Chapter 48

“Hi, I… uh, I had Mom drop me off before she went back to her baking.” Emil was fidgeting, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and not looking at Makai.

Makai realized he was nervous. “Come in. Do you want coffee?”

“Yeah, sure.” Emil followed him into the kitchen.

Something between them was a bit… off. Well, not just something, Makai knew he’d made this happen by asking for the break.

Once they both had more caffeine, they went to sit on opposite ends of the couch.

“Look, it was a lot,” Makai said thoughtfully. “Talking about it all was…. It made me feel more than I thought I would, afterward. More memories popped up. Nightmares.”

Emil was frowning at his mug. “Maybe this isn’t—”

Makai’s heart started to beat faster. “No. Emil, no.” He waited until Emil finally looked at him before continuing. “This is worth it. You’reworth it. It’s going to be a learning curve, but I want to have a chance to be us.”