Page 59 of Headstrong Like Us

We can handle a lot of shit together, for a lot of people, but it’ll always be important to check in with each other. Above all else.

I slap the magazine closed and sit more upright. “Something else eating at you?”

He grinds down on his teeth and uncrosses his arms. Then crosses them again. He ends up nodding, but he says, “What are you thinking?”

He wants me to go first again. Whatever’s on his mind must be hammering at him in a bad way.

I bend my knee and lean a forearm on it casually. “Nothing serious.”

“Even better.” Maximoff walks around to the counter. Jars of cotton balls and tongue depressors lining the clean surface. He rests against the cupboard, but somehow, he makes it look like the most rigid stance imaginable. He nods me on to talk.

“Okay,” I say. “So I’m just sitting here thinking,fuck, I’m glad I’m gay.”

Maximoff exhales deeper. “Because you’ve never had to worry about accidentally getting a girl pregnant.”

“Never a worry,” I say into a slow nod and then look him up and down. “You stressed a lot about it.” It’s not a question.

He’s had to check and ensure girls never stole his used condoms. Consequences of fame.

“I don’t have to stress about it anymore.” A soft smile pulls at his lips. Another reminder that we’re in this for life together. Happiness flits briefly from his mouth to his eyes before he nods, ready to unleash the imprisoned thought. “I just keep thinking about my dad.”

“About Kaden?” An acidic taste drips down my mouth.

“Yeah.That.” He tries to soften his gaze. “You said having Rowin around was a fucking mistake.”

“It was.” I run my thumb over my lip piercing.

He outstretches an arm. “Kaden is equivalent to Rowin. He works for my family. He’s slept with one of us, and I’m struggling with the idea of him being around you.”

I tilt my head back and forth. “That’s funny because I’m struggling with the idea of him being aroundyou.”

Maximoff lets out a pained laugh. “This is a fucking catch-22.” He braces himself against the counter, reaching back with two hands. Gripping the edge tight. “This is the worst time to pull someone away from my dad who’s actively helping him.”

I’ve never considered putting anyone else above Maximoff. I choose him 100% of the time. But recently I keep finding myself having to place his family before his well-being. First, when med calls take me from his security detail and now this shit with his old hookup.

I want to choose Maximoff now.

“Even knowing you’re strong enough,” I tell him, “you shouldn’t have to be around bad memories just because you can weather them.”

“Maybe.” He cracks a knuckle. “I think we’d both rather ride this out for a while. Just until my dad is on his feet. Then we can tell him there’s a conflict of interest with Kaden. Right now, he can’t lose his therapist. He just can’t.”

I know.

But his belief that his parents will pull through in a few weeks (or less) is stronger than mine. Something is going on with them, and I just can’t see this turning around that fast.

“Okay,” I nod, knowing there’s no perfect solution. I just hope I’m not making the same mistake.

We don’t have much longer to contemplate this. Donnelly slips into the hospital room. Gauze is taped near the crease of his elbow where they drew blood.

No one else follows behind him, which just means there’s more waiting.

“Did they tell you anything?” Maximoff asks.

“Only that they’re fast-tracking the lab work. Should take around 24-hours. Nurse Jen said we can leave, and they’d call us when they have the results.” He looks to me. “Does that mean somethin’?”

“Maybe…”

Usually DNA tests take at least a couple days. It could mean that the mom died, and social services is trying to find a blood relative as fast as possible. But I don’t want to unearth that possibility, and I don’t know much about the system to offer an accurate guess.