“Rigby said if it isn’t one of us, it’s going to be some random guy raising Huey.”

And fucking Nova. Yeah, he didn’t say that bit out loud, but it was there, written all over his face.

“So what, Rigby is the sacrificial lamb? Or is that going to be you?” I didn’t even suggest myself, because no matter how badly my body wanted Nova, I was not good husband material. I wasn’t good anything material. I’d come from a bad batch, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was genetic.

“It’s that, or we set her up in her own place, ‘where we can have a degree of separation.’ His words, not mine.”

I shook my head instantly. “Rigby didn’t see her back in Tucson, man. When I walked in, she was in the middle of a sleep-deprived breakdown. She needs help. Needs us. She shouldn’t have to do it by herself.”

River was nodding, and I had a feeling the sly bastard had just talked me into a corner. “So we agree then. We let her explore where she wants to go with us. If she's happy, and wants to, I don’t know, pursue her other needs with one of us, you’re on board. Or are you happy with her going on dates and finding some other fucker who’ll have their hands all over her body? Someone Huey will call Daddy?”

I scoffed. “Aw, do you want Nova to call you Daddy too?”

He gave me a shove. “I wouldn’t say no.” He let out a breath that whistled between his teeth. “She is beautiful.”

Fuck yeah, she was. A kind of effortless beauty. Even in the middle of the night, her hair crazy and unwashed, eyes puffy from crying and lack of sleep, she’d been beautiful. Not in the traditional sense, but I was still a little awestruck by her. She was one of those people whose beauty on the outside was reflected on the inside. Like Rigby.

Not like me or River, though. Our exteriors hid a defective core.

“I’m not going to try and gaslight her into liking one of us, River. You know how I feel about that shit.” PTSD for the win. “If she wants to date, we should let her. We don’t own her. She’s young and up until three weeks ago, carefree. If she finds a guy who’s a fucking douche, we’ll figure it out then. I’m not going to force her into anything.”

River scowled at me, and I knew the expression sometimes scared the shit out of his hockey opponents, but I’d been on the receiving end of the scowl for a lot of years now. It had lost its effect. “I’m not suggesting that, asshole. Look. Just look at them.”