Page 61 of Phoenix

“She’s the one Tan’s been whining about for the past half hour,” Travis clarified.

“Right.” Trey nodded. “Don’t think you ever mentioned her name.”

Tor chuckled.

“You’re all hopeless causes when it comes to relationships,” Maggie said from the hallway.

Jule turned his head. “Hey, Mags.”

“Hi.” Maggie stepped over his legs and walked to the front door. “Mikey crashed in my room. I’m going out with my friends. Be back later.”

“Need me to move him to his bed?” Titan asked.

“Nah, he’s fine.”

“I’m tracking your phone,” Travis reminded her.

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “I know, Dad.” She left with a wave and closed the door behind her.

“Do you guys think we’re all hopeless when it comes to relationships?” Tyson asked.

“We had shitty parents, man. We’ve never seen an example of a healthy relationship in real life, so yeah, we’re probably hopeless,” Travis responded.

“Not all of us,” Jule said.

Tor’s fingers stopped moving against his head.

Jule looked up at him. “Did you tell them our news?”

“What news?” Trey said.

Jule crunched into a sitting position. “We’re getting married.”

“Holy shit.”

“Holy fuck.”

“When?”

“We’re going to the county clerk of court on Monday to get our license,” Jule said.

“We are?” Tor asked.

Jule nodded. “Three o’clock. I made an appointment.”

Tor made an amused sound. “Thanks for filling me in. What if I’m busy then?”

“Make yourself unbusy. I already told you, this is not optional.”

Laughter echoed around them.

“Not sure you’re demonstrating the whole healthy relationship thing there, Jule,” Trey said.

“Fuck that healthy shit. What this frustrating asshole needs is persistence and a strong hand, not sentimentality. You think he’s a badass for what he survived over the last decade? That’s nothing compared to what’s coming. We’re getting married. We’re going to choose each other and stay together and live a chaos-free, boring fucking life. And I will beat the ever-lovingshit out of anyone who tries to get in our way.” He narrowed his eyes at Tor. “You included.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” Tor grinned at him. “I know exactly what fighting with you leads to.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ, if you two lunatics are going to bang, go to your car.”