by Eden O'Neill
“What are we doing?” He’d told me to dress up too in his text he sent this morning, church wear but that we weren’t going to church. The appearance of a running helicopter above the city of Maywood Heights definitely wasn’t church, but I’d prepared for that anyway in a pink dress and high heels.
Our fingers laced, Royal brushed his lips on my knuckles. “Obviously, we’re going to fly, love.” And with that, he let go, taking the moments to come around the car and let me out. He appeared nothing if not debonair, so different from the rude asshole I’d initially met. We’d both grown so much since meeting each other. He pulled me to him.
“You hired someone to take us flying?” I asked, looping my arm around his.
He patted my hand. “Not exactly, but close. Come on. You’ll see.”
I could do nothing but that, guided over to the man I noticed now wore a pilot’s headset. The man placed his hand out for mine, shaking it.
“Em, this is my uncle Addy.” Royal pointed to his uncle, the man’s shake firm as he released my hand. Royal grinned. “Well, Addison. Addison Anderson. My mom’s brother. Unc, this is December. My girlfriend.”
Royal’s uncle Addy flashed a dazzling grin, just as blond and beautiful like his nephew. His hair was slightly longer, a snapshot of what Royal could look like in a few years. Addison stood back, gripping gloved hands. “Nice to meet you, December.”
“Nice to meet you.” Awed by everything, I moved forward as Royal guided me.
“Uncle Addy is actually the vet who took Hershey in.” Royal leaned in. “Best in the city.”
A boisterous chuckle had Addison clasping Royal’s shoulder. “Oh, nephew. Flattery won’t get you extra flight time. But nice try though. You ready? This bird won’t fly itself.”
What the fuck?
My lips parted. “We’re, uh, what?”
“Just as he said, Em.” Royal waggled perfect eyebrows. “I’m flying us through the clouds today—”
“With assistance.” Addison raised a finger. “He’s only certified for assisted flying.”
But still, he was flying us? Royal eyed me, his frown slight. “You don’t have to be freaked. I got you. I’ve done this a million times.”
A conversation came to mind I’d heard before, one between Royal and his dad. It’d been a harsh one, but I remembered it. Royal had wanted to go to flight school, but his father had been against it, wanting him to go to a top-tier college. The conversation hadn’t ended well, but that’d been the first time I’d heard about his desire to fly.
It appeared he’d been flying for a while, and it made me happy he seemed to want to share something so clearly personal about him. Royal didn’t do that a lot, and since he was game to do such a thing, I would definitely be here for the ride.
I squeezed his bicep, smiling, and that made my boyfriend’s grin widen.
Addison crossed his burly arms. “Well, it seems she’s ready. Come on. I’ll get you guys up in the air before you take over.”
We strode to the chopper, Royal and Addison up front while I took the back. Inside, I’d been given my own headset to match the guys. I guess so we could speak to each other in the air.
“Ready?” Addison called back in his, and though I’d never been up in a helicopter before, I pretended to not have butterflies in my chest.
I let them both know I was and braced the seat as Addison maneuvered the joystick and pulled us above the hilltop. Royal reached back for me as he did, and that definitely helped keep the chunks down.
“You all right, Em?”
“Totally cool,” I lied, squeezing his hand hard, which made him chuckle. The asshole found all this funny, and I shook my head, watching as Addison took us above the sea of trees and landscape. The sun had barely risen at this point, a wash of sunshine over the hills, and it was so pretty I did relax a little in my seat. This was just in time for Royal to let go of my hand and man the controls.
“Ease on into it, R,” Addison coached, a smile in his voice. “Second nature.”
And it was for him, nice and smooth. He cruised us from over the woods toward a city which now appeared miniaturized. The capitol and even the school could be seen from our vantage point, and I pressed hands to the glass.
“You’re actually flying this, Royal?”
A deep chuckle sounded in my ear. “Yeah. All me, princess. You can see your house if you look close. We’re coming up on it.”
I sat back, way too giddy about spotting the colonial-style house amongst a thousand replicas. Dad lived in a cul-de-sac, a nice one but not terribly unique.
“Wow.” I reached a hand over the seat, placing a hand on Royal’s chest. “This is so cool.”
“Right?” Royal leaned back into my touch. “I just love it. Love being up here.”
Hearing that in his voice, I smiled, true joy in it. How could his dad not see how much he loved this? He’d literally struck Royal down for even the thought of allowing him to pursue a career of flying over general education. I supposed he just didn’t care, the man truly fucked up. It all made me sad, and I tried not to think about him as we flew, as Royal flew. Our flight time didn’t end up being much, but Addison did give us what he could. He had to work that day, some admin stuff at the office. He really seemed like a nice guy, and I thanked him for what he’d done and still did for Hershey. She still had daycare with him from time to time to visit other dogs. Usually, Rosanna came to take her over there since I was at school Monday through Friday. After we landed, Royal and his uncle did one of those handshake-hug combos guys do, and once I got my own handshake, Addison ended up peeling off in his own luxury car parked on the hill. He sped off in a souped-up Mercedes and his hand in mine, Royal waved him goodbye.
