Page 172 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

Tina sat down on the couch and then shifted away from where their parents had sat. “I feel like we need to fumigate now.” Her eyes brimmed with tears, though, and she dropped her head into her hands. “How can they be so awful?” She looked up at Gavin, then to Ben and James. “I can’t imagine ever… We deserved better, Gav.”

Yeah, they did. They’d always deserved better. “We’ve got better now, though,” he said simply, sitting next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

Ben sat on the coffee table and rested Baby James on his knee. “You should’ve just let me kick their asses. Let ’em try to pray away their broken bones.”

Tina let out a laugh, but again, Gavin wasn’t sure if Ben was joking. She reached for James, pulling him close, as if she needed to remind him that he’d always have her. “Think we can maybe find Elise and Donnie and Mike once they turn eighteen?” She paused and added, “Luke’s already twenty, and Karin’s birthday is in a couple months…”

That would be tricky. Having Tina land on their doorstep had been hard enough for Ben to swallow. He wasn’t sure how Ben would feel about the rest of their siblings.

“We can try,” Ben said. His brow was furrowed, though, as if he were thinking too hard about things he didn’t like. “No telling, though. They might be… brainwashed, or whatever it is.” He caught Gavin’s eye, and said again, “But we’ll try, okay?”

Gavin only nodded in response. The last thing Ben needed was another complicated mess of Gavin’s to clean up, but he was willing anyway. There to put the pieces back together if they failed, if the rest of their family rejected them as swiftly as they’d just rejected their parents’ warped offer. And he’d be there to help rescue the other kids if they could.

He reached for Ben, laced their fingers together as he leaned close. “Thanks.”

Tina shifted James on her shoulder, nodded. “Yeah, thanks,” she echoed, letting out a breath, sounding like she could finally feel some sense of relief.

All things considered, the little reunion went better than Gavin had expected. He was glad Ben had never heard all the other things his parents had said because that? That was nothing. They were on best behavior today. The whole thing could’ve been much worse and he knew it.

“Who’s hungry?” he asked, pressing a kiss to Tina’s head before getting up.

“I could eat,” Tina said, running her fingertips over James’s hair.

Ben got to his feet. “I should probably help sort the groceries.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t throw them through a window.”

Ben laughed before kissing Gavin’s forehead. “I almost did.”

They were halfway out of the room when Tina said, “Hey, Gav?”

He turned to look at her, not liking the tone of her voice, the nervous sound.

“You think that’s really it? Think they’re really gone now?”

Gavin couldn’t tell if she were grateful or sad at the idea. Probably a little of both. They both needed to let go of the idea of their parents being real parents, being like Nora or, hell, almost anyone else. But it would probably take some time to mourn that loss. Gavin was more than five years in, and it still hurt if he thought about it too long. “Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “Probably.”

“Good,” she said quietly, as if she meant it. And maybe she did. Maybe it would be easier for her to come to terms, to let them go, because she was already a better mother than the one who’d raised them.

Ben didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. Gavin knew where he stood on the issue.

“You dinged the paint,” he said, noticing the spot where Ben had Hulked out and tried to put the swinging door through the wall.

“Be glad that’s the only thing I dinged today.”

Fair point.

Chapter Forty-One

Ben

Ben checked his phone. His only client for the afternoon had canceled, so he was free for the day. He tapped out a quick reply, told the guy not to worry about it, and tucked his phone away.

Gavin came in, wrapped his arms around Ben from behind, and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. “How soon till you have to leave?” he asked, his voice quiet, breath warm.

“Tomorrow,” Ben said, leaning back against Gavin, unable to stop himself from smiling. They hadn’t had a day together in too long.

“Really?” Gavin’s tone was playful, full of hope and longing, even a little teasing as he slid his hand lower on Ben’s body, dipping into the top edge of Ben’s jeans.

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