Page 72 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
It was only Lyric, Aeson, Chaos, my sister, and her fiancé coming over.
And okay, I was kind of nervous about Maggie and Nash coming over too. But I was also looking forward to it. After seeing her last weekend, I felt… hopeful that she’d meant all she said.
“You okay?” I asked Miles for probably the millionth time today. Honestly, I was surprised he hadn’t yelled at me yet for asking so many times.
“I’m fine.” He tried to walk back into the kitchen, but I grabbed his hips to stop him, forcing him to look at me.
I tilted my head to the side. “Sugar butt, you’re not fine. What’s wrong? Talk to me?” You would’ve thought I’d be the nervous one out of the two of us, but Miles had more than enough nerves for the both of us, so I suppose mine had gone into hiding.
Or maybe we’d take turns. Ha. That would suck.
He bit his bottom lip for a moment before a puff of air came out. “I’m nervous about your sister coming over. And her fiancé. Like… we don’t really know them, and I’m not used to anyone in my space.” He met my gaze. “But I’m even more nervous about the twins. I haven’t had kids in the house since…” He trailed off, but I didn’t need him to continue. I knew exactly who he meant.
His foster kid, Laney.
The kid who’d… died, although Miles still hadn’t told me what exactly happened to her. The kid who he’d clearly loved. The kid he’d wanted to adopt before she was killed.
My heart panged with sorrow for my boyfriend. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. What do you need from me?”
He shrugged. “I… nothing. There’s nothing you can do. I’ll be fine once everyone’s here, I’m just… I dunno, out of sorts?”
“I couldn’t tell,” I said dryly, thinking about the obsessive cleaning and cooking he’d been doing for the last several days.
Shaking his head, he snorted.
I stared at him for a few beats before I pulled him into a huge bear hug. I couldn’t take away his pain, but I hoped I could help mend his heart a little bit at a time.
He was stiff at first, like he always was when I showed physical affection at random times, but he slowly melted into me before he wrapped his arms around me too, holding me tight. We stayed that way for a few minutes, and when I released him, I was confident that he felt a little more stable.
He sent me a shaky smile, then went back to pulling food out to place on the table.
The doorbell rang, and Goliath let out one excited bark before I shushed him and went to answer the door. Lyric was on the other side, and my best friend leapt into my arms, hugging me.
“Oh my god, it’s really you!” they exclaimed. “You’re alive. You’re here. You’re really here!” Of course they’d come in in the most dramatic way ever.
I gave them a few pats on the back before stepping back. “I just saw you the other day at the museum.”
They rolled their eyes. “Yeah, but it’s not like we really got to hang out. You were working. And I went from seeing you several times a week to seeing you like… once a month or something. I wasn’t sure you were really alive. Anyone could’ve been texting me this whole time.”
That made me roll my eyes. “Could anyone have used my voice when we talked on the phone nearly every day?”
“Psh.” They brushed me off to give Goliath a few head kisses and a big hug.
Then they turned to the one-eyed orange tabby cat who’d trotted over. Lyric dropped to their knees to coo at the cat. “Oh my goodness, you’re the cutest thing to ever cute!” They started giving the kitty lots of scratches. “You must be Odin, you cutie pie. I’m Lyric, and I’m gonna be your new best friend.”
“Pretty sure Goliath’s taken that spot,” I said with a grin, shutting the front door.
They waved me off. “Then I’ll be his human bestie.”
I snorted. “Good luck with that. He’s usually attached to Miles’s hip. I’m surprised he left his side to greet you, to be honest.”
“Hm.” Lyric ignored my commentary, of course, then picked up the cat and cuddled him to their chest. “Just the cutest. Holy crap.”
I grinned and petted the cat on the head.
“Hey, Lyric,” Miles said as he set yet another platter of food on the table. We’d been planning on setting up outside, but it was a little too chilly and they were calling for rain later, so we’d decided not to risk it. The man had gone all out. It looked like he’d bought out the entire grocery store in order to make all the sides and things he had in the dining room. I honestly couldn’t believe how much food he had.
Did he really think he’d be able to send so much home with the kids? For crying out loud, they hardly accepted the leftovers from the pizza shop.
