Page 21 of Beneath the Surface

Chase’s eyes trail to Alex and he nods.

“Remember how brave you said you were?”

His fingers tighten on mine as his chest puffs out. “Yeah.”

“That’s right. You’re the bravest boy I’ve ever known.”

“I know.” He beams at me before scrambling into the booth, resting his Spider-Man stuffy on the table and staring at Alex.

“Hi,” he says.

Alex smirks. “Hi back.”

“I’m Chase. I’m thwee and you got cwayon on your skin just like Mommy.”

My chest warms, and I bite back my grin.

Alex glances down at his tattoos and bursts into laughter. “I’m Ma—” He clears his throat. “Uh… Alex. I’m twenty-nine. And you’re right, I do. You wanna see?” He holds out his arms.

Chase’s eyes widen as he nods, leaning over the table. My heart pounds so hard I think it might explode, guilt pumping through my bloodstream. This is one of the first major interactions Chase has ever had with a man. I’ve kept him from all the strong male influences that could have been in his life. But there’s a good reason for it. And I’d do it a thousand times over if it meant saving him from the one man who I hope never knows he exists.

10

Mason

“What’s dat one?” A sticky finger presses on the inside of my forearm. We’ve been at this for the past hour, Lily’s kid pointing out my art and asking about each individual one.

He’s a cool kid. Polite, listens, and I can understand about sixty percent of what comes out of his mouth.

My eyes widen. “That one?” I blow out an exaggerated breath, my cheeks puffing from the motion. “That’s from when I met my first dragon.”

He sucks in a breath. “Adwagon?”

I nod slowly. “Yeah, dude. A big one. A mama. I was traveling off the coast of Spain, and went cliff diving.”

His nose scrunches. “What’s dat?”

I cock my head. “Cliff diving? It’s where you stand on the edge of a tall rock and jump off.”

His eyes widen.

“Anyway, after I dove into the crystal waters below, I saw an opening.”

“Youdid?”

I nod. “Mmhm. A secret one…” Movement from my peripheral catches my eye and I glance over to where Lily is leaning against the booth across from us. There’s a small smile on her face as she pushes her purse up her arm and waits patiently for me to finish my story.

“Naturally, I had to go explore,” I say, leaning back against the booth and stretching out my arm. “And guess what it was?”

“What was it?” Chase whispers, staring down at the dragon breathing fire that decorates my arm.

I lean in. “Acave.”

He sucks in a breath.

“That’s right. And there was a beautiful dragon inside. Gorgeous.”

“Dwagons ugly, though.”

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