“Bro, you’re an honest man. You don’t have to admit it, but please, do yourself a favor and don’t deny it aloud.” His words settle in my mind for a few seconds before he continues.
“Who the fuck do you think you are, Kai? What kind of guardian angel are you? Don’t you understand how fucked up this is?”
“New drinking game idea: take a shot every time you say fuck,” he chimes in smugly without hesitating.
“Screw. You.” I break eye contact, running my fingers through my hair. “I can’t keep this from Iris, Kai. It was already hard enough keeping your existence a secret, but knowing that you’re her dead brother makes it nearly impossible.”
“Nearly impossible, but not entirely,” he says, glancing back up at the sky. “Jasper, while we’re being open and honest here, I have another confession. I don’t know how this story ends. I don’t know where to go from here. I suppose you could say I’ve beenwingingit.” He chuckles, defeatedly.
“Just answer me,” I grunt. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Iris has always deserved more,” he answers, boldly. “I didn’t want to rob her of the chance to share her story. You’re a smart dude. If I had told you who I was initially, you would’ve connected the dots fairly quickly. You would’ve known Iris has been grieving from the beginning without her ever getting the chance to tell you herself. Because you didn’t know the significance of who Iris and I were to each other, you were able to discover those parts of her on your own without any sort of preconceived notions. Sure, you have gotten closer to her than I anticipated, but that’s beside the point. You’ve known since the beginning that I was a guardian; I denounced being labeled anangelfor a reason—I’m far from it. I’ve been holding back since day one.”
In an instant, I’m feeling bad for him.Damnit.
“Well… at least you had a decent reason for holding back,” I grumble. “For the record, you’re a guardian angel, dude. No more sugar-coating it. The only thing missing is your wings.”
“Yeah, I’m supposed to get those when I ascend or something. They are honestly just for show anyway. Who needs wings when I can teleport wherever I want whenever I want?” He grins cockily.
“Yeah, and you never let anyone forget it.” I cross my arms. “Kai, I don’t know what to do from here. I hate keeping this secret from her now even more than before.”
He lets out a sigh. “I don’t know, man. Just give me time to think of a plan. I need to do some research on my end, too—if Iris is going to find out I’m her guardian angel, I want to know the consequences of that reveal.”
“How much time will you need?”
“I’m not sure…” He contemplates. “Just give me time. I will give you the green light as soon as possible.”
“Kai, how am I supposed to spend time with Iris in the meantime?”
“You’ve never had a hard time figuring that out before.” He folds his arms, rolling his eyes. “Just keep doing whatever it is you’ve been doing. Shockingly, it seems to work for Irie.”
“Whatever, man,” I say. “For what it’s worth… I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“That your life was cut short. You were–arereally loved, man.” A look of understanding passes between us.
“I’ve come to terms with it. Besides, this side isn’t so bad.” A grin stretches across his face. “I’ll feel better once she fully accepts all of her emotions. She’s getting stronger every day. I’m so damn proud of her.”
“That’s one thing we have in common. How about the way she told your parents off earlier?”
“Oh, hell yeah, I was sitting on the couch, petting Truman and eating imaginary popcorn the entire time,” he jokes. “She’s fully accepted a lot of her emotions recently. Thank you for your hand in that.”
“Nah, that’s all Greene.” I suppress a small grin. “Well, I’ll try my best to hold onto your secret for a little longer, but no promises. You have no idea how hard this is. The last thing I want is to betray her.”
“Duly noted,” he says. “I’ll be in touch after I gather information.”
“Will you be going to Katherine’s wedding with us?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He grins, looking down at his feet. “Catch you later, bro. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. Really, I am.”
“I understand why you didn’t,” I admit reluctantly. “See you later. Bro.” His grin shines brightly in response as he walks away, venturing deeper into the forest.
My phone vibrates, and I see an incoming message from Iris. She sent me a picture of herself, staring into her bedroom mirror, gripping the bottom of her dress in one hand, carrying her phone in the other, looking cute as hell.
Iris
I’m having the time of my life, thanks for asking.
