Page 14 of Loving You

Kylen choked. “That’s vicious.”

Monty shrugged, unrepentant. “My last bad spell”—he tapped his temple—“was because he picked a fight with me at lunch for not calling his wife Mom.”

“She’syoung, right?”

“Half a year older than me, and I’m his youngest child.” Monty rubbed at his eyes.

“Is she one of those?” When Monty raised a brow, Kylen shrugged. “You know, sugar babies or whatever.”

He shrugged. In truth, he didn’t know for sure. She might have started out that way, at the very least. Maybe his dad decided it would be easier to marry her. “I wish I could hate her. It would make the whole thing easier, but she’s nice. She’s entirely out of her depth with my family. My siblings are cruel to her, but they hide it well enough that if she complains, she looks like the one who’s losing it.”

Kylen’s face darkened. “What the fuck?”

“That’s how they are. That’s how my father expected me to be, and I think it drives him mad that I’m not.” He rubbed his eyes, fatigue stealing over him. “I wish he’d just drop it. I wish he’d see what a good person Poppy is and let her go. She doesn’t deserve this.”

Kylen was quiet for a long moment. It was nearly time for the descent, and he braced himself. He was never good with landings. The shift in altitude, more often than not, caused small spells, and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

He closed his eyes and waited to see if his body would drop. “Quick question,” Kylen said as he took over the controls.

“Mm?”

“You know I’d never want to exploit you for your plane…”

Monty smiled a little. His limbs felt heavy, tongue thick. “You want to throw a little party? Take some friends up?”

“Dallas’s nephew has always wanted to fly. I mean, he’s been on a plane, but you know, in the cockpit. Check outthe instruments, see what it’s like to control it for a bit. We talked about flight school, but he doesn’t want to waste his dad’s money.”

Monty opened his eyes and frowned. “Why would it be a waste? What if he loves it and follows in your footsteps?”

Kylen shook his head. “Yeah, the world isn’t ready for a totally blind commercial pilot.”

Ah. Monty didn’t understand that, but he did understand what it was like when a disability stood in the way of something he wanted. He couldn’t drive anymore. He couldn’t fly alone. He didn’t like going on long walks away from his house for fear of bashing his head open.

It was frustrating and limiting in spite of his life being full of successes and wins.

“If his dad had fuck-you money, he might consider it, but he doesn’t. So I figured I’d ask. I don’t think he’ll be upset if you say no.”

“You want to give him lessons?” Monty asked.

Kylen flushed and looked away. “Sorry. Yeah, Was that incredibly rude of me? I didn’t mean?—”

“Of course you can,” Monty said in a rush. He ran fingers around his mouth. Was he frowning? Did he look angry? “This plane was a gift from my grandfather, and I think he’d resent me if I didn’t use it for good things. That sounds like a very good thing.”

Kylen’s eyes widened. “Really? Okay. Would you want to come along?”

Monty’s brows lifted. “Why?”

“Could be fun,” Kylen said. “And you could probably offer advice I can’t. He’ll relate to you more. Besides, I like hanging out with you.”

The honesty in his voice was a lot. In a good way, but he wasn’t sure how to process it. He swallowed heavily, thennodded. “Yes. Okay. I—” The rest of his words stalled on his tongue as a sudden wave of heaviness took over. His eyes closed. Everything went dark as his limbs refused to move.

Trapped in his body again.

But at least this time, he was somewhere safe.

Monty had recovered by the time they’d landed. Kylen had seen him go cataplexic before, so he no longer panicked. He waited patiently until Monty could get up again and trusted him when he said he was fine to keep going.

They made their way across the tarmac to the lounge doors, but when Kylen started to head off to the little bar, Monty caught his arm. “Would you like to come with me?”

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