“I guess the men in my family love our toys,” Royal said, pulling me close.
“I guess so.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and he let me, walking us over to the now, stationary chopper. In the air, Addison had said the bird was his but allowed Royal to navigate it often.
Royal placed a firm hand on the red paint. “I feel like I’ve been flying forever.” His voice held an air of memory, a smile to his lips. “My mom used to fly. Did I ever tell you that?”
He never talked about his mom, or his family really ever. I had a feeling it brought a lot of pain for him.
That didn’t appear to be the case now, his arm pulling around my shoulders. He squeezed. “She just loved it. Grace too.”
“Tell me about them,” I said, gazing up. “I’d love to hear everything.”
Some of that happy expelled a little, his expression tense. Especially around his green eyes. His jaw moved. “My mom was gorgeous. My sister… so alive.” He shook his head. “It’s starting to fade. What happened was so long ago.”
I could imagine. He probably only had murky images of them now. The accident happened when he was seven from what I understood. I felt like I was in the same place a bit since I’d lost my mom so young too.
Lacing arms around his neck, I studied his face. “It’s okay. And you won’t forget. Not really. Things like today… it always brings them back.”
Despite what I said to assure him, he grabbed my hand, his sigh deep and heavy.
“Why do you want to be with me?” he asked, truly asking. His lips turned down. “I’m so fucked up, Em. Might be forever.”
Maybe, possibly. But then again, I might be too. We’d both had terrible things happen to us. I shrugged. “Why do you want to be with me? I’m just as fucked.”
“Maybe, but you’re gorgeous,” he stated, his voice serious as he pinched my chin. “And I’m not talking about how you look.”
I could say the same thing, this beautifully dark boy who needed something, needed love, and I needed that too. We needed each other.
He touched my necklace, well, his necklace, he gave to me. He thumbed the metal. “I’ve decided to stay here,” he said, shocking me. “I got into a good flight school I can commute to, and I want to fly like my mom used to
. I haven’t decided what career track yet. I just know I need to be up there and here… Here has you.”
He wanted to stay. He wanted to be and do that with me. He did know I was staying here. I told him my thoughts about wanting to stay behind. I wasn’t ready to leave yet, something keeping me here. I think we both knew that had something to do with Paige, but that was okay.
“I want you to stay, to be with me too,” I admitted and not hard. He’s the only thing… the only thing I dared to let myself have. I’d lost so much, so opening myself to anything was hard, but he was something I was willing to take a chance on.
I frowned at a thought. “What about your dad?” He might give him resistance about this decision.
Royal’s green eyes darkened. “I won’t let him run me out of this town.” He smoothed hands over my hips. “I’m going to be here. I’m going to be with you and Paige. He’s bound to slip up, expose something.”
And we’d both be here for it. We weren’t walking away. It might take a lifetime to discover the truth, but we were here for it. We owed it to my sister and ourselves. Royal’s dad could go to hell.
I’d hope the devil laughed at his ass at the gates.
Sixteen
December
I was rocked awake the following weekend by Rosanna. She had Hershey in her arms and a worried look about her face.
“What’s going on?” I asked, blankets falling off my arm. Gazing around, I was glad Royal decided to hightail it out of my room last night. He’d been coming to my bedroom in the evenings, escape from his dad and everything else. These days we preferred to be together more than apart.
Rosanna braced my shoulder. “Come downstairs, honey. Quick. It’s your father.”
My actual first instinct was to worry. It was the way she said it, that same worry on her face I’d seen before, so after she left, my dog still in her arms, I immediately dressed. With her coming in unannounced, I’d been smart to go to bed wearing something. Any other night with Royal in my bed, I would have been in here naked. Once dressed, I headed downstairs with sleep in my eyes and a race in my heart. I was actually worried that something was wrong with my dad.
That was until I found him.
He directed a man with a box, his business suit on. I didn’t know if he was coming from work or going, but either way, he directed not one but several people with boxes into our house. The men and women in orange bibs moved around with our stuff, boxes… literally everywhere and at my feet.
I stepped around a few of the stacked boxes and even had to press myself against the wall a couple times due to all the people coming and going. I found Rosanna with Hershey as I made my way through the cluster, the pair of us watching my dad in wonder as he instructed these people where to go. He directed the majority of them outside of our house.
My lips parted.
“What’s going on?” I asked again, but to Dad this time. The door opened, I gazed outside. There were more people with boxes and all of them were out on our lawn. There was furniture out there too, stacks and stacks, and a peek into my dad’s office across the hall showed me the furniture had come from there. His office was literally empty, the hallway getting there. The framed art on the walls had completely been removed.
Dad barely glanced my way, plucking photos off the walls. They were ones of me, my sister, and our mom. He had quite a few of them peppered around, those warm and beautiful moments so long ago. Quickly covering them with newspaper, Dad fit them into a box at his feet. “There’s been an offer on the house.”
“An offer?”
Only a slight hesitation before covering another photo with paper. He tucked that one into the box too. “Yes, and make yourself useful. These boxes aren’t going to pack themselves.”
