Chapter 5 #2
Beside me, Phoenix chuckled and took a sip of beer. A light breeze swept past, ruffling my hair. I was swatting it back into place when he said, “A little blood loss is all it’ll take? Good to know.”
I went to grab my beer from the makeshift table beside me and almost dropped it in my lap when his words sank in. “Wait, what?”
Phoenix raised his eyebrows and gave me a benign smile. “What what?”
“I thought you said—never mind.” I shook my head and sat back in my chair, stretching my legs out in front of me and taking a drink. Was my hearing faulty today, or what?
“Bronwyn? Garrett?” a woman called out from the side yard. Out stepped Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, the closest neighbors.
“Meredith! Josh! It’s so good to see you both!
Come on over.” Bronwyn set down the folded-up tablecloth she’d been about to carry inside, and walked over to meet them near the back patio door.
“My gosh, it’s been ages!” Bronwyn and Mrs. Johnson hugged, and Garrett, who’d just stepped back outside and joined the group, shook Mr. Johnson’s hand.
“Good to see you, J. How’s the summer treating you?”
“Oh, you know how it goes. Getting in my daily dose of iron,” Mr. Johnson replied. He and Garrett were both big into golfing.
“Good, good. Keep that head down and get it in the hole.” That was Garrett’s sage advice, and it made me laugh quietly under my breath. I looked up to find Phoenix staring at me with eyes full of mischief.
“That’s what he said,” Phoenix said loudly.
Garrett, Mr. Johnson, Brooklynn, James, and I busted out laughing, and even Mrs. Johnson chuckled to herself. Meanwhile, Bronwyn rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Twenty-six going on thirteen some days, I swear,” she joked.
“Reminds me of my boys, that’s for sure,” Mrs. Johnson said, smiling.
“Anyway, sorry to drop over unannounced like this in the evening, but we just got to our place and realized we stupidly left the keys to the house at home on the kitchen table. The boys have a set, but they won’t be here for several hours. ”
“Oh, are the boys coming? How wonderful! We haven’t seen them in several years. But what a hassle with the keys!”
Mrs. Johnson nodded and continued. “Before we have to call a locksmith, if any are even open, or resort to breaking a window, we wanted to see if by chance you still have the spare key I gave you a few years ago? I couldn’t remember if you’d given that back or not.”
Bronwyn brought her hands to her chest. “I think we do still have that key. Let’s go inside and take a look. Garrett and I were going to pop open a bottle of wine, if you’d care to join us after we hopefully get you settled.”
“That would be lovely, dear.”
The four of them walked inside, and James stood up. “I’m going to head in and check on Amberly and Maddie. Night, y’all.” He waved to the three of us and strode toward the door.
Phoenix grabbed the handle of the cooler and brought it closer, then opened the lid and began to dig through the contents. Across the fire, Brooklynn yawned and stretched her arms over her head. Phoenix pulled out another beer and held it up, raising his eyebrows at me as an offer.
I took the can and cracked it open. “Thank you.” The spray misted over my knuckles, and I wiped them on my shirt. He took one for himself and let the cooler lid fall back into place.
Brooklynn glanced back and forth between Phoenix and me. “Gee, sure, I’d love a drink; thanks for asking,” she said to her brother in a dry, monotone voice.
He grinned at her and settled back into his chair. “It’s past your bedtime, Brookie.”
“I think you’re mistaken, old man. Pretty sure it’s time for you to head in,” she shot back.
“My best friend and I would like to relax without the elders around, thank you.” An owl hooted in the distance, and suddenly I wished I were high up in that tree with it.
When Brooklynn and Phoenix got into it, their back-and-forth could last for a painfully long time.
“Good thing the old folks already went inside then. Although I am far superior to you in both intellect and looks,” Phoenix mused, rubbing at his chin. Brooklynn threw a marshmallow toward him, but it glanced off his shoulder and tumbled to the ground.
“Hey now,” I said, holding my free hand up. “Let’s not throw food around and invite who knows what into our space.” Oh, there was a tip for the article: If you bring food, lock that shit up like it’s Fort Knox. Unless you secretly desire to become bear shit.
“Sorry, Jonas,” Brooklynn apologized. “I better watch what I toss around. Definitely don’t want to be inviting anything in here that may want to chomp on us.
Especially since you’re already here, looking particularly tasty.
” Her upward inflection and emphasis on the last word made me blush.
She shot a glare across the flames toward Phoenix.
So, she had heard him earlier, and it seemed she wasn’t particularly thrilled with what she’d heard.
I wasn’t sure what to make of all this. Was Phoenix actually attracted to me, or was it just innocent flirting?
Did he want to have some sort of friends-with-benefits situation while we were here?
And had Brooklynn picked up on that? Nah.
I mean, maybe she thought she’d picked up on something, but there was no way that Phoenix Kennedy wanted to get into bed with someone like me.
Other than the fact that he literally had to get into bed with me every night while we were here.
There was no way. I could never be so lucky.