Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
Bryce
“She Got Her Guard Up… I Got My Hope Down.”
Icame back from the pool room, wiping the condensation off my arms with a towel.
The jacuzzi was still hot. I’d turned the jets off and dropped the heat to conserve energy.
There was no point in wasting juice, not with the generator already doing the heavy lifting.
Chesteria wasn’t getting in until later anyway, and it would heat back up quickly when the time came.
I stepped back into the main room where the real heat was—the human kind.
“Jacuzzi’s good,” I let Chesteria know. “I turned the jets off and dropped the heat to low, though, so it won’t drain too much power. The generator’s holding steady, but we’ll shut it off after tonight. Whenever you ready, just say the word and I’ll crank it back up.”
Chesteria smiled. “Thank you, Bryce.”
My eyes didn’t bother hiding where they landed—right on her lips. I thought about how they used to wrap around my dick, and how I used to suck on them like I was starving.
Yeah. Chesteria’s lips had history with me… good history.
“Ooooh, can I make a suggestion?” Isis exclaimed, bringing me out of my freaky thoughts.
It seemed like the whole room sighed at once.
“What is it, Isis?” I asked, my tone already on edge.
“Well, you don’t have to sound so excited! But I feel like we need to balance all this survival stuff with something soft. You know… vibrationally uplifting.”
I looked at her sideways. “What that even mean?”
She leaned in, all dramatic. “Like… Random Positivity Hour. Every morning, we say one nice thing to each other. Spread love or stay outside with the wildlife. That’s your motto, right?”
I wanted to laugh, but I was too tired… but also a bit intrigued.
“Aight. Go ahead then. Since you suggested this kumbaya mess, say something nice.”
Isis turned toward Chesteria, smiling sweetly-ish.
“I love Chesteria’s… effort.”-
The room went silent.
I shook my head.
I should’ve known Isis’s positivity bullshit was too good to be true.
Chesteria looked at me with that slow blink that meant: Bryce, if I drag this chick by her invisible edges, are you gon’ stop me or not?
I gave her a tiny nod like, handle yo’ business, baby.
She smiled—that scary one.
“I love that you tried,” Chesteria shot back with a smirk.
Adrian snorted so loud I thought he inhaled a snowflake. “Man… y’all sure this ain’t Petty Hour?”
I held up my mug. “Random Positivity Hour has officially begun. If y’all can’t be kind, be quiet… or go rub noses with a moose.”
Chesteria tapped her cup with a spoon like a warning bell. Then gave me a “watch, this” smirk.
“Since we’re adding suggestions—and seeing as how nobody is really vibing with who they brought along—I think it’s best that everybody sleeps in separate rooms tonight…. or for however long we have to stay here.”
Adrian looked up, confused, like Chesteria had just told him Santa got laid off. “Wait, for real?”
She gave him a look that could peel paint. “As a snowstorm.”
He frowned. “Damn. I thought that was like… a temporary thing.”
Chesteria turned her whole body toward him, giving off the same expression as a court-appointed defense attorney who’s fed up with her client.
“Temporary?” she scoffed. “Adrian, you came here lying ‘bout being a carpenter but probably can’t even fix a jammed doorknob. You talkin’ about you handy, but the only thing you handy with is excuses.
You had one job—one—and that was to bring peace and basic competence on this trip.
Instead, you brought drama, confusion, and some raggedy-ass beard oil that smells like expired maple syrup!
I don’t care what arrangements we had before coming here, but this is no longer a romantic retreat; it’s a winter lockdown with my ex, a person I barely tolerate, and a man whose career path is very questionable! ”
I had to turn around before I laughed in that man’s face.
Isis sucked her teeth. “Speak for thyself. Me and Bryce are doing just fine. He’s just mad at me right now. That’s only because we haven’t had—”
I cut her off like a bad connection. “Aye, shut that shit up, Isis.”
