How to Be a Normal Person (39 page)

He said, “Hi.”

Gus said, “Hi.”

“So, I’ve spent the last two days driving back,” Casey said. “Tried to make it a surprise, you know?”

“I’m very surprised,” Gus managed to say, about ten seconds away from busting through the glass just so he could hug Casey close.

The smile widened. “Good. I’ve had some time to think about things, man. About a lot of things. And I came to this realization as I drove past Weed, California. Gus. It was called
Weed, California
. It was a
sign
.”

Gus didn’t even try to stop the eye roll. “Oh my god.”

“Right? Kismet. Because right when I entered Weed, California, I was thinking about you and it hit me. Gus, it
hit
me.”

“What did?”

Casey put his hand up against the glass. Gus did the same on his side. “Hey, Gus?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to ask you a question, okay?”

Gustavo’s throat felt very dry. “Okay.”

“It’s all right.”

“I know.”

“What was the Oscar winner for Best Song in 1984?”

Automatically, Gus answered, “Stevie Wonder for the movie
The Woman in Red
. The song was ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You.’” It was fine, of course. Because he knew the answer to the question. He knew all those things. He didn’t know why Casey wanted to—

And then he could barely breathe.

Casey’s smile wobbled a little bit. “Okay?”

Gus blinked the burn away. He nodded as best he could.

And Casey said, “Yeah, man. I love you too.”

Gus didn’t even care that he dropped his phone then. All that mattered was getting as close to Casey as humanely possible. He threw open the door to the Emporium and suddenly found himself with an armful of hipster. Casey laughed wetly into his neck and Gus just held on as hard as he could. He thought that it was possible that he might never be in a position to let go. For some reason, that didn’t bother him in the slightest.

(Nine thousand, two hundred, and eighty-one days before he died, a man named Thomas Tiberius held his son in his arms for the very first time and tearfully said, “Look at you. Just look at you. Your little hands. Your little face. My god. Your little face. I never realized. I never thought it could be like this. Hello. Hello, little Gustavo. I love you. I love you. I love you. Oh my god, my son, I love you.”)

LATER, AFTER
everything had calmed down, while the We Three Queens and Lottie wiped their eyes and Gus finally let Casey go (but continued to hold on to his hand tightly), Casey frowned and said, “Huh.”

“What?” Gus asked, trying to ignore how happy he sounded. It really was the worst.

He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I was just thinking about a question I had, man. For the We Three Queens.”

“Oh?” Bertha said. “What question?”

“If your question is to ask if you can come and live with me and write me stories, the answer is yes,” Bernice said with slightly crazy eyes. “Always yes. Forever yes.”

“Rein it back in, dear,” Betty said.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” Casey said. “It’s personal.”

And Gus
knew
what he was going to ask.

Holy.

Shit.

Finally
.

“But you all have different last names,” Casey continued. “And I can never tell. So, don’t take this the wrong way, but are you sisters? Friends?”

“Or in a polygamous lesbian relationship,” Gus whispered in Casey’s ear.

“Or in a polygamous lesbian relationship,” Casey said.

The We Three Queens smiled and joined hands, curling their fingers into one another’s.

“It’s so funny you should ask that,” Bertha said.

“We thought it was obvious,” Bernice said.

“Exactly,” Betty said. “Why, anyone can see that we’re—”

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Book One of the Elementally Evolved series

Set in a world that closely resembles our own, Burn is a story of redemption and betrayal, of family and sacrifice, which leads to the greatest question of all: how far would you go to save the ones you love?

Fifteen years ago, Felix Paracel killed his mother with fire that shot from his hands. Since then, he has hidden from forces bent on exploiting him and his fire and wind Elemental abilities. But Felix’s world is about to change, because he is Findo Unum—the Split One—and his coming has been foretold for generations.

Though Felix’s arrival brings great joy to the Elemental world, it also heralds a coming darkness. No one knows this better than Seven, the mysterious man who rescued Felix from that horrible fire years ago and then disappeared... who now has returned to claim what’s rightfully his: Felix’s heart. But even as Felix begins to trust Seven and his feelings about his place in the world, the darkness reveals itself, bringing consequences no one could have predicted.

Five years ago, Benji Green lost his beloved father, Big Eddie, when his truck crashed into a river. Everyone called it an accident, but Benji knows it was more. Even years later, he’s buried in his grief, throwing himself into managing Big Eddie’s convenience store in the small-town of Roseland, Oregon. Surrounded by his mother and three aunts, he lives day to day, struggling to keep his head above water.

But Roseland is no ordinary place.

With ever more frequent dreams of his father’s death and waking visions of feathers on the river’s surface, Benji finds his definition of reality bending. He thinks himself haunted; by ghosts or memories, he can no longer tell. Not until a man falls from the sky, leaving the burning imprint of wings on the ground, does Benji begin to understand that the world is more mysterious than he ever imagined—and more dangerous. As uncontrollable forces descend on Roseland, they reveal long-hidden truths about friends, family, and the stranger Calliel—a man Benji can no longer live without.

John and Jackie first laid eyes on each other when they were twelve years old. Now, seventy-one years later, Jack prepares to give his beloved husband the ultimate gift. Before he does, they’ll relive five key moments from their younger lives together over the course of a single afternoon. From their first meeting and first kiss to the violence of an abusive father and the heartache of growing up, these moments have defined who they have become. As sunset approaches, John will show the depths of his love for the one man who has made him whole: his Jackie. They’ll soon learn there is no force more powerful than their devotion to one another.

Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City Of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident.

Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam’s pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the King’s Wizard, Morgan of Shadows.

When Sam’s fourteen, he enters the Dark Woods and returns with Gary, the hornless gay unicorn, and a half-giant named Tiggy, earning the moniker Sam of Wilds.

At fifteen, Sam learns what love truly is when a new knight arrives at the castle—Knight Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed.

Naturally, it all goes to hell when Ryan dates the reprehensible Prince Justin, Sam can’t control his magic, a sexually aggressive dragon kidnaps the prince, and the King sends them on an epic quest to save Ryan’s boyfriend, all while Sam falls more in love with someone he can never have.

Or so he thinks.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Paul Auster doesn’t. Paul doesn’t believe in much at all. He’s thirty, slightly overweight, and his best features are his acerbic wit and the color commentary he provides as life passes him by. His closest friends are a two-legged dog named Wheels and a quasibipolar drag queen named Helena Handbasket. He works a dead-end job in a soul-sucking cubicle, and if his grandmother’s homophobic parrot insults him one more time, Paul is going to wring its stupid neck.

Enter Vince Taylor.

Vince is everything Paul isn’t: sexy, confident, and dumber than the proverbial box of rocks. And for some reason, Vince pursues Paul relentlessly. Vince must be messing with him, because there is no way Vince could want someone like Paul.

But when Paul hits Vince with his car—in a completely unintentional if-he-died-it’d-only-be-manslaughter kind of way—he’s forced to see Vince in a whole new light. The only thing stopping Paul from believing in Vince is himself—and that is one obstacle Paul can’t quite seem to overcome. But when tragedy strikes Vince’s family, Paul must put aside any notions he has about himself and stand next to the man who thinks he’s perfect the way he is.