Matthew tilted his head, studying Hannah carefully. Suddenly he didn’t think Isaac’s story really was just a story at all. “I get it.”
Hannah nodded. She picked up her headphones. “Cool.”
Matthew walked out of the living room and made his way toward the kitchen—toward the sound of voices. And he couldn’t shake the idea that he was about to help some very big lions get some very uncomfortable thorns out of their paws.
* * * *
The light in the kitchen was on, and due to that, Gavin sat at the table with sunglasses on, head ducked. The natural light, what was left of it anyway, had been blocked out in a way that might have made Matthew laugh had it been any other day—with an opened pizza box shoved into the window frame.
Lyle leaned against the counter, his arms around Rafe who stood wit