Chesteria didn’t say anything, but her smug expression and silence spoke volumes.
And then, because chaos was her love language, Isis blurted, “Well, you won’t give me any dick!” in a hurry before I could stop her.
I held my head down and rubbed my temple out of frustration. If I had a change of heart about giving Isis some dick, that thought died right then.
When I looked back up, Chesteria was smirking into her cup like it was honey-sweet validation.
“I still don’t get the big deal,” Adrian said, arms folded. “We all grown. We can make up under some covers and blame it on the altitude. Sex be hittin’ different at high elevations.”
Chesteria turned, voice cool. “Exactly. We’re grown… grown enough to know grown people lie, sneak, and touch things that don’t belong to them when the lights go out. So separate rooms… permanently!”
I nodded. “I agree. One person per room. No sneaky link ups. No sliding across the hall like you forgot your charger. Handle yourself… and I mean that literally.”
“Whatever. I’m sleeping wherever I want,” Isis mumbled.
“Then sleep in the car,” I said, standing.
“Ain’t no drama in there, just quiet and regret.
” I clapped my hands once. “Aight, now y’all got shelter, running water, and heat.
Be grateful, ’cause if it was just me and Chesteria, we’d be posted up eating stew, playin’ spades, and not hearing y’all voices ‘til next week.”
Chesteria nodded like my backup dancer. “Straight facts.”
I shifted my focus toward Isis, already bracing myself. “Isis, I’m getting the room you’re in back. So let me assign you to your new temporary housing before you start doing dumb shit like claiming rooms based on the color scheme. Follow me!”
As expected, she folded her arms and stood like I’d just threatened to take away her inheritance.
“Ugh! Who’s gonna help me move my things out of there?! I have a lot, you know! Like… a lot lot!”
I kept walking. “Pack light, then. It’s not a forever home; it’s a relocation.”
There were nine bedrooms total in the cabin.
And while I had plenty of options, I knew exactly where she was going—my personal punishment suite.
I called it the Diva Dungeon. Why? Because it would strip Isis of all the superficial things that made her think she was that girl.
The room was located at the far right side of the hallway, the last door before the end.
It was quiet, isolated, and as humble as could be.
I pushed it open dramatically. “This you.”
Isis stepped inside like she was entering a crime scene, her expression a mix of confusion and distaste. She blinked a few times, then turned around slowly, like a glitching Barbie doll struggling to find her footing.
“W-What is this?” she demanded, her voice rising incredulously.
I leaned against the wall with my arms folded. “Your room,” I answered, adopting a casual shrug.
“There’s no mirror… or plug by the bed!” Isis huffed, scanning the bare walls like either would appear if she wished hard enough.
“And?” I commented, completely unbothered. “You can use this time to get reacquainted with your natural glow and battery-free personality.”
Isis began pacing the room. Her hands traced the rough texture of the walls, she flicked the light switch repeatedly and yanked open the closet door like she was searching for hidden cameras or, perhaps, a way out.
“You can’t be serious! There’s a twin bed in here, Bryce… a twin bed! What am I supposed to do with this?!” Her voice was laced with disbelief, like I had committed an unspeakable offense.
I shrugged, calm as hell. “Lie down, think about your choices, cry a little… then get over it.”
Isis stomped across the room like a toddler with a vengeance and jabbed the mattress with one finger like it had insulted her personally.
“This is so disrespectful!” Her cheeks redden with indignation.
“Isis, you’ll live. You act like I threw you in a tent with wolves. You got four walls, heat, and a door that locks. This is luxury, considering the energy you brought in here.”
I pointed toward the hallway, tone sharp.
“That’s the quiet zone. If you walk through there after midnight being loud, just know you volunteering to shovel snow and re-stack firewood… in a bonnet… on camera… for my peace of mind and my followers.” I leaned in, voice low and final. “So move your stuff out quietly.”
