“Yeah, Shy,” Jae said from somewhere nearby. “Family. We might not be blood, but we’re family. You literally died for us. And we would do the same for you, Shiloh. If you looked it up itin the dictionary, it’d just be a picture of Nox, you, and me under ‘ride or die’.”
An arm fell around my back and at the sound of his sigh, I realized Jae was hugging me.
I took a deep breath, letting their words sink in.
Family. I have a family.
“Say it,” Enoch urged. “My family loves me.”
I internally rolled my eyes with an audible scoff. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” Enoch implored. “I want you to repeat it over and over again, every day, ‘til all your doubts are pushed aside, ‘til you believe it. My family loves me. Enoch loves me. Jae loves me. Say it.”
I groaned, but as the silence dragged, I begrudgingly complied.
“My family loves me.”
“Go on.”
“Enoch loves me. Jae loves me. Happy?” I asked.
Jae squeezed me and I felt his body shake with what I assumed was silent laughter, unless he was crying again.
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep practicing. One day, you’ll believe it,” Enoch said with confidence.
I sighed, taking the ice from Enoch’s hands. I heard silverware clattering, and I assumed they were resuming our forgotten dinner.
“Say ‘ah’.”
“What?” I asked, trying to figure out if Enoch was actually talking to me.
“Open your mouth.”
“Why?”
“So that you can finish eating while the food is still semi-warm,” Enoch replied matter-of-factly. “Now, open.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I want to. Let me. Please.”
Fuck.
“You’re insufferable, you shitbird,” I muttered, leaving my mouth open.
He waited until he had pulled the fork from my mouth before speaking, “I love you too, baby.”
I could hear the smile in his voice and couldn’t help but smile back.
Enoch loves me. Jae loves. My family loves me.
Twenty-Nine
July 25, Saturday
Emory
“Fuck,” he muttered, shaking out his hand. He looked at me with a heated gaze, and I rolled my eyes.
