Nathan stood up too, suddenly standing very close. Something held Phantom back from taking a step away.

"Thanks," Nathan said. "For opening the conversation. I didn't know how to... I didn't dare. Every sentence that formed in my mind, I feared it would make her explode. Sometimes... it doesn't take much."

Phantom had never seen her as someone with a short fuse. But maybe he'd never given her a reason to show that side. With Esai, she had certainly been sharp-tongued. Phantom nodded toward the man. "I felt like the whole room was going to implode if we kept quiet."

A quick smile flitted across Nathan's lips. Beautiful, full lips. Lips Phantom could reach with his own if he took just one step forward.

Before he could scold himself for that ridiculous thought, Nathan went on, "Is she really not in danger anymore?"

Phantom glanced past him, toward the garden. Lola was staring ahead, seemingly unaware of them. "I don't think so. Her fear reminded me of some kind of survivor's guilt. She believes she should've been in that car. That she was meant to die, and because she didn't, it still has to happen."

He left the tarot reading out of it. He still wasn't sure what to make of that—whether he believed in such things—and this theory sounded plausible enough.

Nathan took a step back, looking over at his sister and letting out a sigh. "It's awful. Isabèl's death, but also that Lola had to go through it all alone. She was completely on her own in her grief. I went to the funeral—she wasn't even there. She'd vanished off the face of the earth, and more than once I was terrified that... that she was gone too."

The pain in his voice struck Phantom. He doubted Nathan had shared this with anyone else.

"And your parents?" Phantom asked, not trying to pry, but wanting a better understanding of the situation.

Nathan let out a long, deep breath. "That's a can of worms you don't want to open." He dropped onto the couch, in the spot his sister had just vacated. "But I'm glad she has you. She could really use some stability."

Phantom sat down beside him. "Most brothers don't like seeing their little sister with a biker." He gave a teasing grin. "Especially ones who live by the letter of the law."

"Ha. We're actually very good at bending the law." A glimmer sparked in Nathan's eyes that held Phantom's gaze for a second too long.

Nathan seemed to notice. He cleared his throat and sat up straighter, a flush rising across his cheekbones.

Oh. The slightly startled look Nathan gave him made Phantom think he hadn't imagined that moment. Nathan wasn't really his type, but he wasn't unattractive either. If he were ever on vacation somewhere far away, where his secret could never reach his brothers... maybe he would've gone for it. Just a harmless holiday fling.

But this wasn't a vacation.

And Nathan was Lola's brother.

He should be ashamed for even letting the thought cross his mind. He didn't know if he'd unintentionally given anything away, but it was clear that Nathan was suddenly a lot less comfortable.

"I should check on Lola." Phantom added a quick smile, hoping to signal that the look had meant nothing. It was just... rare, that kind of moment. It brought him back to Ezra almost instantly. On his way to the door, he had to remind himself again that he'd made the right decision. Esai hadn't exactly warmed up to him over the past month, though at least he'd kept his comments about Lola to a minimum.

If Lola had been a man, though, things would've been very different. That much he knew for sure.

Phantom closed the back door behind him and walked over to Lola.

She glanced at him and let out a long sigh. "Sorry. I'm such a lousy girlfriend, aren't I? I've dreaded this conversation for so long, and still I kind of hoped we could just skip over it. Pretend the past few months never happened."

Phantom stood beside her, hands in his pockets. The other garden chairs were folded up under the canopy, leaning against the fence.

"At least the air's cleared now."

"Yeah." She lowered her head. "Doesn't take away the shame though."

"Your brother doesn't seem like a bad guy."

"No. On the contrary. I wish he'd just get angry for once."

He didn't miss the bitterness in her voice. "Why?"

Another deep sigh. "Do we really need to unpack my entire family history? I mean—hell, I don't even know your real name, Phantom. I feel like an idiot for never even asking."

Phantom nudged a bouncy ball with his foot—probably one that had flown over the fence. "I left a gang. It's safer not to use my real name. I didn't run away or anything—I got permission to leave. But only out of respect for my brother. Still, you never know. If the gang leader is overthrown one day, they might decide I'm a liability. You can break ties with a gang, but whether they cut you off entirely? I don't know..." He shrugged. "It just feels better not to use it anymore."

"Is that why you chose Phantom? Because that's all you want to be now? A ghost? Something untouchable?"

Partly. But also because ever since his brother's death, and losing his best friend for good, he hadn't felt a real connection with anyone. Not the way he used to. And that did make him feel like some kind of ghost—unseen by the world.

He liked Lola. But he didn't feel the urge to talk about that with her. Maybe that was hypocritical, but so be it. He wanted to keep the past sealed shut. Who knew what might slip through if that door opened even a crack...

"Something like that," he said at last, with a crooked smile. "Hey, you wanna come back inside? Might be nice for your brother."

She nodded, eyes on the ground. "Yeah, let's do that."

She stood up, and together they headed inside. Of course, the mood hadn't magically lightened.

"You any good at games, like Lola?" Phantom asked Nathan.

Maybe that would loosen things up a bit.

Lola chuckled. "Nah. He's afraid people will think it's childish. He doesn't even dare talk about his favorite hobby."

Nathan's face turned red again. The guy blushed so easily—maybe Phantom had misread things earlier.

"Now I'm curious." Phantom casually pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat down, leaning on his elbows. "Come on, spill it. If you've got nothing, we might have to fall back on something old school like Truth or Dare."

"It's nothing. Just a bit of gaming."

"Gaming? Oh, you're talking to the biggest computer nerd you've probably ever met. What kind of games do you play?"

Lola sat down beside him. "Gaming. He plays one game. With blocks." She looked at Phantom. "Know it yet?"

Phantom leaned back in his chair. "Tetris? That's very old school."

Nathan sat down across from him, a faint smile on his face.

"A LEGO video game?"

"Okay, okay. It's just Minecraft."

Lola laughed softly, almost fondly. "He's really good. Builds entire cities. He recently made this huge underground kingdom. We used to play together, but when I got a new laptop, it started making me dizzy and nauseous. I keep telling him he should start a video channel. I swear he'd make a killing. Not that he's struggling financially or anything."

"And then I'd get hour-long voice messages from Dad about what a waste of time it is and how he doesn't want his son acting like a toddler." His face twisted like he'd just bitten into a lemon. "No thanks."

"You can just delete those," she said with a shrug.

Nathan shook his head, jaw set. Their dad was clearly still a sore subject. Phantom figured it was time to steer the conversation in another direction.

"I'm more into fantasy games. Legend of Zelda and stuff. I tried Minecraft once, on a server with strangers, but everyone was building these beautiful things while all I could come up with was a gray rectangle."

"Well, we could play on a server together sometime. Build something together." Nathan's eyes widened like he startled himself with the suggestion. That familiar blush was back in full force. For a second, Phantom thought he might take the words back—but they just hung there, awkward and tentative.

"Yeah, sounds fun!" Phantom replied — more out of politeness than genuine interest in the game. But truth be told... Outside the club, he didn't really have a life. Aside from Lola, he didn't have any real friends. It couldn't hurt to give it a try. Playing behind their laptops didn't seem too risky either.

"Well, then you two can schedule a playdate," Lola said with a big grin. She had pulled out her phone. "In the meantime, we can do a round of 30 Seconds. I just downloaded the app."

The word playdate echoed in Phantom's head. Unintentionally, his eyes flicked to Nathan.

Nathan looked back.

This time, Phantom felt his cheeks grow warm too. He was sure Lola's brother had also a very different image in mind than a game of Minecraft.