17. JT
Chapter seventeen
JT
I’m still out by the firepit when I hear the door close, indicating Lila is home from her date. It’s late enough that I know the date went well, though not so late that I’d given in to obsessing about the fact that she went home with Matthew . I know she’s upset with me from our exchange last night. If her silence wasn’t enough to indicate it, her reading habits definitely do. Her bookmark has moved a few chapters, but she hasn’t left any annotations, let alone any comments meant for me. Hell, I would take a squiggly line under a quote she likes at this point.
I didn’t think avoiding each other would somehow leave a gaping hole in my chest, but not having her thoughts there next to mine as I read about finding love and making it work is…well, it’s lonely.
I’m surprised when the door to the patio opens and Lila walks out with two beers from the fridge.
“Hey, Pipsqueak,” I say in a teasing tone. “What brings you out to the ol’ firepit tonight?” God. When did I become an 80-year-old man?
“I wanted to watch the storm roll in.” She points her beer bottle toward the clouds forming in the southeast.
I’ve been sitting out here stewing in my failure for a while now, not even noticing the temperature drop or the big thunderheads start rolling in. My dad called me fifteen minutes after I hung up with my mother, and he spent a solid thirty minutes dissecting my last three putts in Phoenix and comparing them with my putting since then. Then he proceeded to ask me for more money, saying he found a fail-proof investment he wants me to get in on. When I told him I don’t have much spare cash, he lectured me on being fiscally responsible and not letting down the family. He ended the call with “If I hadn’t given up my career for you, your mother and I would have our own money to invest, so maybe think about that next time your ‘back is bothering you.’”
I called my coach, suggesting I was ready to go back for the upcoming tournament, but he convinced me to stick to our original plan. I agreed half-heartedly because I truly do believe it’s what’s best for my game, but at the same time, I hate feeling like I’m disappointing my parents.
The lightning flashes behind one of the big cloud formations, lighting it up from behind, and it’s one of the most mesmerizing things I’ve ever seen. I look over at Lila, her face lit by the firepit, and I want to tell her about my parents. I want to unburden myself, but I know I can’t. It’s not just that we fight all the time—I just don’t want to be a burden to someone else. And Lila deserves so much more than having to carry the weight of my burdens. So I crush that feeling, the one telling me to open up to her, to have a conversation with her about real things.
“Does your connection with Hell also allow you to call forth storms?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not a demon thing,” she replies, sliding the second beer over like she brought it for me.
“Sky demons?” I ask, knowing I’m way out of my depths here.
“Maybe? I’m pretty sure there are a couple different fantasy series where the bad guys control lightning. But now that I think about it, lightning-wielding is regularly associated with the heroes or heroines. There’s a very popular dragon series out right now where the heroine can wield lightning. Maybe it has something to do with Zeus’s lightning powers? So it’s like a ‘godly’ trait? But…Zeus was kinda an asshole, so maybe that’s not it.”
I don’t know anything about Greek gods (or are they Roman?), so I decide to skip over the last part of her analysis. “Should I read it?”
“I’m not sure if you’re ready to take the leap into romantasy, my guy.”
“Oh, am I your guy now?” Fuck. My chest tightens at the thought. I know it’s just a phrase people are saying these days, but it kinda makes me want to be her guy. “And why the hell not? If I can handle alien romance, I can certainly handle romantasy.”
“You read alien romance ?” She basically shouts the last part. Thank goodness none of our neighbors live close by. “Tell me everything. How? Why? Did you like it? I have never been brave enough to read one, but—gah!—you have?”
“It was an accident,” I admit, hoping to let the topic die there. Unfortunately, Lila has other plans.
“Oh, no. You’re not getting let off the hook that easily.” Her eyes are wide with delight, and she’s shifted in her chair. Her legs are tucked up under her, and she’s leaning toward me, her elbow on the arm of the chair, her chin resting on her hand. It’s making her flowy green shirt gape a bit, giving me an unimpeded view of her cleavage.
Damn. I shake my head, trying to clear the thoughts on her breasts in my hands, her nipples hardening as I run my thumbs over them.
“JT!” she says, snapping me out of my fantasy. “Tell me more about how you accidentally read an alien romance! How did the algorithm even serve that up to you?”
“Well”—I sigh, leaning back in my chair and staring into the fire—“I was at a tournament in New York a couple of months ago and had just finished the book I was reading. Unfortunately, it was only like seven o’clock, so it was too early to actually go to sleep, and this was the final book in the final series of an author I’d been reading. So I was facing the dreaded book chasm and had no idea what I was going to read next. Well, my Kindle popped up an advertisement, and I was like, hey, Amazon knows what I like better than I do at this point, I trust it. So I just bought it and started reading. No questions asked.”