Isis opened her mouth like she had a comeback, but I didn’t give her the satisfaction. I walked out, letting the door close on her ego and whatever fake outrage she wanted to stew in. Her silence followed me down the stairs like a sulky echo, and I welcomed it.
The warmth from the fireplace hit first. Then that faint vanilla smell that always seemed to cling to Chesteria when she was baking or got in her feelings.
She was curled up on the couch with her legs tucked and head tilted toward the ceiling like she was deep in thought.
She didn’t glance my way at first, but her voice cut clean through the quiet.
“That didn’t sound like it went well.”
“It didn’t… for her, that is. But she’ll be aight.”
Chesteria chuckled and finally looked over at me. “You didn’t put her in the kids’ room, did you?”
I paused for a second, then gave a slow nod. “Yeah. But I temporarily renamed it The Diva Dungeon.”
Chesteria laughed. “Well, she should feel right at home.”
All jokes aside, that room used to mean something.
If we ever had a kid, that’s where they would’ve slept.
I’d painted it soft gray, back when we were still painting dreams together.
There was a time I’d stand in that doorway and just…
imagine. But life didn’t pan out that way.
So now, it was punishment quarters… for grown-ass kids in denial.
Chesteria leaned forward slightly with a teasing glint in her eye. “And you say I’m petty.”
“I’m only petty when necessary,” I corrected smoothly. “You know, like when someone decides to show up with a nigga who’s not really her man.”
“Look at the pot talkin’ ‘bout the kettle. You brought a woman who ain’t yours here too. But sure… let’s talk about me.”
“I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. But shid… you live, and you learn. Never again.”
“You got that right!”
I let out a long yawn, rubbing a hand over my face. “I’m tired as hell. I barely slept last night. Hell, I ain’t really slept since we got here.”
“Me neither,” she admitted.
“I wanna go take a nap,” I said, stretching my arms. “But I’m scared I’ma wake up to my soul leaving my body ‘cause Isis tried to cook again or she summoned something unholy.”
Chesteria burst out laughing, then added, “Or wake up and Adrian outside talkin’ to some dude named Lil Something, holdin’ a duffle bag, got a dice game, three lawn chairs, and a sign that says, ‘Trap House Sundays: BYOB.”
We both laughed.
“And, Bryce, there may be two idiots under this roof, but there definitely ain’t three. Get some rest. I can hold it down while you sleep, ’cause I’m sure I’ll be needing a nap when you wake up. I’ll only come get you if it’s a dire emergency.”
I cocked my head. “Dire? You mean like… dying?”
She shook her head, still smiling. “Yes, Bryce… dying. That’s the threshold.”
“Cool.” I nodded. “If I hear screaming about moisturizer or phone chargers, I’ma keep snoring.”
“And I’ma keep scrolling in my book.” She laughed again.
“Aight,” I said, already turning toward the stairs. Then I paused, half-turned and lips twitching with a grin.
“If we only had one idiot here… maybe you could come lay with me.”
Yeah, I was flirting a bit.
Chesteria froze for a beat, then let out a light, awkward laugh and rubbed her neck. “Bryce, go to sleep.”
She tried to keep it playful, but I caught the nervous shift in her posture.
I took a step back toward her, just enough to stir the air. “I think the reason I can’t sleep is because you’re here. Maybe I’d rest better with your leg thrown over mine and your name in my mouth.”
Chesteria’s breath caught, and I saw that tiny flicker of heat behind her hesitation. But just like that, she shut it down.
“Goodnight, Bryce.”
Firm… but her voice cracked just slightly at the end.
“It’s eight o’clock in the morning.”
She smirked, her focus now on her Kindle. “Then take your ass to bed-o’clock.”
I chuckled and kept walking, still feeling her eyes chase the steps I left behind. I didn’t need to look back to know her smile stayed longer than her guard meant for it to.
This blizzard isn’t ready for us… but oh well. We’re here now, and shit is about to get real.