Damaged Like Us (Like Us #1)(92)

“How?” He stirs the sauce, his concern apparent in his daggered amber eyes.

“Their personal bodyguards will be inside their tent at night—”

“So you’ll be sleeping in Maximoff’s tent with him?” His voice is edged. Normal for Loren Hale. But I pause, shoulders tensed up, and I study his sharp features.

Shit, I’m caging a breath right now. I never hold my breath. Not unless I’m having mind-blowing, eye-rolling sex with his son.

I comb both of my hands through my black hair. “Yeah. There’ll be another bodyguard from Alpha outside of the tent. No one can unzip it unless they want a broken wrist.”

Lo stirs silently and then nods several times.

“We’ve coordinated everything down to the tiniest detail. It’s all taken care of, Lo.” I sense his overwhelming parental concern. I turn to Maximoff’s dad. “I promise you that I’d never let anything bad happen to him.”

I’m falling in love with your son.

“I trust you, Farrow,” Lo says with ease.

It simultaneously knots my stomach and relieves me. Our heads swerve as Lily slips into the kitchen, a Star Wars Wampa cap on her head. Three years on someone’s 24/7 security detail is like a decade of time.

“Farrow.” She smiles.

“Lily.” I hug one of my favorite people in the world. Not bending down to her height, I straighten up, arms wrapped around her, and her feet lift off the ground.

Lily clasps my cheeks in two strong hands. “How are you? Are you eating? Have you hydrated?”

My lips rise and set her on her feet. “Hydrated, well-fed,” I assure. “All is well.”

Lily beams at my choice of words. “All is well—did you hear that, Lo?”

“I heard, love.” He glances affectionately at his wife.

Lily claims a barstool and splays her hands on the counter. “Moffy hasn’t been too stubborn, has he? He doesn’t mean to be. He just likes to take on all the responsibility.”

“I’ve noticed,” I say, and right on cue, Maximoff enters and sits on a stool beside his mom.

“What are we talking about?” he asks.

“You,” I say matter-of-factly.

He flashes an agitated smile. “Can’t figure out any other subject?”

“Don’t be mean to Farrow,” Lily says, elbowing his side.

His brows pinch. “Mom, he’s being an ass to me.”

I lean on the counter. “Listen to your mom, Maximoff.”

Lo dumps spaghetti in the pot. “Question, why’ve you only been calling him by his full name?”

“Ask your son that.”

“Moffy?”

His shoulders square. “For Christ’s sakes, I like my full name, and I’m not a kid.”

I nod slowly, the answer finally coming. You didn’t want me to see you as a child. He’s twenty-two, but I used to only call him Moffy when he was younger.

Lo pretends to be shocked. “You’re not a kid? Jesus Christ, when did that happen? Lily?”

“I didn’t do it,” she says. “I wanted him to be young forever. Like Peter Pan.”

“Peter Pan doesn’t have parents,” Lo rebuts. “You’re taking us out of the picture, Lil.”

“A Peter Pan with parents then.”

Maximoff watches their interactions with fondness, then he looks to me. He wishes for that. He’s letting himself yearn and long for the soul-bearing love and admiration his parents have.

I want to give it to you. All of it.

“Farrow.” Lily’s voice draws my gaze. “Are you seeing anyone new?”

I force myself not to glance at Maximoff. “I am, but it’s…complicated.”

“Been there, done that,” Lo says.

Maximoff frowns and motions to his dad. “What the hell was so complicated about you and mom? You were best friends who lived next door to one another.”

Lo looks at his son like he’s grown hooves. “We were addicts who enabled each other.”

“We were doomed from the start,” Lily notes.

“You persevered,” Maximoff tells them strongly, wanting them to believe their worth, but Lo cautions his children about addiction by using their failures as what not to do. “You overcame everything,” Maximoff continues. “You’re goddamn—”

“Lucky,” Lo finishes. “Doesn’t erase the hard parts, bud.”

Lily stretches over the bar counter towards me. “Do you have any friends you could introduce to Moffy?”

Maximoff looks whiplashed by the abrupt topic change. “Mom.”

I cross my arms loosely, my smile in a laugh. I wish this could go on all night. “You don’t want me to introduce you to my friends?” I ask him.

“You have friends?” he shoots back, sarcastic.

“Moffy!” Her mouth drops. “You’re a Hufflepuff. Be nice.”

Maximoff wraps his arm around his mom. “Farrow is my exception, Mom, and he hasn’t even been sorted—”

“Your mom sorted me last year.” Her love for Harry Potter runs deep.

Lily nods firmly. “He’s Gryffindor.”

I blow a mocking kiss to Maximoff.