7. Silver
7
SILVER
A m I a little disappointed that Lucas wants to take a shower, rather than make out with me all afternoon? Maybe. He still seems a little distant as I give him some clothes to wear and show him how the shower works. Which is fine. He’s been through a lot.
My phone dings. It’s a message from Link.
Have you put your paws on him yet?
Instead of working, which is what I should be doing right now, I message him back.
No.
Link sends me a series of question marks. I roll my eyes and briefly consider calling him again, then I get a message from the brother group chat.
Coin: We need to have a meeting. In person.
My stomach drops. Coin has never suggested a meeting before. What is going on?
Sequin: Are you okay?
Cufflink: Yeah, man. That makes it sound like you’re dying. And you look like shit lately, so you could actually be dying. Are you dying? For the record, I don’t want you to be dying.
Bless his heart. Link sometimes has a hard time communicating his love.
Coin: Silver’s place is a good central meeting point. Can ya’ll make it there by seven o’clock tonight? Quin doesn’t need to come.
Sequin: Why not?
Coin: I’ll talk about it with you later.
Talk about ominous. But if Quin doesn’t need to be there, that rules out a lot of potentially scary things like a cancer diagnosis. At least there’s that.
Silver: Just so you know, I have a houseguest.
Sequin: Who?
Tinsel: I don’t think I can make it to Silver’s by 7:00. Sorry, Coin.
Coin: That’s fine, Tin. You don’t need to be there.
Cufflink: WTF? Why do I need to be there, but not Quin and Tin?
Sequin: Who is Silver’s houseguest? Did someone move in with you? I didn’t know you were dating anyone.
Cufflink: Silver’s not dating his houseguest yet… but he should be.
Oh my God, I’m going to kill him.
Sequin: WHO?
Coin: I’ll see Silver and Link at 7:00. This is not a conversation that should be overheard by a houseguest. Get them to leave.
Coin is such an ass sometimes.
Silver: I’m not kicking out my houseguest for this.
Cufflink: Yeah, he can’t kick out his houseguest. We could go to a bar or something.
Coin: This is not a conversation we can have at a bar. I’ll bring the camper, and we’ll talk in there.
Uncle Dagger has an ancient camper that he loans to family members whenever they can muster up enough cash for a road trip. Every summer of our childhood we took that old, rusted thing to a national park or state campground far away from the unrelenting heat of Southern Texas. It’s the reason the scent of mothballs and mildew make me feel nostalgic.
Cufflink: Why do you have the camper? Are you going somewhere?
Coin: On tour.
Sequin: On tour, as in a music tour?
Coin: Yes.
Sequin: With what band?
Cufflink: What about your job?
Coin: I have PTO saved up.
Sequin: WITH WHAT BAND?
Group chats are not the best method for wringing information out of Coin. Not that it stops Quin from trying.
Tinsel: I just talked to my boss, and I can make it. I’ll need a place to stay for the night.
Cufflink: We can have a sleepover in the camper!
Coin: We’re 23 years old. We don’t call them sleepovers anymore.
Cufflink: Speak for yourself.
Sequin: I’m coming too or Coin is never going to tell me who he’s going on tour with. Will you pick me up on the way, Tin?
Tinsel: Sure thing, Quin.
Cufflink: If Quin is coming, then that means he can bring cinnamon rolls. And cookies. And maybe Chime…
They argue about whether Chime should be there for whatever sensitive conversation Coin has in mind and how much food Quin should be expected to bring. I can’t help but feel excited, like I do every time my brothers can manage to gather together. It’s a rare thing these days.
The only problem is that my brothers are going to show up at my house in less than seven hours, and once Quin sleuths out who Coin is going on tour with, he’ll want to know about my houseguest.
Cufflink: Guess what I found dumpster diving last night?
Sequin: What?
Link sends us a photo of large stuffie in the shape of a turkey. It’s realistic enough that it might be taxidermy, but I’m not sure. It's an unsettling thing to be uncertain about.
Coin: Tell me that didn’t used to be alive.
Cufflink: It smells a little like formaldehyde, so I think it was at some point. Cool, huh?
I shake my head and laugh.
Silver: Some things should stay in the dumpster, man.
Sequin: Don’t bring it tonight, okay? It might give Chime nightmares.
Coin: It might give me nightmares.
Cufflink: Does this mean you’re bringing Chime?
Lucas emerges from the bathroom. His hair is wet, and he’s wearing the faded Air Force T-shirt I loaned him, along with a pair of sweatpants that swallow his small frame.
Damn, he looks good in my clothes.
“Hey,” he says, hugging his body shyly.
I hold out my arms to him, and he steps toward me uncertainly.
“Am I interrupting anything?” he asks.
I shake my head and wrap my arms around his big belly, pulling him onto my lap. He smells of my soap and shampoo, which combined with my clothing, makes this whole trial run thing feel a lot more solid. Lucas is really mine for a whole month.
“I’m just chatting with my brothers.”
He curls up in my lap, resting his head on my shoulder. It’s such a sweet and affectionate gesture, my heart swells with want. Not a sexual want, but an emotional one. When was the last time an omega rested his head on my shoulder? I can’t remember.
“How are they doing?” Lucas asks.
It takes me a second to remember he’s talking about my brothers.
“They’re good. Coin has some mysterious thing he wants to tell all of us in person, and so he invited them all over tonight. I tried to tell them I had a houseguest, and I couldn’t host, but?—”
“It’s okay,” Lucas says.
“I thought you said you didn’t want my family to know you were here.”
He burrows his nose into the crook of my neck. It feels so good, I close my eyes.
“It doesn’t matter now,” he says softly.
“Are you sure?”
He nods against my skin. “Just don’t tell them about the trial run, okay?”
“Okay.”
The idea of Lucas hanging out with my brothers again fills my heart with warmth. I wrap my arms around him, and he lets out a contented little noise that makes my heart race. It’s been far too long since we cuddled like this. I missed it so much in the months after he left that I could barely drag myself to class some days.
Somehow, I have to convince him to be mine forever. I don’t know if I can bear to lose him like that again.