Page 73 of Hearts of Fairlake

"It's a perfectly innocent question with no ulterior motive whatsoever," Kyle said, eyes going wide in what I thought was supposed to be innocence. It wasn't a convincing innocence if that was the case, but he seemed to be trying for it all the same.

"Just give it a few years, she's probably going to break her hip, and then I'll have every reason to put her in a home where someone can watch over her all hours of the day," Ian said with a shake of his head. "Stop trying to make it happen sooner by outsourcing a beat down."

"You only say that because you know she wouldn't die. Neither God nor the devil wants her. I sure as shit don't...and don't you dare think about moving her in with us. Like hell am I being her caregiver."

"I'm pretty sure she’d drink bleach before she let you be her caregiver."

"I'll get her a stein to drink out of."

I frowned. “Do any of us have a normal and healthy relationship with their family?"

Kyle perked up. “Oh, I do! I don't know aboutnormal, but it's healthy. My dad loves me, and I love him. He gets on my nerves, and I had some bones to pick about how things went when I was a kid, but nope, pretty healthy."

"And I'd like to think we'll have a normal and healthy relationship with Ayla as the years go on," Ian added. "I'm not really in the know with everyone else in our group, though."

"Bennett had a good one with his parents until they died, and Adam's parents essentially adopted him. And Adam has a great relationship with his parents," Isaiah said. "Chasedoesn't talk about his parents, so I'm going to hazard it’s not great, same for Devin. I heard Ethan has a weird, kinda tense relationship with his parents, but him and Bri get along great. Trevor seemed to have a normal one with his family before they passed. I've heard not-so-great things about Felix and Grant's parents but no details, and Sylas...doesn't talk about his mom unless forced, so again, not gonna guess there's a great relationship there...him and his sister are close, though. Don't know about Felix's husband."

"They showed up for his wedding," I pointed out. "They were the ones always talking and laughing. He seemed to like being around them."

"Oh shit, you're right," Isaiah said. "I guess I forgot about that. I don't know why, they were pretty noisy."

"Probably because you were enjoying the open bar," I teased him softly.

Kyle snorted. “You mean he drank the open bar almost dry."

"You're one to talk," Ian said with a shake of his head. "I had to pour you into the car and practically carried you bridal style into the bedroom. Ayla still has that picture of you somewhere that she swears she's keeping for blackmail purposes."

"I don't think I was that bad," Isaiah said with a laugh at Kyle's outrage.

"I carried you," I told him with a shake of my head. "And you said the next day you would never drink again."

"How long did that last?" Ian asked knowingly.

"The next weekend, Bennett invited us out to the bar. Isaiah...enjoyed himself."

I couldn't complain, even if I wasn't all that fond of alcohol, except in small doses. However, Isaiah could drink like a fish, which both helped and hindered him. His high tolerance meant he could go for quite a long time, but it also meant hecould lose track of just how much he'd been drinking until it all caught up with him, which was precisely when he’d end up a little sloppy and need help getting up and down stairs and in and out of vehicles.

Not that I minded. He was one of the most enjoyable drunks I’d ever been around. One might be afraid that his quick temper might surface with alcohol in his system, but I had yet to see it happen. Instead, it brought out the parts of him I adored, his energy and enthusiasm, the warmth of his personality, and the playfulness that was always just beneath the surface. Sure, sometimes that came with cleaning vomit out of the backseat once...or twice, but he wasn't a mean drunk, and in all fairness, he really didn't drink all that much.

"Are we just going to start snitching on me now?" Isaiah asked with a scowl. "Or am I allowed to defend myself?"

"Is there any defense you have?" Kyle wondered. "Because I don't know about you, but I'm pissed right now because I realize I have no defense."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Ian said, pulling out his phone. "But I need to head back. They're pulling everyone into the park's central area as best they can, preparing for the show. Chief Price wants me there to help keep an eye on the crowd."

"Ugh, thanks for the reminder," Isaiah complained.

"You'll do great," Kyle told him. "I meanwhile have to go see what atrocities have been committed by drunk people. I really should have asked for hazard pay or something."

"Pretty sure you can't ask for hazard pay for doing your normal duties," Ian said, wrapping an arm around Kyle's neck and pulling him away. "But I suppose that wouldn't have stopped you trying."

Now they’d walked off, I turned back to Isaiah. "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to bail and play sick for the rest of the weekend."

"No," he said with a sigh. "I haven't even thought of doing that...much. It's like I said, every time I think I have what I want to say, I read it over and decide it sounds ridiculous or not good enough. Now I've got to be ready soon, and it feels like I'm going up there with nothing."

"Well, like I said earlier, maybe don't have a prepared speech."

"Wait, like...don't write it out beforehand?"

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