Page 101 of A Real Goode Time

“Where’m I going?” I slurred.

“Harlow has offered one of her extra berths down below for you to crash in. Be easier than tryin’ to get your butt back across town to Liv’s.”

“What about her?” I asked, gesturing at Torie.

“We’ve got her,” Lexie said, flicking a thumb at herself, Charlie, and Cassie. “You’ll see her in the morning.”

I shook my head. “I gotta go home. Gotta rip the Band-Aid off.”

“If you leave without saying goodbye to her, you’d best not even think about coming back,” Cassie said, hard eyes scrutinizing me. “Because that’d be it for you.”

I shook my head. “Couldn’t. Couldn’t not say goodbye. ‘I may be an asshole,’” I quoted, “‘but I’m not a hundred percent a dick.’”

“Guardians of the Galaxy,” Lexie said. “Anyone who can quote great movies can’t be all bad.”

“Come on, guardian of the galaxy,” Lucas said, his huge paw nudging me toward a steep staircase. “Time for bed.”

I stared at the stairs, which were more ladder than stairs. “I can’t go down that.”

Lucas laughed. “Sure you can. Take it like a ladder. Plus, it ain’t that far. You fall, you’re drunk enough you won’t feel it.”

I nodded. Tried it, and made it down without issue. Lucas showed me the berth, which was a luxury one-room apartment nicer than anything I’d ever stayed in. Big bed, a round window showing the waterline not far below, a bureau built into the wall. I collapsed onto the bed, half asleep by the time I hit the mattress.

“Thanks, Lucas,” I mumbled.

“No problem, kiddo,” he growled. “You’re all right, Rhys. You’re a good kid.”

“Someone’s gonna find out,” I heard myself say, “So it may as well be you.”

“Find out what?”

“Torie knows. She’s been good about it so far, but it’s just a matter of time.”

“The hell are you talking about, kid?”

“RJ. It’s gonna happen, somebody is gonna hear it. Been RJ my whole life. Rhys Jonathan—RJ to everybody.”

“RJ, huh?” He laughed. “I’ll keep your secret for now.”

I felt myself spinning.

I heard the floor creak under Lucas’s bulk.

“Lucas?” I said.

“Yeah, kid.”

“How d’you know it’s real, and worth it? Love, I mean. When it’s only been four or five days. Or six, or however many it’s been. How do you know?”

“You don’t. You jump outta the airplane and hope the parachute opens. Ain’t any other way of doing it.”

“Love is like parachuting?”

“Well, all three of my boys jumped outta airplanes for a living, and all three of ’em have made the comparison, so I guess it’s probably pretty accurate.”

“I’m not a risk taker,” I mumbled, my face smashed into the mattress. “I make plans and I stick to them, and I don’t deviate.”

“And then life comes along and fucks your plans right up the pooper. And that’s when you realize sometimes you gotta leave the plans behind and just…go off road.”