Chapter 116

Andy rested his forehead against Scooter’s. “This is all bullshit,” he said quietly. “I don’t care if we shock them or piss them off or…whatever. I don’t care. I’m doing this, I’m trying to keep the peace. But at the end of it all, I’m going home with you, and I don’t really care if I ever see any of these people ever again.”

“You’re my home,” Scooter said, tapping Andy’s chest lightly. “It’ll be fine. I promise.” God, he was such a liar, it was astonishing that birds didn’t perch on his nose. Fake it ‘til you make it.

They’d barely made the hall before the dining room when Scooter heard a sound reminiscent of the Surry nuclear meltdown sirens. “Aaaaaaaaaah, Andy!”

And Andy was promptly tackled by a woman wearing impossible shoes and a butter-yellow dress that should have been hideous and somehow wasn’t. She had a short, bob haircut and flawless skin. “Andy, Andy, Andy! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I don’t know why I’m yelling! Oh my God, Andy! I’m so, so, so very happy to see you!”