A Lighter Shade of Blue (Kings of Chaos 2)

“Precisely. Include yourself in that forgiving attitude,” Dixie adds.

“You’re a smart girl,” I say.

“I was a psych major for a reason.”

“I thought it was the free therapy for all the shit we had to see growing up,” I tease.

“Yeah, that too.” She snickers.

“Fuck, Dix, you’re back in town. What are we doing to do with our day?”

“Go to the beach, and pretend like we don’t have any responsibilities.”

“I am so down for that, let me tell Shadow.”

“Awww, such a good Old Lady already.”

I punch her arm playfully. “Shut up, you. Come on, let’s go grab my phone.”

Twenty minutes later, we’re laying on the beach and I feel nearly human. The sun is warm on my skin, the ocean is a dazzling blue, and the company is superb. “How’s life in Santa Monica?” I ask.

“Laid back, nice. I like counseling high school kids, you know? They’re so innocent and ready to take on the world. It’s inspirational. I never remember feeling like that when were teenagers.”

“’Cause we knew better.”

“It’s true.

The shit we saw. People dying, going to jail, betraying each other, and the fear when we had the lockdowns. It was like a warzone. But when it’s good, it is the most amazing in the world.”

“So, why leave? Just because of a few assholes?”

“It was more than that and you know it,” she whispers.

“But you never admitted it out loud.”

“Did I need to?” she asks.

“I just bared my soul. I think the least you could do is be straight up with me.”

Sighing, she collapses back onto one of the colorful beach towels we laid under our umbrella. “You know damn well it was because of Echo. You know what it’s like being in love with someone whose father is a racist. You know Mouth has always been vocal about his opinions on me, and African Americans in general.”

“God, he should’ve stood up to the old prick.”

“For what? The eighteen-year-old piece of ass he might not want in a year? They named him Echo because he was always right behind his dad, repeating everything. How he managed to not hate brown-skinned people is beyond me.”

“Because Echo is smarter than that. He also loved you back,” I assure her.

“None of it matters now. It’s water under the bridge.”

I shade my eyes with my hand and spot Shadow coming across the beach with a few other brothers. “You sure about that?”

“Positive,” she drawls.

“Okay, ’cause Echo’s on his way over here.”

“What?” she asks, sitting straight up. “Holy shit, he’s massive.”

“Um, yeah. I’d say he’s grown enough to stand up to Daddy now.”