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Jay hears Rowan mutter, “I’ll reach into your back door.”

“Don’t judge me. So maybe Iama bit fanciful in my hero’s inner monologue.”

Rowan finally turns his chair around, urging Leo to do the same. The plane hasn’t leveled out yet, so they pitch forward a bit toward the back of the plane, but Rowan throws a protective arm out to hold Leo in his seat, even though the seatbelt and Leo being a grown-ass man hold him in his seat just fine.

It puts a sweet smile on Jay’s face for a minute and makes Rowan roll his eyes.

“Jay, you got a thing for tentacle porn, fine. But not Carnell, please.Ew.”

Leo gags at that and…blushes, with a burst of spicy cinnamon scent.

“Leo, you got something you want to share with the class?” Jay asks, interested now for a whole new reason.

It’s even enough to intrigue Grayson—so much so that he deigns to put his book down. “Tentacles? Gid, don’t they make dildos for that?”

“Oh, come on. Is itPick on Leo Day?” Leo whines, covering his face with his hands.

“No. You’re right. That’s the second Saturday of the month…” Finn deadpans, making a show of checking his phone for the date. “Oh, wait, will you look at that.”

“Okay. So I like a bit of tentacle porn. Sue me,” Leo gripes with a smile, not afraid of confessing what he likes to his teasing mates.

It’s one of the things Jay loves and admires about Leo. He has never—not once—been afraid to ask for what he needs in bed, in life, or in his relationships. Jay thinks everybody could learn a thing or two about fearlessness from Leo Costas.

Finn also smiles affectionately while Leo enthusiastically talks about his beloved episodes of the tentacular anime. “He’s amazing, right?”

Jay can only agree. “We’re lucky. I’m lucky to have all of you.”

It’s that thought that suddenly brings a frown to his face.

“No, hey. No frowning. That’s supposed to make you happy.We’resupposed to make you happy.”

Finn undoes his seatbelt so he can turn to face him.

Jay nods. “You do. Fuck, so happy. But you all scare the shit out of me. Every minute. I feel like that dragon inThe Hobbit.You know the one?Smaug.Like you’re my treasures, and you’re out there in the world and not under me every damn minute. Makes me want to growl and maybe annihilate small villages…”

Gideon chuckles again at the detailed metaphor, and sure, maybe Jay let it get away from him a little.

Finn tips Jay’s chin toward him so he can look directly into Jay’s eyes. “You are treasured by us, too.”

“But?”

“No buts. Well, unless you’re Gideon. Then it’s all the butts, all the time,” Finn jokes, and when Jay looks over his shoulder, Gideon has a small smile on his face.

Even if his eyes are still closed, he’s listening.

“The only thing we can do is try to live the life we’re given, right? For ourselves and each other. Sometimes that is fucking hard. Scary. Even if it involves flying tin cans and murderous psychopaths bent on some sort of violence.”

“Hey! That’s my soulmate you’re talking about!” Luca grumps.

Finn laughs. “I meant Carnell.”

He would never, ever saylike father, like son—but Gideon’s face falls anyway at the unspoken comparison.

“Hey, no. I am dead serious. Don’t do that,” Finn denies, shaking his head.

Jay sees Gideon’s jaw settle into a hard line. “Gideon. Come on. Even if you don’t trust yourself, you can trust me, yeah?”

His eyes fly open, and he finally sits up, the facade of relaxed ennui dissolving in an instant.