Page 83 of Summertime Hexy
Not in pain.
In wonder.
I cup his face with both hands and kiss him again, slower this time. Like I’m tasting a future. Like I’m not afraid anymore.
When we break apart, he’s smiling.
And I realize, I’m smiling too.
CHAPTER 28
DEREK
It’s just after dawn when I hear the knock.
Soft. Rhythmic.Unapologetically twelve-year-old.
Milo.
I’m half-dressed, still groggy from a night of too much peace and not enough sleep. Hazel’s curled sideways across my bed, tangled in my shirt and three layers of blanket like a very smug chaos demon. Her hair’s a halo of disaster. Her mouth’s parted. I watch her for a second longer than I should, then slip out quietly and crack open the door.
Milo’s standing there with his usual wild energy and a piece of toast hanging from his mouth.
“Sup,” he mumbles around it.
“You knock like you’re delivering secret scrolls.”
“I didn’t want to wake Hazel.”
I grunt. “Too late.”
She groans behind me and throws a pillow at the wall.
“See?” Milo grins, stepping inside like he lives here now. “I wanted to ask you something.”
He drops the toast on my counter and pulls something out of his backpack. A little scroll. Sealed with wax shaped like a sword through a book.
“I made it,” he says proudly, handing it over. “It’s official.”
I raise an eyebrow. Break the seal. Read.
Then read it again.
“‘Apprenticeship Binding Contract,’” I say slowly. “‘Issued by Milo McTavish. Clause One: I get to stay with you and Hazel forever, even after camp ends, unless I die tragically in a spell explosion, in which case I want a statue shaped like me holding a flaming marshmallow.’”
He beams.
I don’t.
Ican’t.
Because something’s pressing behind my ribs. Hard.
I lower the scroll. Look at him.
Reallylook.
Wild-haired, rune-scrawled hoodie, boots on the wrong feet. This kid’s been through more than anyone his age should have. And still—he smiles like the world owes him good things. Like we’re one of them.
