of the trees. She scampered up Dot’s leg but then immediately shot across the table straight at Eduardo.
“Hey, girl!” I reached out to give her a little pat—we were becoming friends, despite only being able to communicate through Dot. She usually went straight to me after checking in with her.
Dot groaned, throwing her head back. “She can’t even talk to you! How was she supposed to let you know?” She bugged her eyes out at Squiggles, and the ferret gave her a death stare, lifting her little paws onto Ed’s chest.
“What’s going on?” I chuckled.
“She’s upset we didn’t tell her we were having lunch. Really she’s upset she lost sight of Ed for an hour. It’s not my fault you don’t like the food I buy you and insist on hunting your own.” Dot rolled her eyes.
“Squiggles has taken a liking to Ed,” Charlie