Lila giggles next to me, clearly anticipating what is coming next, but tries to hide her smile behind her beer bottle.
“I started getting suspicious about twenty pages in, but at that point, I was in, so I decided to see where it went. And now, fuck, I’m not sure I can ever unsee it. There were multiple penises. Peni?”
Lila full-on snorts this time, she’s laughing so hard, but she manages to choke out, “I’m pretty sure it’s penises.”
I narrow my eyes at her, but that just makes her laugh harder.
“Anyway, multiple blue and green penises that changed color depending on how, uhm, aroused the alien was.”
There is a good chance Lila is going to either suffocate or fall out of her chair, she’s laughing so hard. Tears are streaming down her face, creating little trails from her makeup.
“Did you…finish…it?” she asks between gasps for air.
I want to be annoyed that she’s finding this so funny, but I can’t muster any indignation when she’s clearly enjoying it. “I did. And the love story was excellent, thank you very much.”
She’s leaning back, feet on the ground, taking deep breaths, trying to get herself under control. I watch her chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm, my eyes locked on the curves of her body.
“That’s amazing,” she says once she can breathe again. “What’s it called? I want to read it now. You’ve inspired me.”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to get my Kin—”
I’m cut off by a loud crash of thunder and a sudden cold splash on my shoulder. I look up, surprised to see the storm has gotten so close so quickly.
“Rain!” Lila yells, her voice a mix of glee and warning.
Lila grabs the bottles sitting out on the lip of the firepit while I find the dial to turn the darn thing off. It takes me a minute to get it fully turned off, and by the time I make it inside, the sky has opened up, and I’m drenched.
“Oh, shit!” Lila exclaims. “That’s a storm.”
Jack, who is honestly such an easy dog that I forget about him most of the time, is out of Bryn and Jameson’s room, howling along with the wind raging outside the window.
“Shhh,” Lila says, going over to comfort him.
I shiver, the cold, air-conditioned house chilling the rain on my skin in a thoroughly unpleasant way. “I think I’m going to go grab a quick shower to warm up,” I say.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to shower when there is lightning.”
“Is that true? I thought that was just an old wives' tale.”
She shrugs. “No idea. Are you willing to risk it?” As if Zeus is on her side, a huge bolt of lightning streaks across the entire expanse of the sky.
“Great point. I can figure out another way to warm up.”
She cocks an eyebrow at me.
“I didn’t mean that!” I say, feeling my eyes go round in my head. “I’m just going to go change into some dry clothes. And get under my covers. Alone. Yup. Just me.”
She laughs, turning back to Jack, who has started up his conversation with the wind again.
***
I’m pulled from my sleep by a loud crash and my phone ringing. It’s pitch-black in my room, and it sounds like the house is being pounded by baseballs.
“Hello!” I shout into my phone, trying to be heard over the noise.
“Mr. Johnson? It’s Mary with Wild Bluffs Country Club. Are you and Ms. Walker both okay?” Shit. Are we okay? What’s happening?
“Uhm. I’m not sure. I was sleeping. What’s happening?” Christ, is this a tornado? Am I about to be picked up like Dorothy?
“It’s a bad hailstorm. It just went through the outskirts of Wild Bluffs, and I guess it broke a ton of windows there. Don’t go outside, and try to stay away from any southern-facing windows. I’ve got to go, JT. We’ve got a few more guests I need to get a hold of. Can you make sure Lila is okay?”
“I’m on it,” I say, pulling on a pair of shorts before throwing open my door.
I have no idea how I’ve stayed asleep so long in this. It feels like I’m standing in front of a vacuum cleaner, the roar of the wind making it impossible to hear my own thoughts. Jack is pacing in front of Lila’s door, whining loudly. From the way the wind is blowing into the room, it appears at least one window in the living room is broken. A flash of lightning burns across the sky, and I catch a glimpse of snow on the ground outside the window. Wait. No, not snow. Hail. Inches of white hail cover the course outside. I feel my way along the wall, hoping to find Lila’s door. I breathe a sigh of relief when I do, and ease it open, desperately trying to find the light switch inside. My fingers make contact, and I flip the switch but…nothing happens. Right. Power is likely out. Shit. Where is Lila? Maybe I can call her? I look at my phone and realize how big of an idiot I am. I turn on the flashlight and point it at her bed. Her room is a mess, little pinpricks of glass lighting up the floor and her bed. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Where is she?
