Page 63 of Colt
“We should go to bed,” I said instead. My voice came out softer than I meant it to. “Separately. The boys will be up early and—”
“I know.” I could hear the smile in it. “You’re right. We should.”
Neither of us moved.
“Five more minutes,” I said.
His arm tightened around me. “Yeah. Five more minutes.”
When I finally went back inside it was almost two in the morning. I climbed into bed and lay there staring at the ceiling with my hand still warm where he’d pressed his mouth to it.
Something was changing. I could feel it. The walls were still there. But they were thinner than they’d been this morning, and I was increasingly aware that I was the one choosing to maintain them.
Only I wasn’t sure how much longer I wanted to.
Chapter 25
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— Colt —
The text from Lilac made me stop.Can you come by after school? The boys want to tell you something.
I stared at the screen, rereading it three times like the words might change. I was at the clubhouse, going over paperwork with Dutch, but suddenly nothing mattered except those words.
The boys wanted to tell me something. Not Lilac telling me the boys had done something, or Lilac asking me to help with something. The boyswantedme for something.
My hands were shaking as I texted back:I’ll be there.
I was at Betty’s house by 3:45, waiting on the porch when the school bus pulled up. Knox spotted me first and came running, Luca close behind.
“You came!” Knox was practically bouncing. “Mama said you’d come but I wasn’t sure because sometimes grown-ups are busy.”
“I’ll never be too busy for you boys.” I crouched down to their level. “Your mama said you wanted to tell me something?”
The boys exchanged a look—that twin telepathy thing they did that still amazed me. Then Knox grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the house.
“Inside,” he said. “It’s important.”
Lilac was in the kitchen, watching us come through the door. She looked… soft. Almost nervous. Like she knew what was coming and wasn’t sure how I’d react.
“Hey.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel. “Boys, do you want something to drink first, or—”
“No, we want to tell him now.” Luca positioned himself next to his brother, both of them facing me with matching expressions of determination. “Something happened at school today.”
My gut clenched. “What kind of something? Are you okay?”
“We’re fine.” Knox rolled his eyes with all the drama a six-year-old could muster. “It’s a good something.”
“Our class is doing this thing,” Luca explained. “Where everyone has to talk about their families. Like, what their parents do and stuff.”
“Career day,” Lilac supplied quietly. “They’re doing a unit on community helpers.”
“Right.” Luca nodded. “And everyone was talking about their dads. Tommy’s dad is a firefighter, and Maria’s dad works at the hospital, and—”
“And then it was our turn,” Knox interrupted, too excited to wait. “And Mrs. O’Donnell asked about our dad, and I said—” He stopped, suddenly shy, looking at his brother for support.
Luca took over. “He said our dad is Colt. That you’re the VP of Venom Riders MC.” He paused. “And I said yeah, he is.”
