Chapter Twenty-Six
Wells
“You’d better wipe that grin off your face, or they’ll know something’s up,” Victory says as she hooks her finger in the front of my shorts, tugging me closer. She looks cute as hell in my Rock Bottom hoodie and her new shorts.
We purposefully arrived late for the bonfire at Grant’s house in order to get the guys back for their sex-toy prank.
We snuck one of the blow-up dolls into Grant’s shower and tied the other to the top of Fitz’s car.
We’re still in the driveway, which had been overgrown, the bungalow nothing more than a run-down dune shack when Grant moved in to hide from the world a couple of years ago.
With the help of family and friends, as he climbed out of his depression, so did the state of his property.
The bungalow became a home, and the yard, a welcoming path of dune grasses, plants, and flowers.
“I can’t help it,” I say, wrapping my arms around Victory.
“After the day we’ve had, it’s hard to be anything but happy.
” Not only do I feel like we’ve finally jumped over the hurdles that separated us, but Seth called while we were getting ready for the bonfire.
He was happy to hear that Victory was with me, and he let me know that we have a meeting with Kane next week about the property for the restaurant.
Life is pretty fucking perfect right now.
“But don’t worry, sweets. By the time I get over that hill, I’ll be a heartbroken, angry bastard. Are you ready to do this?”
“ Yes . We’ll teach them not to mess with us.”
“Damn right we will.” We kiss, and then I step back and scrub a hand down my face, wiping away my smile. But the second she smiles, it draws another one from me.
She gives me a shove toward the yard. “Get out of here. Focus on getting revenge.”
I head up the hill, trying to concentrate on the task at hand and not on my beautiful partner in crime.
Fuck . Even that thought makes me smile.
I have to dig deep for the will to appear heartbroken and draw upon the feelings I had when I first returned to the island last weekend.
That’s not a time I want to revisit, but for the greater good of revenge, it’s worth it.
The bungalow sits back from the edge of the dunes, buffered from the harsh winter winds of the sea by dune grasses and indigenous bushes.
As I near the backyard, the bonfire comes into view.
My brothers and sisters and our friends are sitting around it.
It’s a familiar and welcome sight, but before the fun must come revenge.
Shifting into heartbroken mode, I round my shoulders, duck my head, and make my way over to them.
“There he is,” Bellamy calls out.
Everyone turns to look at me, and Scrappy, Brant and Cait’s tiny black-and-gold Yorkie scurries over, yapping. I scoop him up, and he licks my cheek.
“We were getting worried you weren’t going to show up,” Fitz says.
“Where’s Vic?” Flynn asks as he grabs a beer from a cooler.
I know I can’t pull off angry while holding this furbaby, so I put Scrappy down, and he scampers over to Brant. “She went back to the city.” I glower at my brothers, who are stifling grins.
“ Why? ” Keira asks.
“What did you do?” Leni pushes to her feet, looking at me accusingly, her auburn hair falling over her shoulders.
I scoff. “It wasn’t me . It was these assholes.”
Leni glares at Raz, who throws his hands up and says, “Don’t look at me.”
Indi, a petite blonde, smacks Archer’s arm. “What did you do?”
“Why do you assume it was me?” Archer asks, but there’s no hiding his shit-eating grin.
“Because you’re an instigator,” Indi snaps.
I step closer, staring the guys down, and they push to their feet. “Whose brilliant idea was it to make me look like some sort of sex-obsessed serial killer?”
Brant, Archer, Grant, and Fitz point to each other saying, “ His .”
“ Brant , you were in on this?” Cait asks. She’s a dead ringer for the lead actress in Blindspot , tall and thin, with jet-black hair cut just below her ears and heavily inked porcelain skin.
“It was my dad’s fault,” Brant says.
Cait rolls her eyes.
“Assholes,” I mutter. “They stocked my boat with sex dolls and other kinky shit.”
“Guess she wasn’t into your kind of freakiness after all,” Grant says, and the guys laugh.
“Grant Silver, you are in big trouble,” Jules says.
“Come on, Pix. It was a joke.” Grant reaches for her, but she steps back.
“They told Victory I made a habit of taking women out on my boat and getting rid of them, and now she’s gone for good.” I eye the guys. “Way to fuck me over.”
“Shit.” Flynn scrubs a hand down his face. “My sister finally puts herself out there, and this is what she gets?”
“Calm your jets, Miles Long,” Archer says. “It was all in fun.”
“I’m sure it was,” Flynn says. “I’ve got to call Vic.”
Sutton touches his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“Seriously, you guys,” Bellamy snaps. “Wells finally gets a girl, and you have to go and screw it up?”
“Idiots.” Keira shakes her head.
“There goes my plan to invite her to the Bra Brigade bachelorette party tomorrow afternoon,” Leni snaps.
“You know who to blame,” I say, knowing full well Victory is going to jump at the chance to hang out with Leni and the girls tomorrow.
“I’m really sorry, bro,” Grant says. “We didn’t think she’d take off.”
“We were just having fun,” Fitz says.
“Want us to call her and explain?” Brant asks.
