Page 110 of Fighting With Light
“You just…memorized it?”
“Yeah. I do it wherever I go, in case I need to make a quick exit.”
“I always check exits when I’m in a room,” Aelia says quietly.
I glance at her and go around a slow driver. “Even with me?”
She lets go of my hand and leans into the passenger side door. “No.”
“No, what?”
“I don’t check exits when I’m with you,” she says.
Pinning my lips together, my chest tightens with the conflict of emotions. I like that she feels safe with me and simultaneously I hate it. We crossed that barrier both of us had set up for each other in Portugal and we all but destroyed it in El Salvador. It’s confirmation for me that we are both much deeper than we ever intended to get. Regrets are something I try not to think about a lot in my life because they do nothing but drag you down. I should regret going as far as I have with Aelia. But I don’t, I won’t. I could never regret her. The reasons don’t matter anymore.
We pull up next to the private airport. I glance at the clock again. They should land in about twenty minutes with all the gear we need.
Aelia and I watch my family plane land. A few minutes later, after the jet gets pulled into a spot, the door opens. A text pops through on my phone and I flip my lights twice. Emerson and Kai walk towards us dressed in cargo pants tucked into their boots with t-shirts tucked in. They each carry two large duffle bags and backpacks on their backs.
“Stay in the truck, baby,” I tell Aelia.
Slamming the door, I grab Kai into a hug. “Hey, brother,” I rasp, my throat suddenly feeling tight.
Kai pats my back, and Emerson tosses his bags into the truck bed. I turn around and hug him. He doesn’t hug often, but he will hug his brothers now and then.
Emerson pats my back roughly. The truck door slams and Aelia leans against the door. “Boys,” she says.
This woman.
“Do you ever listen, princess?” I ask her.
She flips me the bird and then holds her hand out to Kai. “Aelia Costa, nice to meet you in person.”
Kai takes it and glances at me. She reaches for Emerson, and he shakes her hand politely. My brothers stare at me and I don’t know what to say or how to explain it, so I just don’t.
I clap my hands. “Alright, let’s go get some food and shut-eye.”
Kai stares at me a moment longer and nods. They get in the back, and Aelia hops back in her seat.
After we stop to get something to eat, we go back to the seedy motel. My brothers go to their room, and Aelia and I go back to ours.
“Emerson doesn’t speak much, does he?” Aelia asks, plopping down on the bed.
“No, he’s not a big talker, but he doesn’t miss much.”
She hums. “Kai doesn’t like me, does he?”
I toss my hat onto my suitcase and sit next to her.
“He’s protective of all of us.”
Aelia’s shoulders bounce with silent laughter. “Allof you are protective, Liam.”
I shrug because she’s right. We are, we’ve had to be.
Aelia stands and climbs onto my lap. “I don’t blame him. I don’t blame any of you for being weary of me. I get it. I would be, too.”
“But?” I ask her because there always is one.
