Page 92 of Obey

I haul the single remaining box out the van and take it back inside. It’s labeled “bedroom,” but I place it on the dining room table next to the box Helios had abandoned there. I’ll deal with it later.

“Looks like that’s it,” Maddox says to everybody. “Which means we can all have the cheap beer we bought for you.”

Our helpers complain, but I step in and say, “He’s kidding. We got you five different types of indie IPA.”

It’s weird being surrounded by so many people. It’s weird having this many people willing to help, actually. Even Thunder had offered to help me move, but there’s only so much mixing of friends’ groups that I can deal with.

I also don’t really need Thunder to tease me about this whole domesticity thing.

“Pizza should be here any minute,” Maddox announces. “So hurry up. We don’t want your greasy-ass fingerprints on our shit.”

Evan flips Maddox the bird. “That’ll teach me to help you ever again. You and Knives are a pain in the ass.”

“Because that wasn’t completely obvious before?” Lily asks dryly, finally coming over with her almost-empty glass of wine.

Sally hands the baby to Lance, then sits down next to him on the couch while Maddox and I distribute the expensive IPAs to everybody. When everybody’s got a drink, I take a deep breath and steel my nerves.

I clear my throat, and everybody stares at me. Evan has his arm around Helios, Lily has pulled up a chair near Lance, and Maddox is just within arm’s reach.

“So, uh. I figured since we’ve got everybody here, I might as well do a small toast. Speech. Whatever,” I say, nervous despite myself.

Maddox side-eyes me. This hadn’t been something we’d talked about, and he’s just as surprised as everyone else is.

I’m not exactly the speech-giving type, after all.

After a few seconds of silence, Helios says, “So… are you going to give the speech?”

“I’m working up to it!” I snap. I catch the way Evan’s eyes narrow, so I quickly add, “Sorry. Um, okay. I guess. First, thanks to everybody for coming to help with the move. It means a lot to me and Maddox.”

Maddox nods, then reaches out to squeeze my hand encouragingly. It gives me a slight boost of confidence.

“I don’t know how much I’ve bitched about my time in prison to you?—”

“A lot,” Lily interrupts.

Evan nods in agreement, and even Helios looks amused. The only two people who don’t react are Lance and Sally, who I don’t know well enough to have bitched to.

Sally seems nice, at least, and she smiles warmly at me, gesturing for me to go on.

“Okay, anyway,” I continue, “what I was going to say, prison sucked. A lot. I felt like I was alone and friendless and that I couldn’t trust anyone in the world ever again.”

Next to me, Maddox winces, and I can feel him tensing up.

“But then I joined the Crescis, and I ran into Maddox again.” I laugh darkly. “Couldn’t believe my damned piece of shit luck.” I run my hand through my beard nervously. “Of course, turns out, it was good luck. ‘Cause I wasn’t over Maddox. I’m never going to be over Maddox. And you all put up with my bullshit while I was sorting myself out, and you helped Maddox deal with me being a pain in the ass. So, the point is… thank you. For everything.” I eye Evan. “Although I still think you could have convinced Silvano not to send me on that damned swamp tour.”

Evan cracks up laughing. “You really think Silvano would ever listen to me?”

Beside him, Helios rolls his eyes. “Silvano barely listens to him when it comes to his security and he’s actually in charge of that.”

Maddox sighs and bumps his shoulder against mine. “We probably would have had to appeal to Kyran, and had him make Silvano change his mind.”

For some reason, that makes Evan crack up even harder, to the point where he’s burying his face against Helios’s hair while his shoulders shake from his laughter.

Helios looks just as bewildered as I feel.

“Hey, it coulda been worse,” Lily interjects, smirking at us.

“How could it have been worse than getting tortured by the heat and mosquitos and getting shot at?” Maddox asks her with a faint glower.

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