“Fuck that,” Archer says. “If she can’t take a joke, she’s not right for our boy Wells.”
“You’re going to have to do better than a few sex toys and a tale of serial killing to get rid of me,” Victory says as she comes around the side of the house carrying the box of sex toys that we decided not to keep, wearing a cheeky grin, my new guitar strapped to her back.
“Oh man, they got you guys good!” Bellamy cheers, and everyone laughs, while Scrappy barks, wriggling to get free.
“Son of a bitch,” Archer grumbles.
“Dude, you had me going,” Grant says.
“Good. You deserve it.”
As the guys give me a hard time, Flynn quietly checks in with Victory. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but she’s nodding and smiling, and when he ducks his head closer, she says something that makes him chuckle.
When the commotion calms, I say, “Since you guys were so generous with us, we thought we’d share the wealth.”
Victory walks over to Archer and says, “A dick for a dick,” and hands him a strap-on, which makes everyone burst into hysterics.
She turns to Grant. “Since we expected that Jules might be upset with you, we’re gifting you the magic vagina.
” She hands him the rubber vagina, earning more laughter.
“Brant, Wells was pretty sure you were just along for the ride, but I understand you’re a pretty chatty guy, so hopefully this ball gag will make sex with you a little more enjoyable for Cait. ”
More laughter rings out.
Victory faces Fitz, giving him a once-over, before saying, “You seem like the kind of guy who’ll get down on his hands and knees for a woman to remain the golden boy. That’s why we’re giving you the leather collar and leash.”
Laughter and jokes ensue, and in the midst of the commotion, Victory announces, “Ladies, the rest are for you!” and sets the box down on the ground.
“Dibs on a Rabbit or a Rose!” Bellamy says as she runs over. “Those babies are expensive!”
“I can’t unhear that,” Grant complains.
As the girls dig through the box, gabbing and laughing, picking out shit I don’t want to know about, I pull Victory into my arms. “How’d I do?”
“You were amazing. Maybe I should get you some acting gigs.”
“Baby, you’re the only gig I want to do.” As I lower my lips to hers, Fitz hollers my name. “Can’t a guy kiss his girl in peace?”
Fitz smirks. “We noticed a few things missing from this box.”
Victory and I share a laugh, and then, finally , we share a kiss, and the heckling begins anew.
Hours pass with a mix of fun banter and deep conversations, the soft sounds of the ocean and the crackling fire filling the gaps.
Victory loves up Scrappy, monopolizing him until the girls coax her into playing the guitar.
Jules sings the wrong lyrics, and we all join in.
It’s a perfect night, but what I love most is that Victory’s not holding back with me.
I worried she might be a little uncomfortable showing affection in front of everyone, especially her brother, but she’s her warm, wonderful self, and being the greedy bastard I am for her, I fucking love it.
Leni invites Victory to join the Bra Brigade tomorrow afternoon, and as I knew Victory would, she jumps at the chance. Then she turns to me and says, “Unless you have plans for us?”
“My plans didn’t involve leaving the bedroom.”
“Dude, I do not need to know that,” Flynn says.
“Me, either,” Keira chimes in.
“Then don’t listen,” Victory says, earning chuckles from the others and a kiss from me.
She and the girls make plans for tomorrow, and as the night rolls on, there’s more laughter, stolen kisses, and hushed conversations. While the girls roast marshmallows and talk about the wedding, the guys and I walk over to the edge of the dune, looking out at the water.
Feeling nostalgic, I say, “How many bonfires have we been to over the years when our mothers gathered in one place and our fathers in another?”
“It’s funny how times change,” Grant says.
“Yeah. It’s hard to believe Jock and Levi are home playing daddy.” Archer takes a drink of his beer. “It’s weird.”
“Nah, man. It’s good,” I say. “They’re with their families, and it’s not like they never come out anymore.”
“That’ll be us one day,” Brant says.
I hope so.
“It feels pretty awesome to be part of the Silver Island brotherhood,” Raz says.
“I’ll drink to that.” I hold up my beer, and the guys do the same, saying, “Hear, hear,” and we all drink.
“I’m glad things worked out for you and Vic,” Fitz says.
“Yeah, bro,” Grant says. “You guys are good together.”
“Thanks.”
“I haven’t seen Vic this happy in years. You’re doing something right,” Flynn says.
That means the world to me coming from him. “I hope so, because she’s really special, Flynn. I know how big of a deal it is that she let me into her life after everything she’s been through, and I intend to stay there.”
“If he doesn’t fuck it up,” Archer says.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, asshole.”
“I’m kidding, Wells. She looks at you like you’re all she could ever want,” Archer says. “And you look at her like she’s your queen, which is how it should be. To Wells and Victory.” He holds up his beer, and as we toast again, I know it’s another moment I’ll never forget.
I steal a glance at Victory. She looks my way as she slides a marshmallow off the skewer.
Her cheeks are pink from the warmth of the fire, her hair is wilder than when we arrived, and those gorgeous eyes are indeed looking at me like I’m all she could ever want.
And I know without a doubt, my once-bitten, twice-shy girl, who isn’t shy at all, is the only one for me.