Page 98 of Killer Kiss

Luna nodded, bouncing excitedly on my legs. “And then we went in the ambulance.” She turned to her mom. “They put the sirens on real loud, too!”

Lacey smiled fondly at her daughter. “I know, honey. You told me. Pretty cool thing for you and Uncle Augie to experience, wasn’t it?”

Luna nodded, her eyes shining with excitement, before she lost interest in me and scrambled down to go interrogate Willa about her injuries.

Banjo touched my shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Outside?”

I nodded quickly and stood, following Banjo out into the corridor. It was quiet out there, and the soft hum of nurses talking floated back from their station, but we weren’t close enough to make out individual words. The hallways were otherwise quiet since it was outside of visiting hours and friends and relatives wouldn’t be allowed in for another thirty minutes.

I closed the door to Willa’s room behind us and mirrored Banjo’s position, leaning on the wall opposite.

Nothing much had changed with him since he’d lived with me three years ago. His nose was still covered in freckles from the sun and too many days sitting out on a board in the ocean with me. I probably should have made him wear sunscreen more. His hair was shorter than it used to be but still long enough to flop into his eyes.

We were near identical heights, and though he’d always been a slimmer build than me when we’d lived together, age and three years of college football had filled him out.

He was no longer the boy I’d pulled from foster care. He was a man with a family who adored him and who he loved more than life itself. He scrubbed a hand over his eyes, suddenly looking so much older than his twenty-one years. “The firefighters told us she would have died in that fire if it hadn’t been for you. They said by the time they got there, that top bedroom was fully alight.”

I didn’t know what to say.

Banjo didn’t seem to need a reply. His eyes filled with a pain I’d never wanted to see in his face.

“I could have lost her, Aug.”

Like he’d been holding it together way too long, his face crumpled and his head dropped.

I didn’t know what to do. Banjo’s shoulders shook with the grief and fear of where he might be right now if I hadn’t been there that night. All I could do was what I’d done when he was a boy and he’d woken up screaming from a night terror.

I put my arms around him and pulled him in tight.

I waited for it. For him to shove me away.

But he didn’t.

Without shame, he broke down.

Without judgment, I let him.

Eventually, he shifted back, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and shaking his head, his cheeks pinking. “Go on, call me a fucking pansy for crying like a baby.”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t do that. She’s your daughter, Banjo.”

He bit his lip and nodded, his eyes red. He sniffed and then nodded toward Willa’s door. “All Luna has done since it happened is talk about you. Uncle Augie this, Uncle Augie that. It got so bad one day that we took her out and bought her the biggest ice cream sundae we could find just so we could have a break for a few minutes.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Fuck, that made my heart happy. “She’s a great kid.”

Pride took place of the fear and grief in Banjo’s expression. “She is. And I’m glad we ran into you because I was going to call you anyway.”

I blinked in surprise. “You were?”

He nodded. “I was wondering if you might want to come over for dinner on Sunday? I know it would mean a lot to Luna.”

I swallowed hard. “Really? I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable…”

Banjo shook his head. “We all talked about it, and we all want you to come. Willa has been on us for years to sort our shit out, but…”

“You weren’t ready.”

His eyes held every truth. “You really fucking messed me up, Augie.”

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