Page 51 of Jay Bird

Jay Bird didn’t fucking like it.

Tink wasn’t wrong. Jay Bird knew that. If there were even a chance Chen or one of his people was monitoring Willow, then putting that name back into circulation would be stupid.

But asking Willow to become someone else didn’t sit right either.

Chen had already taken three years from her, and Jay Bird wasn’t about to let him take more.

“She keeps Willow,” Jay Bird said.

Tink looked at him. “What?”

“Her first name.” Jay Bird leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “She keeps it. Just change the last name.”

Tink studied him for a moment. “That would be okay. But to what?”

Jay Bird opened his mouth, and whatever filter normally kept his brain from blurting out the first damn thing it thought had apparently decided to take the morning off.

“Mine.”

The room went silent—completely fucking silent.

Tink’s eyebrows rose, and Willow slowly turned her head toward him. He didn’t even bother looking at Derek, because he didn’t need to. He could already feel his stare burning into him from across the table.

“Yours?” Willow asked.

Jay Bird finally looked at her. Her brown eyes were wide.

“Yeah.”

“You want me to use your last name?”

The question sounded considerably more insane coming from her.

“Temporarily,” he added.

Across the table, Derek shifted in his chair, and when Jay Bird finally glanced at him, it was a mistake. Derek was already watching him with an expression Jay Bird knew far too well.

Are you fucking serious?

Jay Bird narrowed his eyes.

Don’t.

Derek’s expression didn’t change, but thankfully he kept his mouth shut.

Tink, on the other hand, seemed to be considering the suggestion from a purely practical standpoint. “It could work. You are living here.”

“See?” Jay Bird said.

Willow looked between them. “What about Lily?”

Jay Bird’s gaze drifted toward the living room.

Lily was lying on her stomach now, feet kicking absently behind her while she colored. Ellie sat propped beside her tablet as if the stuffed elephant was watching the cartoon.

“Same name,” Jay Bird said, his voice rougher than before. “Willow and Lily stay together with the same last name.”

Willow was quiet for several seconds, the kind of silence that felt heavy with thought, before she finally shook her head.