“Lila!” I call out.
I hear a noise that could be her response from in her bathroom. Clearly, Lila makes better decisions than I do when woken by a breaking window. I rush toward the bathroom door, stopping when I realize small pieces of glass have made it over here too.
“I’ll be right back!” I call out, uncertain if she can hear me over the roar of the wind and the constant pounding of the hail against the windows and walls. This is…terrifying.
Jack follows me back to my room, where I throw on a pair of tennis shoes, leaving them untied, the tongues wide open. I all but run out of my room before realizing I can’t have Jack walking on the broken glass that is covering the floors. My windows face north, so my room should be relatively safe, but I decide not to risk it. Following Lila’s lead, I shut him into the bathroom. He immediately starts howling, but I can’t deal with that right now.
I rush back into Lila’s room, the glass crunching under my now-covered feet. I hope Lila made it into the bathroom before she had to cross a field of razor-sharp shards.
I throw open the bathroom door. “Lila!”
“Here!” She’s huddled in the bathtub, wearing nothing but a skimpy tank top and little sleep shorts.
“Come on!” I yell. “My room is okay!” I move to help her stand, grabbing her hand as she steps over the lip of the tub. I start to open the door to the bathroom when I realize she’s not wearing any shoes. “I’m going to have to carry you!” I yell.
“No way!” She shakes her head vehemently. “I can walk.”
I turn back toward her, getting my face right next to hers. “Like hell you will! There is glass covering the floor out there. You have bare fucking feet. No.” With that, I bend down and scoop her up into my arms. As I shove out the bathroom door, the wind picks up, and another window breaks, throwing pieces in our direction. Instinctively, I turn my back toward the window, pulling Lila tighter to my body to protect her from any shrapnel. I feel one piece cut the back of my bicep, but I keep moving, navigating through the living area and into my room. I slam the door shut and set her down, grabbing her arms as I check her over from top to bottom, making sure there isn’t anything broken or bleeding. When I lift up her foot to check her sole, she gently shoves my hands away, grabbing my face and holding it inches from her own.
“I’m okay.”
“Fuck. I was so scared when I saw your bed covered in glass.”
“I’m okay.” She runs her hands down my arms, and I wince when she comes in contact with a piece of glass that apparently lodged itself in there earlier.
“Shit, JT.” Her eyes are wide. “Is that…glass?”
I swallow hard, trying not to think about it. “I think so.”
“Come on.” She grabs my hand and pulls me into the bathroom. Jack stops howling and presses up close to my legs, clearly just as frightened as I am. Taking my phone from my fingers, Lila sets it on the edge of the sink, filling the basin with light and illuminating the small room.
“That’s a fancy trick,” I say.
“I’m very smart, JT.” She is inspecting the back of my arm, using a piece of toilet paper to catch the small stream of blood running down toward my elbow.
“I never doubted it, but if I had, the fact that you knew to hide in your bathroom would’ve proven it to me.”
“It’s like tornado safety 101.”
“I don’t think this is a tornado.”
“Tell that to my sleep-addled brain.”
I laugh. “It was a tough wake-up call.”
“Do you have any tweezers?”
She takes the pair I offer her from my bathroom bag I’ve just left sitting on the counter and picks the phone back up from the sink. “Can you hold this right here while I pull this out?” she asks.
I grab the phone, angling it just the way she asked.
“One, two—” She pulls before she gets to three, but it’s not as painful as I was expecting. She holds the toilet paper on the cut and shines the phone back into the sink before inspecting the rest of me for cuts. Her free hand runs so gently over my back that I’m not thinking about hail, broken glass, or injuries anymore. It’s peaceful, and as the adrenaline leaves my system, all I want to do is go back to bed with Lila cuddled in my arms.
“I think you’re good,” she says.
We open the door to my room, and the storm seems to be calmer than it was before. Lila looks at me, and then at the bed, and then at the door to my room. Like hell I’m letting her out of my sight tonight.
“Come on,” I say. “You can sleep with me tonight.”
She looks at me for another second before climbing into bed. Her adrenaline must be wearing off too. I can feel her body shaking, the vibrations making their way to me through the mattress.
“You’re okay,” I say softly, and, without thinking, I pull her against my chest, wrapping my arms around her.
Lila tenses for a second before relaxing into my touch. We stay like that, our heartbeats slowing down in tandem until we’re both asleep.