Jaw slack, I honestly didn’t know what to do. I had no idea if my dad was crazy or I was just hearing things. I angled a look over at Rosanna who merely nodding, sighing before taking Hershey away. She mentioned something about getting Hershey her breakfast and that was when Dad finally gazed up.
“Don’t allow her to make a mess in there, Rosanna,” he said, before going back to his newspaper and photos. “We need to keep the house nice.”
“The house… nice?” I asked, wrestling fingers through my bedhead. “Dad, are you even hearing yourself? What are you talking about, and when was our house even for sale?”
On autopilot was what I’d say he was in those moments, hearing me but not really. Dad dampened his finger, folding off another sheet of newspaper. “It wasn’t. At least, not to the public. I put the word out in the neighborhood that I was looking for a buyer. That’s how it works around here.”
How it works around here…
“It’s a nice couple moving in,” he said, glancing up but only just. He frowned upon covering a wedding photo of him and Mom. “A nice family. They’ll take good care of the place.”
“And where will we go?” I stepped in front of him in an attempt to finally get some goddamn eye contact. He merely denied me once again, sighing.
“A hotel for now.”
My brow jumped. “A hotel?”
“Yes, and a very nice one actually. Doesn’t even feel like we’ll be staying at a hotel. It has several rooms, more of a condo style than anything else. You’ll like it. It’ll be manageable until I get us settled in our permanent place.”
“And where would that be exactly?” I folded my arms, waiting for some kind of frickin’ explanation.
“The city.” He looked up at me, finally looked up and stared me in the face. “Nothing’s final, but I got a job offer up near Chicago.”
What the fuck?
“I’d been looking for a while.” Tossing a photo, he eased his suit jacket back and slipped hands into his pockets. “The offers have just started coming in, but I plan to move to an investment firm up there.”
“And when were you going to tell me?”
A single eyebrow arched. “I don’t believe I have to run anything past you before I make decisions, December. You are the child, and I’m the parent.”
Could have fooled me most of the time. I grimaced. “You don’t, but any decision you make does have to do with me. What about school? My friends?”
His arms moved over his chest. “You’re in your final weeks of school, and I checked with the academy and you’re on track to graduate. I’ll make sure you get there for classes for the remainder of the year. And far as friends, you’ll make new ones in Chicago. I looked into it, and there’s a nice community college there. Way better than the one you were trying to go to here—”
“What about Royal?” My voice wavered at that, freaking emotion, but I didn’t care. I needed to know about Royal…
I loved him.
If Dad hadn’t shown any emotion before, he did now at the sound of Royal’s name. Basically dismissing me, he ripped photos off the walls in quick time.
“You’ll meet other boys,” Dad chided, his teeth gritted. “Ones that don’t leave a body trail behind them.”
“What the hell does that mean—”
“You’ll watch your mouth when you talk to me, and what don’t I mean?” He raised a hand. “First your sister and then the sheriff’s daughter? Mira? The whole town knows what he did to her.”
“That’s a lie. Mira was—”
“I don’t care if it was. I’m not going to lose another kid!”
I stepped back, his voice never raised at me.
Nor filled with so much emotion.
Which it was, his cheeks several shades in tone higher than normal. With a huff, Dad bent, picking up the box he’d been packing. At the same moment, one of the movers asked if he was done and if they could take it.
He gave it to them. “Now, go pack something. Get together your sister’s room or your room. I don’t care. Just get something and make things goddamn easier for once and not harder.”
Why should I? Nothing had ever been easier for me, and if it was, he’d never been the cause. I shook my head. “N
o.”
“December.”
“No!” I ran upstairs, getting my phone out of my room, then shoved my hoodie on. After, I raced right back downstairs, passing my dad along the way, before shoving past outside. He followed me to the walk, calling my name, but when I shot him a look he stopped at the moving truck.
“I’m not going anywhere!” I hollered over my shoulder, and as trivial as it sounded, he couldn’t make me. I’d been on my own before, and I’d do it again.
“December!”
His voice faded as I stalked away, but I wasn’t so bold to go back for my sister’s car. My dad would probably stand in the driveway and block my path anyway. Instead, I found some stable ground and sat, immediately dialing Royal from a curb to pick me up.
“Hey, this is Royal.”
I breathed. “Royal? It’s—”
“Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”
Fuck.
I hung up before trying two more times. I sent him a few emergency texts before going down the line to people who might be with him. I started with Jax and LJ, but after no answer, I got desperate and called Knight. He didn’t pick up either and it took me all of three seconds after that to realize why.
Today was Saturday, and though I usually went to all the boys’ lacrosse games, I didn’t today. It wasn’t a home game, out of town, and though Royal had offered to get me there, I’d opted out, not wanting to get up so early since the game was over three hours away.
I was regretting that now, picking up my phone again, and on a whim, I typed Ramses’s number. He’d be with the boys.
He answered immediately.
“What up, ’Zona! What’s the haps, kid?”
Oh, thank God. I stretched out my legs. “Hey, is Royal with you?”
“Uh, no.” He sounded disappointed for a second, but only a second. “No, I’m not with him.”