Page 54 of Cocky Secrets

We all go silent.

Hard to argue with a simple truth.

I knew about what the girls were planning, but I didn’t think they’d already applied, so I’m a little stunned, too. The thought of them leaving hits everyone hard. I can feel it in the air — we’re already predicting the emptiness their absence will cause. Especially for Denita.

The porch door swings open and out walks Jett and Luna. “What’s everyone doing out here?”

Denita cries out, “Did you know my girls are moving to Spain, Jett Cocker?!”

He shifts his weight, drags a hand through his salty blonde hair, fully aware that his last name is only called out by Denita when she’s really pissed off. “This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

Scythe steps forward, his huge hulking body tense. “Our girls apply for some room and food job all the way in some rural partof Spain?!” He barks at his twins, “This isn’t rural enough for you?”

“It’s Europe, Dad!” Mylar insists, as if that means something to these bikers who live and breathe what they do.

Shay expands on it, in an effort to help everyone understand, “We get weekends off and can go in to the cities from there. We’ll learn Spanish and become bilingual! Six months at this job andthenwe travel to another one, another country. There’s so much to see in the world!”

Jett narrows his eyes. “We trained you to be Ciphers.”

Scythe growls, “They don’t wanna be Ciphers now that they got a taste.”

“It’s not for us,” Shay whispers.

Mylar says with trepidation, “We don’t want to fight bad guys all the time.”

Jett straightens his back, exchanges a look with Luna before addressing the twins. “What we do is more than honorable. We save people who can’t save themselves. Do you know how many lives we’ve impacted with what The Ciphers do?”

Shay sighs, “We know the stories, and they’re… wonderful. But Dad, Mom, they’re too hardcore for us. We want to travel and see the world.”

Mylar adds, “And get paid to do it. Most people have to pay a lot of money to go to Europe. We’re working for our keep!”

Dad surprises me by confessing, “We were going to retire soon.”

Mom’s eyes go wide. “What?”

Luna explains, “Not just yet, but in the coming years, soon. The younger generation is just Luke and Atlas, Sofia Sol and Celia. Sean.” He rolls his eyes. “Diesel,” Luna corrects herself, adding, “With Shay and Mylar that made seven. That’s a good number for The Ciphers.”

Jett stretches his stance wider. “Now it’s just five.”

Sofia Sol focuses on her father, chin high as she says, “We’re a strong five.”

Jett counters, “Seven is better.”

“You were only five before I was born.”

“No, we were seven. Me. Honey Badger. Tonk. Scythe. Scratch. Fuse. Then your mother joined us. And we had Ciphers from the Midwest driving in sometimes back then.”

Soph lowers her anger, walks away from the group. “Great.”

Shay and Mylar look to me, helpless. I raise my voice so all can hear me. “You raise your children to be happy, right? Giving the twins a chance to travel and follow their hearts is the right thing to do. Especially because, they might hate it. Then they’ll come back. But if they love it…then they get to do what many people never do, spend their time on this planet doing what they love. And if you don’t let them, they’ll resent it forever.”

Denita wipes her cheeks with indignation. “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to let them go! I’m just mad that they’re going!” She whirls around and storms past Jett and Luna for inside. Shay and Mylar chase her in, “Mom, you’re going to let us go?”

Scythe drags his hand down his face, and Tonk Sr. steps up to throw his arm around his friend’s shoulder. “When Tonk Jr. left I think I took it harder than Carmen did.”

“You did not!” Carmen mutters before sighing, “Kids grow up so fast. I’m just lucky Celia stayed here with us.” She looks around. “Speaking of children, where are the little ones?”

Celia jogs her chin toward our neighbor. “We brought them to Alice’s to play with her dogs today since we were training Sage. Yesterday the kids kept interrupting. Hard to focus.”

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