Page 76 of Let It Snow
"Aaahhh. Now it makes sense." Bay’s eyes glint with a trace of amusement, and it feels almost arrogant. I’m dragging painful truths into the open, and he dismisses them with that expression?
"Mind if I smoke? You’re not the one who’s pregnant." He gestures sideways, as if pointing to something.
I shrug again.
Bay reaches for the small vape resting on the side table, the matte black tube slipping between his fingers. A quick tap of the button lights a thin blue ring. He brings it to his lips and inhales slowly. The device crackles faintly as the vapor warms, and when he exhales, soft curls of mist spill from the corners of his mouth.
He takes a longer pull this time, then leans back and rests his head against the couch.
He seems lost in thought.
Then suddenly he says, "If you came here for some kind ofrevenge fuck, you’re out of luck. That’s not what I do, and I don’t mess with what isn’t mine."
"No!" The word bursts out of me, almost a shout. What the hell, how dare he even think that!
"Good. I’m not Storm. I don’t screw the people my brothers are interested in," he says, his voice strangely flat.
My mouth tightens. Perfect. From the outside it probably does look like I came here out of frustration, trying to find some kind of outlet for my emotions, maybe sexual. But that’s not it. What I wanted was to talk to someone besides Lake, because his answers might not be what I need right now.
Bay exhales a stream of vapor and says, "What can I tell you? Snow and Theo go way back. Theo’s married to Tim Kellan, an up-and-coming politician. Their chemistry was long gone after endless struggles with infertility, that’s why they had an open arrangement. The three of them even spent time together during Tim’s and Theo’s heats."
Bay sends me an impassive look. I lower my head and fix my eyes on my clenched fists.
"All of Theo’s kids were conceived through IVF, but Tim sired them. He gave tissue from his gonads to Malden’s labs, and they managed to extract viable sperm from it for a fortune."
He blows another long stream of vapor in my direction.
"So if Theo’s pregnant now, naturally, that’s actually… a bit of a bombshell. A real mess." His smile tilts crooked.
He taps his phone lying on the side table, then picks it up and raises it slightly toward me, like a hint.
"Considering what happened yesterday—the scandal with Mark Ferguson—Tim suddenly became the frontrunner. He’s a former prosecutor, liked by the press. His chances are big. So, yes. Complicated situation, to say the least."
I keep staring at my knees in silence. My head feels like it’s buzzing, hopelessness pressing down on me.
Bay takes another drag before speaking again. "So you agreed to be Snow’s boyfriend?"
I shrug, a slight lift of my shoulders. I don’t have the strength to say it out loud anymore. Pushing the words would cost too much, but Bay seems to realize that. He passes me his phone, the screen open to a new message. The vape dangles from the corner of his mouth, his eyes half-lidded behind the haze of vapor.
I type:
"Yes, but now I don’t know what to do. I doubt I should get close to him. It’ll only wreck me, and he’ll never be free… that baby will always be between us. I’m not ready to get tangled up in this."
Bay reads it, strokes his chin thoughtfully, then asks, "And do you want kids?"
"Yes. But… like this? It’s too much. And besides, what I carry inside me… it’s hard to talk about. It’s angry, dark, unruly. Once I even told Snow I could kill him. I may not be stepdad material."
"Well, you can talk to me about it. I’m something of an expert when it comes to handling inner darkness." His laugh is bitter.
I type on the screen:
"You don’t understand what this is. It’s not something I can fully control. My power—it’s destructive. I can blow everything apart down to atoms. What if I lose it and hurt someone?"
Bay doesn’t look fazed at all, as if my words don’t leave the slightest impression. He tips his head back against the couch and exhales a few rings of vapor toward the ceiling.
"That still doesn’t sound all that dark to me, Summer, unless you do it. But if you’re afraid of it, that’s already the first step toward keeping control. Trust me, there are things in this world that are nothing but dark."
Something in his voice carries a weight that makes me look at him more intently.
