I don’t even hesitate. After what he gave me earlier, this is only fair. “Yes.”
He moves to a table and sets the box down, pulling me into him as he shuffles through the pictures, taking time with each one. Looking at the different faces of me—pictures of me as a child, my face smeared with dirt; the crooked smile I didn’t often wear; the old, worn clothes that hung off my slim body.
“As you can see, my childhood sucked, but I don’t want to forget where I come from.”
He blinks over at me, his finger tracing the face of an awkward teen boy with a bad haircut and a bloody lip.
“These shouldn’t be left here. These should be protected.”
I shrug. “This is the only place I had that was safe.”
“What if I kept them with me?”
I swallow and look up at him. “Yeah. Maybe. I’m starting to think I may have to expand my horizons.”
He tilts my chin up and kisses me softly, a breath, a promise, before he turns back to the pictures, spending way more time than I thought he would with each one. And then he moves to the passport, something I had ages ago that has since expired.
“We’ll get you a new one so we can travel. I can get it expedited.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Then he unfolds the birth certificate and stares down at it.
“Nathan Smith.”
“Mhm.” I shift on my feet. “But I changed my name when I was old enough and could afford it. Neo always seemed more authentic to who I was, who I became.”
Wylder is quiet for a long time. Eventually, he puts all the documents into that metal box and closes it, handing it to me.
I stare down at it and then back up at him. I’m unsure what this means. Is he over all of this? Is he embarrassed about who I am? But that all dissipates when he opens his mouth.
“Thank you for showing me this,” he says softly. “I feel privileged to know this part of you.”
My eyes well with tears, and I choke back a small sob.
“Thank you for wanting to see it.”
“I do. I want to see all of the pieces of you.”
I swipe at my eyes as I move to put the box back, but he stops me. “Like I said, I’d love to keep those pictures and documents at my house. If you’d do me the honor.”
My gaze turns toward him over my shoulder, and I feel my heart grow two sizes too big.
“Why?”
There’s no doubt on his face as he speaks, just a bone-deep surety. “Because like I said, I want all of you, Neo. And I want to keep them close.”
21
WYLDER
Neo’s eyes are shining, his hands trembling slightly. I offered an out by handing him the box. I want this to be his decision. I want to keep the broken pieces of him only if he’ll let me.
I wait, holding my breath until he approaches, tucking that old, rusty box into my hands. My lungs contract, and I hug it against me.
“Okay,” he says softly.
I smile at him, unable to convey quite what this means to me. What he’s trusting me with. “Thank you. I will make sure it’s safe.”
