Misfits Like Us (Like Us #11)(129)

“I’m listening,” Lo says, his brows cinched and eyes narrowed.

“Would you be okay if we started dating?”

He frowns. “You’re asking for my permission?”

“Yeah, I’m asking.”

It’s felt like Lo wields the key to an easy relationship between Luna and me. Maybe Xander will be okay with it if his dad approves, too. I’m searching for a path where Luna isn’t pushed down constantly and told to get back up again.

She’s been through enough.

Lo is glaring up at the ceiling. He’s pinching his eyes.

I frown now, confused. “Don’t you want easy for Luna? You could make this easy—”

“No,” he cuts me off.

I go cold.

He smears a hand down his face, then glances behind his shoulder. Only the Lonely Mountain patters down the staircase. Lo steps closer to me and drops his voice. “You can’t date my daughter, and I am deathly serious about this, Paul. You cannot, under any goddam circumstance, date her.”

He sounds scared.

Fear even flickers in his amber eyes.

My head is whirling. I’m sensing something, a shift in the air. “This doesn’t just have to do with you disliking me, does it?”

“Your family thought you were with Beckett and look what happened. What do you think will happen if they know you’re dating Luna?”

Nothing good.

I run my fingers across the back of my hot neck. I honestly haven’t tried thinking about my family in terms of Luna and our future. I’ve separated the two.

Because I wasn’t looking backwards. Because in the life ahead of me, my family isn’t supposed to be there.

But they are.

They’re right there. And I don’t want them anywhere near Luna.

Staring off at the wall, I remember that I haven’t even really talked to Beckett. We texted briefly when the assault first happened. I asked if he was okay. But that was before he learned my family was behind the attack.

Finally, I tell Lo, “They’d probably get to her somehow.” I feel sick thinking about it. “To protect Luna, I’d do anything. I hope you know that.”

Absolutely anything.

The worst things imaginable, I know I would put myself through, and I wouldn’t stop.

Lo intakes a sharper breath. “So you get what I’m saying?”

I look at him. “You’re sayin’ Luna and I can’t be together.” The cruel reality is sinking in, and I manage to add, “Not how we’d want to be.” Without fear of something imploding on us. And it’s not her father carrying malice and forcing us apart.

It’s been my family. Attached to me.

I peer just a foot out of the foyer. Sitting on the couch, Xander and Maximoff are laughing about something on a phone, and Kinney is shushing them while the movie is playing. Ripley is giggling and hanging on to his dog Arkham where Farrow sits with Lily, chatting together and watching Baby Rip.

I smell the homecooked meal again.

I see the shelves and shelves of comics.

The fireplace is even lit.

Lo and Lily built something alive, something brimming with youth and happiness. A home I didn’t know could exist beyond movies. This is what Lo is trying with everything inside him to preserve, and right now, I’m attached to an ugliness that could destroy it.

“It’s going to end,” he suddenly says.

I step back into the foyer, confused. “What?”

“There’ll be an end to this.” His eyes haven’t exactly softened, but Lo is staring at me in a way he never has before. Like he’s trying to reach out to me. “We’re going to get rid of them. We have to. You’re just going to have to do something for Luna in the meantime.”

I cage breath.

And then he says, “You wait for her.” He stares further into me. “This is the way.”

To wait for her.

Until I’m detached from the thing that could hurt her. Until it’s nowhere near this house.

His family.

People that I love, too.

I’m choked for a second. I can’t see myself moving on from Luna, and I can’t tell if he’s afraid I might. But that’d mean he wants me to stick around.

“You don’t want to send me to a dude ranch anymore?” I ask him.

“The only way to take them down is through you.”

Right. I’m the weapon.

Or the bait.

Maybe both.

I nod, but then Lo adds, “And my daughter has feelings for you, too.” He grimaces. “For whatever reason.”

I laugh as a small burst of light glimmers inside me, but the sound fades. Dogs are running as Lily suddenly moves out of the living room.

Slipping beside her husband, she smiles at me. “Donnelly. Stay for dinner.”

“He’s leaving, Lil.”

“Lo—”

“He’s right,” I interject. “I gotta head out.” I lock eyes with him, and we share a deeper understanding. For once, we’re on the same page. I hand Lily the bag of Tastykakes. “Can I say goodbye to Luna before I go?”

“Yes,” Lily emphasizes so emphatically at her husband that Lo doesn’t even dare contend. I’m not sure if he was planning on it. “You can take as long as you want, Donnelly. She’s upstairs.”