Page 66 of Beyond Oblivion

“Who are you kidding? You wouldn’t risk me being boiled alive.”

He winced. “C’mon, Chamomile. Don’t put that visual in my head.”

Just as the credits faded to black, his phone rang, jolting us both to a sitting position. Trenton sighed, looking at the display. “It’s Taylor.”

“Taylor? Aren’t he and Falyn…?”

His shoulders sagged. “Yeah.”

“You get a pass.”

He reluctantly pulled his arm away from me to answer. “Hey, man,” Trenton said, listening intently. The lines between his brows hadn’t softened since we’d talked about the ending of the movie, and whatever Taylor was saying was only making them deeper.

“Yeah, that’s totally fine, I’ve got you. Everything okay?” He paused as Taylor’s voice continued in a long stream. I strained to listen to bits of the conversation without any luck.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. We’re… good,” he continued. “It’s a long story, but at the end of the day, we’re good. I’ll tell you when you get here. It’ll be good for you to get away…Still?” He waited again, and I could feel the gravity of whatever was being said pulling at me from the other end.

Trenton sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I mean I can see her point. Yours, too. But I know there’s a lot of ins and outs to it all… for sure. Yeah.” Trenton kept his voice low. Whatever Taylor was saying was serious. “I know she does, but it’s just going to take some time, longer than you thought. It’s bound to come up. Have you… have you guys thought about talking to someone? Yeah, I mean, yeah, of course. Falyn said that? Oh, man. Ouch.”

I wrapped my arms around my knees, trying to focus on the hushed conversation. The way he saidFalynhung in the air like a warning. Trenton’s eyes darted to me, and I gave him a reassuring nod, even though my gut was churning with unease.

“Just get here. Dad’ll know what to do. How’s Hollis and Hadley? Yeah, it’s crazy how big they’re getting. Shocks the shit out of me every time I see a new picture. He’s a dinosaur nerd like you were.” Trenton chuckled. “Love it. Hadley’s really into… what is it? Unicorns?” He grinned softly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “She’s such a damn cutie pie. She reminds me so much of Olive at her age it’s crazy. That sounds great. We’d love to see you guys… Yeah. See you next weekend.” He ended the call and lightly lobbed his phone onto the coffee table, staring at it with wide eyes like it had just burned his hand.

“That bad?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

He exhaled with pursed lips. “They’re coming to visit next weekend with the kids. They… they’ve been having some problems. Taylor said they need a break.”

“Well, they’re coming as a family. That’s a good sign, right?”

“It just freaks me out when any of us talk like that, ya know? I don’t know what I’d do if you left me. I don’t know that any of my brothers would survive losing their wife. I know I wouldn’t.”

I kissed his cheek. “You’ll never have to find out.”

He wrapped both of his arms around me, kissing my hair. “It’s just that when it’s even alluded to, it reminds me that it can happen. I feel this panic start to boil up, but it’s not new. It feels like it’s always there. I try to reassure my brother while I’m feeling like my throat is closing and I can’t breathe.”

I sat up and put my palms on both sides of his face. “Babe,” in a half scolding, half worried tone. “Look at me,” I insisted, leaning to catch his gaze. “It might happen for other people, but not for us. This isn’t a House of Cards. This,” I gestured to the space between us, “is forever. Even if you’re sick of my face and the sound of my voice and eventhen. I plan to fucking haunt you.”

Trenton relaxed, his expression softening. He took a deep breath and grinned. “You can’t, because I’m going first.”

“Considering our track record with accidents, it could be either one of us.”

Trenton frowned again. “I have to go first.”

I grabbed his arm. “I was kidding.”

He shivered. “I’m serious. I’m not like Dad. I can’t. It literally makes me feel sick to my stomach.”

“Okay, Maddox.” I stood, pulling him with me. “Run us a bath. We’re going to soak in the bubbles and quit letting shit that’s not even happening ruin our night.”

“Yeah,” he said, forcing his shoulders down.

I watched him stretch as he walked and then bent down to grab our phones. Remembering my notification from earlier, I checked my phone and saw it was Raegan.

“Trent?” I called, hearing the tub’s faucet open up and water splash against the porcelain.

“Yeah?” he yelled back.

“Raegan’s visiting this weekend, too,” I said, reading her message as I walked.

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