Page 13 of Loving You

Lucas grimaced. “Please don’t group me in with those. My generation is not that bad.”

“Well, thank God for small favors,” Dallas said and pulled his nephew close. “Anyway, Luke is right. We’re all good here, okay? No one fucked up. We got through the shitty parts in our lives, and we’re moving on.”

“Fuck yeah,” Lucas said.

Bronx elbowed him. “Don’t push it.”

Lucas just grinned and rested his head on Bronx’s shoulder. “We’re good, Dad.”

His heart swelled.Dad. He could reclaim that now, with his son’s permission. And no other word had ever sounded so good.

Chapter Four

MONTY

Monty hadtwo successful cases that had gone before a judge, and he hadn’t had a fainting spell in eight straight days. He was not only calling it a win, but he was calling Kylen to go flying. The only thing that put a damper on his joy was the fact that his life was a little empty of people to celebrate his wins.

His closest friend up to that point was probably Matthew, his legal assistant, who sometimes took him bowling or invited him to the movies with his friends.

But he wasn’t the kind of acquaintance that Monty could share his small triumphs with. He’d tried once, but Matt had just given him a strange look and said congrats in the most tense voice Monty had ever heard.

It hurt, but only because it was a reminder that he was very much alone.

Kylen, however, was different. He listened like he wanted to hear Monty talk. He was kind in ways most people weren’t. Monty knew the man didn’t really give a shit about the fact that he’d managed to stay upright for a full week, but he smiled like he did.

And he sounded almost eager to take the plane out, which boosted his mood even more. He was having a cup of tea in the airfield lounge when he saw Kylen walk through the doors, and it was the grin on his face that told Monty that maybe he had actually made a friend.

“I’m so glad you called last night. Oh my God.” Kylen threw himself into the comfy chair across from Monty and dropped one of his feet onto the low table. “This week has been a shitshow.”

Monty grimaced. “Work?”

“I had to eject four passengers this week. Four. One man had to get hog-tied with zip ties and duct tape.” Kylen rubbed at his eyes tiredly. “I came out of the cockpit, and the dude spit in my face, so I ended up being sent to my GP for tests to make sure he didn’t give me anything.”

Monty felt a little green. He would have probably fainted and stayed unconscious until his brain processed that trauma. “Was he arrested?”

Kylen laughed. “Oh yeah. That was kind of the highlight, to be honest. But, that night, I got a call from the staff where my gran’s staying at because she escaped at four in the morning. They found her paddling a goddamn kayak in the lake.”

Monty tried not to laugh. He pressed his fingers to his lips, but the image was too funny. “Oh,putain,” he said through giggles. “I’m so sorry, but that’s…”

“Oh, I know it’s hilarious. Dallas almost pissed himself when I told him.” Kylen was smiling, but he really did sound tired. “But it’s been a fucking week. I told him that if you called, he was on his own for dinner. He’s got the girls tonight too, but he had a much better week than I did, so I don’t feel bad.”

“Then let’s revel in this moment of zero drama.” Montyfinished his tea, then set the cup down and rose, offering Kylen a hand up. “Shall we?”

“Hell yes.”

Flying with Kylen meant that Monty got to do some of the work. He got to handle takeoff while Kylen handled the landing, and the moment they were cruising, he sat back in his seat and watched the tops of the clouds as they headed toward the airfield near his grandfather’s resting place.

“So. Are we flying for good reasons or bad ones?” Kylen asked after a long stretch of silence.

Monty leaned forward, resting his elbow on the dash, chin against his curled knuckles. “Both, I think. I had a couple of very successful cases in court, and I haven’t fainted in a while. But things are complicated with my family.”

“Dad’s back on his bullshit again?”

Monty had always liked that phrase. It was very apt in that moment. He turned his head to look at his friend. “I understand why you did what you did when you asked Dallas to be your fake boyfriend.”

Kylen’s cheeks pinked. “You mean when I lied and used his name, and then he found out but didn’t throw me under the bus?”

Monty laughed. “Yeah. If I had someone I could use that way, I would. I’d want to be really petty about it too. I wish my father had friends who weren’t as terrible as him. I’d fuck one and make sure he found out about it.”

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