Page 10 of Worlds Collide

“That’s good, son. Will you be staying with Adam?”

“No.” I shake my head though they can’t see me. “I’m staying at the brownstone, which is one of the houses I’m thinking of keeping, so I’ll probably need to do a lot of work on it. I don’t want to impose and I...” How can I explain it to them?

“You only want to tell him once it’s all done?” Diana’s voice is gentle.

“Yes,” I answer, relieved. I let my head fall back against the seat and close my eyes. “Sebas knows only a little bit, and of course Adam knows most of it, but not everything. I just want to get it allsorted without having to give any explanations.” God, I sound like a brat.

“That’s perfectly understandable. You know the kids are going to have only a few weeks off, and we were planning on going to New York to spend some time with Adam and Sebas next week. Kevin needs to come back for summer training and Elliott needs to get back too since he’s starting grad school, but we can stay a couple of weeks with you, baby. Help out however we can.”

“Yes, we absolutely can,” Peter agrees easily.

I swallow hard.

I will not cry on this plane. I will not cry on this plane.

“Thank you,” I whisper when I know the tears won’t come through in my words. “If you can, and I mean it, Diana. If you need to go back to work, I get it. I was damn lucky that my boss allowed me to take all this time off when I only started my residency a couple of months ago, and you are way more vital to the hospital. If you can’t get the time?—”

“Oh shush, child. I’m the boss. I can do whatever I want.” I hear the smile in her voice and smile too just picturing her. She can’t actually do whatever she wants, she’s essential to the hospital she works at in San Francisco, but it’s true that she is the boss.

“In that case, I would love it if you guys stayed and helped me with... God, it’s so much.”

“I know, son, but we’ll help you figure it all out. You’re not alone in this.”

The baseball-sized knot in my throat makes it impossible for me to tell them how much it means to me, to have them in my life, to feel their love, so I just hum into the phone. Lame as hell, but it’s all I’m capable of.

“We’ll let you know when we have our tickets and the dates and all that, okay baby? Oh, and don’t be a fool, go see Adam andSebas. They love you and if you just tell them you’ll explain when you can, they’ll drop it.”

“Okay,” I say with a chuckle. I very much doubt that Sebas can control his curious mind, but I also know he’s a good person and he understands boundaries, so maybe I can drop by a few times to have dinner with them. And I’m definitely going to invite Carter over, he’s going to love the brownstone. “Okay,” I repeat. “See you soon,” I murmur when I see the flight attendant give me a significant look.

“We love you, son.” Peter sounds so casual and honest. Fuck, my emotions really are all over the place. I need to get a hold of myself.

“Love you too,” I say with more strength in my voice than I feel.

Okay,nowit’s time to become CJ.

THREE

WOLF

July 31st—The Hamptons

As I climbthe stairs behind Theo every muscle in my body is being held together by one thing—awkwardness.

I have no idea why I was invited to his and Mike’s wedding—the third and hopefully fucking last wedding I attend this year—but I’m pretty sure it was an invite by association.

I’ve talked some with the grooms, but not more than a few sentences here and there. I admire Mike as a professional athlete, of course—he’s the only center in the league who’s strong, agile, and skilled enough to hold off Derek for a few precious seconds. And he’s one of Derek’s best friends, so I know he has to be a great person too.

I spent two weeks being pissed at him for no good reason after I found out he kissed CJ on a New Year’s Eve who knows how many years ago, but I’m over that.

I also really respect Theo, since my brother and Derek have bothtold me about his struggles with anxiety, and it takes balls to willingly plan such a big event when you normally hate being the center of attention.

But other than those things, I don’t know anything about them.

So maybe it’s more like a pity invite?

In any case, they’re about to get two wedding presents from me just for asking me to be here.

The first is a smart, automated food dispenser for their dogs—Derek and Hawk got them some fancy collars that will open doors for them or some shit like that.

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