I was okay with this. Strangely enough. After all the weeks of not believing him and then hoping desperately it wasn’t true because of what it meant—I wanted to be a little selfish. I wanted my brother.
I wanted Milo as my brother.
“You did good, Freddie,” Jasper said.
“I did great,” Freddie corrected, thumping his chest. “Great.”
“We know,” Kellan said, almost patiently, and he glanced at me. There were so many questions in their eyes. Liam hung back, but he didn’t leave and for that I was grateful. Rome stuck to his brother and that made me happy too.
“You only think you know,” Freddie said with a near flourish and it wasn’t until he winked at me that I got it.
He was distracting them—for me. “Maybe, but I do know,” I said, meaning every single word. “You were my hero.”
When he skidded to a halt and blinked, I grinned a little wider. He’d saved me. Just fucking being there had helped save me. He could play and tease and distract them for me and I would adore him for it. But he really was my hero.
He should know that.
Coughing, Freddie actually glanced away from me, but Jasper gripped his shoulder. “Okay, hero, first coffee is on me. Let’s go.”
When I would have followed them, Milo tugged me back. “Go on guys, we’ll be there.”
I wasn’t the only one who hesitated. Kellan actually pivoted and moved back to us and so did Liam. Before I could ask though, Milo let out an aggrieved sigh.
“Guys, I’ll bring her in, just go. Give us a minute.”
Kellan glanced from Milo to me. “You good with that, Sparrow?”
The question surprised me. No, surprised was far too mild a word. It stunned me.
“Really, Kel?” Milo asked and the aggravation in his tone dialed down some.
“Yes, Milo,” Kellan answered him without looking away from me. “Really. We had this conversation. I thought I made myself plain. Let me know if you need a refresher.”
The faint smirk on Liam’s face had me curious, but he just shook his head when I looked at him. Fine, I'd ask him later. The quiet reminded me they were still waiting for an answer.
“It’s fine,” I said, finally. “Sorry, I’m still a little—tired.” Tired sounded better than out of it. But this time when the question flared in Liam’s eyes, it was my turn to shake my head. I was okay. I’d meant what I’d said at the clinic. There were some things I wasn’t going to tell Milo.
There would be questions. About Pinetree. About why I was there. Probably about the scars on my arms. Thankfully, the sweatshirt covered them.
I reached a hand over to Kellan, it was an impulsive act but he caught my fingers. “I want to talk to him, but I’m not running away. I promise.”
Maybe even that morning I couldn’t have said that, cause I was very much considering running, but not now. Not after seeing them. Not again. Not if I could help it.
“Don’t take long,” he murmured. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
We did.
With one last squeeze, he left us but Liam lingered and Milo let out another sigh. “Do you need to get her permission too?”
“Hey.” I jabbed my elbow into his gut. Not that it did much to move him. His abs were rock hard. “That’s rude and Liam doesn’t deserve that.”
I swore I could feel the tension shiver through him and I glanced up to find Milo glaring at Liam, then he seemed to work on softening his expression. It looked more pained than kind. “Fine, you’re right. Rude is wrong.”
“Take it easy, Raptor, that looked particularly painful for you to say. Besides, I can handle you being a jackass. Just keep it in check with Hellspawn or you and I are going to have a far more unpleasant conversation. Clear?” Not even an ounce of threat shifted Liam’s pleasant tone, but the pure menace made the hairs on my arms stand up and a chill go up my spine.
“I’m not planning on being a jackass. Keep it up, though, we can solve this in a different way.”
The glare between them was getting us nowhere and I shook off Milo’s arm. The moment I moved, they both shifted their attention to me. “I don’t want a fight,” I said, folding my arms. I wasn’t altogether sure I could handle it if they fought.
It hit me. We were standing in the great huge warehouse outside of the clubhouse, and it was just the three of us. I didn’t see any of the ones they called rats and while I recognized some of the cars, I didn’t recognize all of them.
The air seemed almost colder in here and I was really glad I’d brought the sweatshirt.
“We’re not gonna fight, Hellspawn,” Liam said almost too easily. So easily, in fact, I swore I heard the unspoken yet at the end of his sentence. “Going inside now, going to be right on the other side of that door if you need me—”
“For fuck’s sake, what the hell do you think I’m going to do to my own sister?” Milo demanded.
“Nothing,” Liam told him with a smile. “Because you know I’m not the only one who is going to kick your ass if you upset her again. We’re not doing this your way anymore. Remember?”
The annoyance on Milo’s face and in his posture made me feel bad for him. But it would be a lie if I didn’t acknowledge that Liam’s casual defense and statement left me warm. “Thank you, Liam.”
“Yup,” he murmured. “Right on the other side of the door.” I wasn’t sure if that was a reminder for me or a warning for Milo. Then Liam pressed a kiss to my head before he turned and walked away. The squeak of the door signaled the fact Milo and I were finally alone.
Shifting my foot, I focused on him again. He stared at me.
“Is this as weird for you as it is for me?” I asked.
A faint, but genuine smile appeared, and it softened his face. “Maybe,” he admitted. “Probably should be awkward and maybe this is gonna sound weirder still, Ivy—fuck Emersyn.”
No. “You can call me Ivy,” I reassured him. “That’s the name you think of me as. I’m your Ivy. I’m okay with that. I know I was a bitch to you—”
“You weren’t a bitch to me and if you were,” Milo said, shaking his head. “I started it by being a raging asshole when you didn’t deserve that.”
“Well, yeah.” I could agree with that.
The corners of his mouth curved a little higher and he chuckled. “Tell me how you really feel.”
“I think we did that once and you were pretty insistent that you weren’t a virgin.” It was a weird thing to remember, but he’d been almost apoplectic. My own lips twitched and then Milo laughed for real.
“Yeah, we’re not going there again.”
“Probably a good plan.” I scuffed one of my shoes against the ground. The weirdness hadn’t diminished, even if I was okay with the discomfort at the moment. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Nothing specific. I have questions, but you look tired and I don’t want to push you away by demanding a lot of answers.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“But—”
Why was there always a but?
“—you’ve been through hell.”