Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

HIRO

“I am home, praise me, my love!” I announce as I charge into the house. Nicolás picked me up since Maddox was caught in a meeting and wouldn’t have made it in time.

“Oh, Hiro… back so soon?” Maddox asks.

I gasp. “What does that mean? I thought you’d be crying and missing me.”

“I would have, but Patricia and I have really hit it off. I’ve decided to take over your position as her child.”

I gasp even louder. “Did you already call her Mommy?”

“Oh my god. Don’t make this weird.”

I grin as he rushes forward and grabs me in his arms, squeezing me to him. “You know I like to make things weird.”

“It’s definitely a skill,” he says as he kisses me. “Such a sexy skill.”

“Is it?” I tease.

He chuckles before kissing me again. “Sure is to me. How was your flight?”

“Good. I got a little anxious when we took off, so Reggie left and came back with Stripper Ghost. And I got to see the way his dick flopped in his teeny shorts as my grandpa watched.”

“How was that for you?”

“Just as awkward as it sounds,” I assure him. “Then I had to cuddle Reggie but got damn lucky and no one was sitting next to me, so Keaton sat there with Natalie on his lap. Pretty sure the lady in the next seat over thought I was strange when I started the movie up for the nonexistent person in the middle, but Natalie was ‘hungering for some blood.’ And Reggie and I were feeling up for a comedy. But now I’m glad to be back with you.”

“You tired?”

“A little bit… honestly, nothing sounds better than crawling in bed with you,” I say.

“I think I can handle that.”

Maddox takes my hand and pulls me into the bedroom where I lean against him and close my eyes. “You said Patricia came over?”

“I assumed you sent her over.”

“No. I just told her I was going to be gone,” I say.

“I like her.”

“Good.”

“I really do.”

“Yeah? She’s a good mom… sometimes it takes a bit to realize that she can be the mom you’re needing… and I’m sure it was hard for her to do everything a mom does and have three shitheads be like ‘You’re not my mom,’ but man… once it clicked, it fucking clicked. I hope it clicks for you.”

“I think it did,” he says. “I’m not saying that our relationship isn’t fulfilling enough that I need more ?—”

I quickly stop him, knowing his worries are ridiculous. “Maddox, it’s different. Sometimes it’s nice to just… have an adult care for you… even when you’re an adult.”

He nods. “It is.”

Maddox draws my shirt up, dropping it onto the ground before unbuttoning my pants and sliding them down. He hoists me up, lowering me onto the bed before shedding his clothes and joining me. I burrow up against him, arms wrapped tightly around him, head on his shoulder.

“I was thinking some more about our haunted house wedding,” I mutter.

“Yeah?”

“We need a corn maze.”

Maddox laughs as he rolls me up on top of him. “That’s what you’re thinking? Are you going to hold a bouquet of corn?”

“Oh my god, you’re onto something. You’re really onto something.”

“Of course I am,” he teases before drawing me in for a kiss.

“I want a garden like the one you proposed to me in.”

“I’ll find you the best garden there is. I’ll find you anything you want.”

“Thank you.”

“You doing okay? I know… what happened with Monica and everything was a lot.”

“I was feeling guilty… because if I hadn’t been there, Marshall wouldn’t have had the power he did. But I’m doing okay. I think I’ve convinced myself that it’s not my fault.”

“We can always find things we could have done differently. Like I could say, ‘If I hadn’t brought my gun, Monica wouldn’t have had it.’”

“Yeah, but?—”

“Hiro, we can’t control everything. We make choices and sometimes they’re not the best ones, but we do what we can because we’re trying . Didn’t you just fly to Japan to convince a teenager of this very thing?”

“Fuck, you’re right.”

“So why is it when it comes to others, you understand, but when it comes to yourself, you don’t?”

“I don’t know,” I respond as I hear something behind me.

“Don’t worry, it’s just some creepy locket being pushed across the desk by an invisible force.”

“Spite does love that locket,” I say as I glance back at him. “You should use your detective skills to find its owner.”

“I have no damn idea how. We’ve already looked into it.”

“I’m… still confused by what happened when Marshall… disappeared. Like… what happened?”

“My techs examined the ground because it looks like something burned into it. But nothing is burned. I mean, you watched the body cam footage.”

“I couldn’t see shit! It was so distorted by the ghosts.”

“Yeah, but to me, the shadow just appeared. I don’t know… we’ll just pretend it didn’t happen.”

“Should we also pretend my ability isn’t getting more powerful?” I ask.

“I don’t know… and I don’t even know what you’d do about it or who you’d talk to.”

“Oh well,” I say as I use both hands to smooth his hair back before kissing him again.

“It’s easy to focus on the bad, but you have to think about all the good you’ve done. The people you’ve helped, the lives you’ve saved. You have been given this gift and you’ve done so much with it. Maybe that’s why your ability is growing stronger.”

“Maybe. But I know I couldn’t have done any of it without you.”

“You’re giving me far too much credit.”

“Never enough,” I say as I bite his neck. “Now I want to eat you up.”

Maddox laughs. “You came back carnivorous!”

“I sure did! Shion tried feeding me beef stomach! He was like ‘All you said you wouldn’t eat was fish!’ I nearly died, Maddox!”

“Oh no! Whatever can I do to save you?”

“You should beat him up while naked.”

“That would work with most people, but I’m confident he’d just take his clothes off as well,” Maddox says as he squeezes me to him while I laugh.

“Fine, fine, you can just heal me with your naked hugs.”

“I can handle that,” he agrees. And as I beam at him, he draws me close, laughing and kissing me, filling me with so much happiness as I realize just how lucky I am for every second I get with him.