“You did a lot of what got us here tonight.”
He glances around for a second before fixing his gaze on me. “Should I be freaked out that I’m not freaked out?”
“What do you mean?”
“I witnessed a lot of shit here tonight. I saw men get their brains blown out by people I was hanging out with earlier. I saw Carnage nearly tear a man’s head off his shoulders.” He shrugs. “I don’t know, seems like I should be scared or mortified or feel something other than…” He exhales slowly.
“Other than what?”
“Satisfaction maybe? Peace? I don’t know. It’s like all this angst that’s always inside me just went away. I’m not sure I could pull the trigger on someone, but I sure as hell liked seeing it happen.”
“I think it’s reasonable given the hell these guys put you through. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Maybe not.” He nudges my arm with his. “Do you think Shadow would let me go out with you guys again? Just to test it.”
“Test what?”
“Whether my reaction, or lack of one, is specific to this situation or not. I want to know.”
“I seriously doubt it, but it’s his call.” I grab Boone’s wrist. “You can’t get involved with us. Pax won’t allow it.”
“Yeah, well, again, I’m an adult. I’m almost forty and I can do whatever I want. Besides, Pax doesn’t have to know.”
I give him a hard look. “If he stays with me—and fuck, I hope he does—he’s gonna know.”
Boone twists his lips. “Ooh, good point. Well, bridges crossed and all that.”
“Huh?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Keep up, man.”
His easygoing attitude is such a contrast to his brother’s it’s almost comical. “Let’s wrap this up so we can get you back to the house and Pax. He must be worried sick.”
“Oh, he is, but I needed this tonight. For once, something I did had a good outcome. I don’t want to think about what would’ve happened to those kids if we hadn’t intervened.”
“Best we don’t think about it.”
A couple of hours later, we enter Crestvale House as a group. Pax is in the rec room with an action movie playing, but he’s on his feet by the time Boone and I walk in, and his right arm is in a sling.
“What happened? Were you hurt?”
Pax stands between us, not answering and seemingly torn for a second before he launches himself into my arms and kisses me. My pulse races and my body heats with pure relief and affection.
Pax releases me to hug his brother with one arm. “I’m pissed at you.”
Boone nods. “I know, but you’d be so proud of what we did tonight. There must’ve been thirty kids, and we saved them all, Pax. We saved them.”
Pax’s expression softens. “That’s great, Boone. Really great. So it’s done?”
“The part we can control is done,” I say. “We’ll never eradicate it all, but we can disrupt it and we did. Boone was incredible tonight.”
Boone smiles, his face lit up like a kid’s on Christmas. “It feltgood to do the right thing. What happened? Is it your shoulder?”
Pax nods. “Took a hit and got in a major fight. Torn rotator cuff.”
“Shit, man,” Boone says. “How bad is that?”
“Very.” Pax glances at me. “I’ll need surgery, but I’m gonna do what I can to get to the playoffs. Coach is gonna tell the media that it’s a concussion and I’ll be out for a couple of weeks.”
