Page 169 of Lucky 14

“What?” I scramble to look at it.

I’m confused. What does that mean? “Is it bad?” Fuck, I’ve hurt him again.

Ky’s warm hand grabs mine, and he pulls me close.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” he says into my chest. He reaches out, grabbing Holli’s hand too. She squeezes, looking at me with a question in her eyes. All I can do is shrug.

“I’m more than okay.” When Ky looks up, his eyes are shining. He clears his throat. “Although I don’t think I can eat all this food. What were you cooking for, an army?”

I let out an embarrassed laugh, looking at the pancakes stacked up on plates.

Ky just squeezes me. “I love it. Let’s do this every week, yeah? Waffle Saturday. It’ll be our thing.”

“Really?” I feel my chest go warm.

“Duh?” Ky grabs another pancake. “Hux and I are gonna eat these till we puke.”

I laugh, and I realize how happy I am. I’m not perfect, but I’m growing every day. And I’ve found other people who not only grow with me, but also enjoy me for me. And that’s enough.

We will have to negotiate on the piss, though.

EPILOGUE

It’s Halloween, and the boys say they have something planned for me, but they won’t tell me what. So I’m standing in the bedroom of our new house, looking at the stupid ass costume Oakley said I should wear.

It’s a fox onesie.

He told me about the fox that forever changed the progression of his life, and now he says I’m his fox. Every time the supply plane comes back with groceries, there’s some sort of new fox gift for me, and now I have foxes stacked up all around my room. I also have books. Wyatt ordered me all kinds of books on psychology and sex and kink, and some smutty books too. It’s hard to get things here, and very expensive. I should know, I’m still trying to figure out how to get Huxley a dog.

I check my watch. Two minutes until I’m allowed to go downstairs.

I shift. I considered wearing a cocktail dress with the sparkly shoes that Wyatt had Manson import all the way here. If I had known he’d do that, I’d have told him not to bother, but now I feel like I have to wear them out of obligation.

Will they go with a fox onesie?

I snort, waffling back and forth until I decide to humor Oakley and wear the dumb outfit at the last minute. My own embarrassment is worth the cost to do something Oakley clearly put effort into planning. I mean, he had to ask Riley to shop for a fucking fox costume, and I have no doubt she made him pay dearly for that. I also slip on a pair of comfortable sneakers. The heels were never really me anyway. Although they’d make really good shoes to step on Wyatt with.

Full stop, the heels are definitely me. I smile, immediately planning the perfect moment to use them.

But now I need to go. As I head downstairs, it’s quiet. For a moment, my gut twists, and I remember the last time I tried to meet up with someone—back in my regular life. It feels like years ago, but for some reason it also feels like yesterday. I get a quick moment of self-doubt. Did Oakley forget? Am I going to look stupid for no reason?

I square my shoulders. It doesn’t matter if he forgot. I didn’t forget, and I still showed up for myself. Maybe I’ll eat that last pint of sherbet ice cream before Huxley can get to it.

When I round to the big open kitchen, I see he hasn’t forgotten at all, and in fact, there’s a whole room of people.

“Surprise!”

Oakley walks up to me and puts a big kiss on my mouth. He steps back, and I see he has a Peep shirt on. Wyatt’s system gives me a nod with a glint in his eyes. Behind them are Cali and Rachel’s crew, in various forms of costume.

The room explodes with noise, some wishing Happy Halloween, others just talking and grumbling. Oakley runs up to me, wrapping me in a hug, the stuffing of his costume bumping against me.

Overwhelming feelings fill me. Oakley didn’t forget. He set this all up—for me. My eyes well with tears.

“Wait,” Oakey grabs my face, pointing it up at him, the purple edges of his hair creeping out from his costume. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I sniffle back tears. “Nothing, I just…it was so quiet…I…”