Page 98 of Beautiful Chaos
Dad, still laughing, reaches over and grabs Silas’s shoulder. “I understood you perfectly. And you’d realize how funny it is if you knew that Roly and Thane have…history.”
“Wait,what?” I say, staring at my Papa like he’s got a second head. “You andRoly…?”
He shrugs. “I wasn’t bear enough for him.”
Erik, half a bottle deep, dissolves into giggles. “This is the best dinner,ever.”
We all break, laughter echoing off the waterand the surrounding buildings. We’ll probably end up with a noise complaint, but it’ll be worth it.
Dad rubs his chest. “It really is.” He blinks rapidly. “I… Thank you for hosting tonight.”
He turns to Silas, taking his hand. “And thank you for loving my son.”
Sy ducks his chin. “I couldn’t help it.”
I kiss Silas’s temple, releasing whatever leftover anxiety I was holding on to.
It’s been awful, knowing my dad was struggling so hard, knowing that the man he is was being obscured by everything that happened to him. That our friends and my Silas now get to see him as he truly is makes me so fucking happy I could burst.
I kiss Silas’s hand, and he kisses mine. His eyes widen. “Oh! I forgot! I made cookies.”
“Cookies?” I send him a disgruntled look. “Why have you never made me cookies before?”
“I wanted to perfect the recipe first,” he says, charming everyone with his shy smile.
Dad shakes his head. “I still can’t get over the fact that Silas is a blusher. I mean…that’sadorable.”
Silas goes even redder and then gets up from the table and walks to the stairs.
“Look at what you did to him, Dad. He’s gonna hafta jog up and down the stairs at least two or three times before he comes back with the cookies.”
“Sorry, Sy!”
Silas ducks his chin and waves at us, then disappears into the stairwell. Erik and Ant are staring at each other. A tear rolls down Ant’s face.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Uh…” Ant sniffs, then laughs. “We didn’t know he could blush either.”
The table goes quiet, but this time it’s a thoughtful silence. We enjoy the cool evening breeze, the sounds of downtown Austin filtering up from the street level, and the hope of a future.
About thirty seconds later, Silas opens the door and lets himself onto the rooftop. No cookies. Did he change his shirt?
“Did you forget something?” I call out.
Silas stills, then moves toward us. Dad shivers.
“Oak…”
My split-second instinct is to be annoyed, but then I see the terror on my dad’s face.
Cupcake growls
Something is…off.
CapitalO.Off.
“Sy, baby? Are you okay?”
