Page 166 of Seven Lost Summers
I keep my focus on rubbing her feet so she won’t see the tears threatening to spill.
“That’s why it seems like… if I go there, something could happen to Quinn.”
“Loving Quinn doesn’t curse her, Theo. And not loving her sure as shit won’t protect her. That’s not how life works. It’s messy and brutal and unfair, but it isn’t some cosmic punishment with your name written on it.”
I swallow, the words scraping on the way out. “Yeah, but if something happened to her—”
She cuts in before I can finish. “Then it happens. And it’ll wreck you. But I’ll be here. Nate will be with you. Xander, Alex, Ace, Scarlet… every single person who gives a shit about you will help carry the pieces. You don’t get to pre-grieve someone who’s still here.”
I open my mouth to argue, but she gives me that look, the one that could shut up a stadium.
“I haven’t lived what you’ve lived, Theo. I can’t pretend to know how that loss carved you out. But I know this… if someone told me tomorrow that I only had a year with Xander, I’d still choose him. Every time. No hesitation. I’d take that year, burn it bright, and hold on until the last second, because nothing could stop me from loving him or being with him. Those five years without him were hell. I’ll never live like that again. Love is worth it, Theo, even if the clock’s already ticking. Because the alternative… A life too scared to love at all. That’s not living. That’s hiding.”
And fuck, she’s right. She always is. I watch her, this Spitfire who can lace a truth bomb with sass so sharp it leaves shrapnel.
“You’re a pain in the ass when you’re right,” I mutter.
Her mouth curves, eyes warm in that way that slips past every defense. “And you’re my favorite idiot, so quit sulking.”
Her words drag a smile out of me.
Xander and Alex’s voices carry down the hall.
The second they step into the room, Alex’s face lights up. “Uncle Theo!”
He comes at me like a heat-seeking missile, water dripping from his hair. His grin is pure chaos and sunshine, and he launches himself with zero concern for human safety.
I catch him mid-air, saving Poppy’s ankles. “Jesus, kid. Warn a man before you go full cannonball.”
Alex wriggles out of my grip, suddenly remembering his mom exists. He backs up, still grinning at me as if I’m the main character in his favorite bedtime story.
Xander’s gaze finds Poppy instantly. Her legs are still sprawled across my lap, my thumbs pressing into that sweet spot on her arch.
“Hey, Princess,” he says, crossing the room. He leans over and drops a kiss on her lips. “You good?”
She hums without opening her eyes. “Better now. Theo’s finally proving he has a purpose beyond being a shit-stirrer.”
Xander laughs, then smooths a strand of hair away from Poppy’s face.
“He lives to stir shit,” he says, eyes cutting to me with that smug shine. “But we love him anyway.”
“Finally,” I say. “Some recognition.”
Xander tips his head toward the kitchen. “You wanna beer?”
I shake my head. “Nah. I’ve got to talk to Nate.”
I need answers to the questions that have been running through my head about what we are now. The kind I am not sure I want to hear.
I ease Poppy’s feet from my lap and stand, setting them down with all the care of someone handling live explosives.
She blinks up at me.
I lean in, press a quick kiss to her cheek, and murmur, “Thank you. For giving me the kick up the ass I didn’t know I needed.”
Her fingers curl around my wrist before I can pull away.
“Call her, Theo,” she says, no hesitation.
