He sighed and tugged on his brown cap. “Yeah. She just… I don’t know if she’ll ever see me as anything but the kid who started working here two years ago.”
I rubbed his upper back. “She does. She sees you as her friend, and that’s a good place to start.”
He let out a loud breath but nodded before waving me forward, and the two of us descended to the lower deck and walked into the galley.
Sage had cooked fish stew. Again. But I couldn’t blame him since pretty much all we had left in our reserves was fish. We’d been in the desert for longer than anticipated, and I knew noneof us wanted to risk taking the ship down to a lower altitude so we could hunt for something else to eat. Not after the kraken attack. Desert serpents and other monsters were apparently really good jumpers, so it was too big of a risk to hunt.
So no one complained that we were eating the exact same thing for the fifth night in a row. At least we weren’t starving.
Max was nowhere in sight when we fixed our bowls, so I found an empty table to sit at. Willy, Ariella, Hawk-Eyes, and Stitches joined me, so the table didn’t stay empty for long at all. I was sure Sage would join us as well once everyone was served. Too bad Max tended to eat by himself. I would’ve loved to have him join us as himself—not as Reaper. He would love these guys as much as I did if he let himself get to know them.
None of my friends were treating me differently after finding out I was a fluxweaver, and I didn’t think they’d ever know how much I appreciated it.
Right here, with this crew, with my friends, I felt like I truly fit in for the first time in a long time. I’d always had friends growing up, and many people in my neighborhood had known about my magic, but it had always been this big scary secret that no one could talk about. It’d always been something that put not only me but everyone else at risk because if the king’s guard found out they knew and didn’t report it, they’d get thrown in the dungeons.
But everyone on this ship already knew, and even though there was still a danger from Viper—and possibly more punches in my future from Viper’s loyal men—it felt good to have these people truly on my side.
On the one hand, it felt like I’d always been a part of the crew, like I’d been doing this forever. On the other hand, it felt like only a few days ago when I’d struggled to find anyone to sit with, when I’d taken food back to my hammock to eat alone.
And now these people were my friends, my… my family.
I let out a long sigh and decided I needed to stop all this melancholy bullshit. I needed to enjoy the time I had left with them.
So with that in mind, I put a smile on my face and joined in the conversation.
Waiting for everyone else to fall asleep was the worst, but it was something I’d been doing nearly every night since the first time I’d snuck up to the crow’s nest to spend time with Max. Still, it felt like I’d been waiting for hours by the time I heard Greybeard snoring.
That was my cue to go.
So as quietly as I could, I slipped out of my hammock, tiptoed across the floor to the ladder, and climbed it on silent feet. When I reached the main deck and turned toward Max’s cabin, a huge smile grew on my face at the sight before me.
Max was standing in the doorway, arms folded across his broad chest, one shoulder leaning against the doorjamb. He looked foxy as hellfire, and I really, really, really couldn’t wait to get my hands on him.
As I stepped closer, and Max moved over to let me pass through the doorway, I noticed him avoiding putting weight on his leg.
So as soon as he shut the door, I said, “Take your leg off.”
He turned to me with a furrowed brow. “What?”
“Take your leg off. I can tell it’s hurting you, and you don’t have to hide from me.” I met his gaze. “You know you don’t have to hide anything from me, right?” I hid a wince since it hadn’tbeen very long since I was hiding a big secret from him, but hopefully, he understood what I meant.
He shrugged but gave me a small nod.
So I walked over to his dresser and picked up one of the bottles he had there. It was shaving cream, so I set it down and picked up a jar, grinning when I found what I was looking for. I turned back to Max and frowned when I found him in the same spot, his arms crossed again and his leg still on. “What are you doing?”
“What amIdoing? What are you doing?” He waved his hand in my direction, then at his dresser.
I cringed a little. “Sorry. I was just looking for this.” I held up the salve that Stitches made for him. “Come on, take off your leg so I can apply this.”
A mix of emotions crossed his face. “You don’t have to do that. I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself.”
After dropping the jar on the nightstand, I crossed back over to him. I grabbed his forearms, went up on my toes, and stretched to kiss his grumpy face. “I know you are, Max, but I want to take care of you. Please let me.”
He searched my eyes for a long moment before letting out the smallest huff and moving over to the bed. He took his leg off and his other sock and shoe mechanically, then looked up at me with the most vulnerable expression I’d ever seen.
I placed my hand on top of his as I sat beside him. “Hey, it’s okay. If this is going to make you uncomfortable, I don’t have to do it, okay?”
“It’s not… it’s just… I’m not used to anyone seeing it, let alone touching it. You saw it before, I know, but this is still… new to me.”
