Page 70 of Phoenix

Tor quietly nodded.

“What’s got you thinking about that? Did Chief Montez call you? Did something happen?”

“No.” Tor took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. “I think I’m scared now.”

“Why? Things have been good. Calm.”

“I don’t know.” Tor shrugged. “I feel it sometimes. My chest gets tight, breathing speeds up, hands get sweaty.” He turned his head to the side and looked Jule in the eyes. “I’ve never felt that way before.”

Jule traced his fingers over Tor’s hairline as he considered that. “Are you sleepy?”

Tor shook his head.

“Let’s get a beer.” He slipped out of bed and then held his hand out to Tor. “You’ve done a great job with the house.”

He skimmed his hand over the wall as they walked out of the bedroom. “Paint’s not peeling.”

He flicked the switch on when they entered the great room. “Lights all work.”

He looked down. “Floors aren’t cracked.”

He moved his hand over the kitchen table. “Furniture’s new, from the store.”

He walked to the refrigerator and opened it. “Fridge is full. Pantry too.”

He got two beers, took off the caps, and set them on the table. “We’re drinking craft brews instead of Milwaukee’s Best.”

They sat and pulled their chairs close together, legs bracketed, knees touching. “Your brothers are healthy, safe, home, working.” He tipped a bottle against his mouth and took a drink. “There’s no crisis to manage, nothing broken that needs fixing. Life is good and you’re not used to that.”

He set the bottle on the table and twisted it from side to side. “You once told me that life isn’t fair and survival’s what matters.” He looked at Tor. “You’ve been surviving for a long time, Tori. Maybe your entire life. You got so comfortable existing in chaos and crisis that no amount of it could rattle you.” He took another drink, his gaze not leaving Tor’s. “What you’re feeling now is peace. You’re not used to that, don’t know how to live in it, and that’s what’s scaring you.” He nodded to himself and loweredhis gaze to the table. “It scares me too sometimes. Things are so calm now, so easy. My body starts bracing itself for something to go wrong and then it doesn’t but the adrenaline’s still there, leaves me rattled.”

Tor drank his beer. “What do you do about it?”

Jule tilted his lips up and raised his gaze. “Wake you up in the middle night so you can fuck it out of my system.” His smile widened. “Works pretty well.”

Tor laughed and covered Jule’s hand with his. “Thanks. That helps.”

“Good.” Jule leaned closer and rested his head on Tor’s shoulder. “Glad all these years of therapy are paying off for something.”

“You haven’t attacked a guy with a pipe in years, so it was already paying off.”

“Take your dick out with someone else and you’ll see how quickly that part of my control goes out the window.”

Tor kissed his head and laughed. “Love you, Julie.”

“I love you too.”

***

They held the wedding in the joined backyards at sunset. It was more casual than any of his mother’s dinner parties, but she arrived on time, with a smile, along with her parents. Langston came a little earlier because he was officiating the ceremony and he wanted to go over things before they started. Jule suspected he was struggling to believe they were keeping it as short and simple as he had already explained, which would have been annoying if his mother’s husband wasn’t such a genuinely nice and earnest man. As it was, Jule felt nothing but gratitude that she finally had that kind of person in her life.

In a twist of fate their childhood selves never could have predicted, the chief of police was at the Dunworthy house, by invitation. Tor had agreed only after Chief Montez promised thathe’d ignore anything he saw or heard while he was there. His brothers and cousins were giving him a wide berth regardless.

Lydia came too. Jule tipped his head toward the edge of the patio where she was huddled close with Titan, laughing and talking. “That’s either a match made in heaven or a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Either way, I trust Tan to bring it better than flavor-free dessert,” Tor said.

Jule cracked up. “Ready to make this legal?”