11 #3
Stepping into it now, I gasp.
Aggie and Kaylee have transformed it into something almost cosy.
They have stacked any furniture that was shoved in here against one wall, and dragged out a table and chairs.
The floor has been swept, a window opened and it looks somewhat inhabitable.
On the table, they have laid a sheet and cut up some fruit and thrown out some bags of chips and crackers.
“Wow, this looks half decent, ladies,” Zeke says, nodding. “Impressive.”
“I agree,” I say.
Aggie winks at me, and then sets the music a few notches louder, before clapping her hands together. “Let’s get smashed.”
Zeke sets down the bottles, grinning. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, the return of civilisation!” He winks, and I realise: this is his moment. This is the thing he will remember for the rest of his life, the day the world stopped ending for just a second.
He feels one step closer to home, and that clearly makes everything better for him.
Tati snorts. “Rum is not civilisation, Zeke.”
“Say that again after three shots,” he responds, bringing the bottle to his mouth and pulling out the cork with his teeth.
I’m about to make a joke, when I spot them, Ace and Kellen, standing in the corner, arms crossed, drinks in hand.
They’re shirtless, both of them, and it takes me a second to realise how completely, stupidly handsome they both are.
Not handsome in the movie star way, but in the way you remember seeing your first crush hit a baseball out of the park, or a firefighter in a calendar.
I ignore the stirring in my stomach—and lower—and slide myself next to Aggie, who is now fiddling with a deck of cards. “You’re making this weirdly festive,” I tell her.
She shrugs, eyes darting to Kellen and then away, too fast. The air is tense, but everyone is trying, and that’s something.
“I figure we deserve it.”
“You’re right,” I agree.
Ace’s gaze is on me, I can feel it every time I move. Eventually, I meet it and the heat in his stare is enough to make me squirm. I head over, trying to play it cool even though I feel like I might just reach him and take him right here in the dining hall.
“I see you made it,” he murmurs, voice laced with suggestion.
“Couldn’t resist the promise of lukewarm, bottom shelf rum,” I shoot back, but he’s already got his hand low on my waist, tugging me against his furnace of a body. He smells like clean sweat, rum, and saltwater, and when he leans in, his lips graze my ear.
“If you don’t put a shirt on soon, I can’t promise I won’t do wicked things to you,” I whisper, just loud enough for him to hear.
He pulls back, just enough for me to see his grin. “I accept the challenge, baby.”
I tip my chin, biting my lip, and he just kisses me, deep and slow, until the rest of the room vanishes into soft white noise. I let myself melt.
“Get a room!” Kellen barks, but there’s no venom in it.
Ace flips him off, before getting me a drink.
The rum is cheap and tastes so strong it burns my nose hairs, but after the second round even Kaylee is smiling.
Zeke tries to get a poker game going, but none of us remember how to play, or maybe we just prefer to let the stupid laughter float up and fill the space.
Rachel comes in and slowly, she relaxes, but I don’t miss the way her and Kellen lock eyes as she moves around the room.
Then, we’re all dancing, like the entire world is just us, and we’re completely okay with it.
Ace holds me by the hips, and I let my arms drape around his neck, burying my face in the rough of his beard. We don’t move, exactly—we just sway to the music, kissing and touching, letting the world pass us by.
“I could get used to this,” I murmur.
He presses his lips to my temple, but he doesn’t answer.
That is the second time I have said something and he hasn’t answered.
I try not to read too much into it, because it is likely nothing and I don’t want to overreact.
The others blur, just bodies moving in the dark, and I don’t care if they watch. I don’t care if the whole world burns down around us, because in this moment, the only thing that matters is Ace’s hand curled around my spine, his pulse beating in time with mine.
Eventually, the rum and the euphoria taper off, and we collapse into chairs, arms linked, legs tangled.
Aggie is sitting beside Kellen, and he is whispering something to her that has the giggles filling the small space.
Rachel watches them, and once again, I fear the eruption of this little love triangle.
But tonight, I am not going to focus on it.
Tonight, I am just going to enjoy what is happening right here, right now.
I’m not so na?ve as to think this will last forever, but I will take every minute.
A storm could come tonight or tomorrow, the food could run dry, the nightmares could creep up and swallow us whole, but I know now, we will survive. We will keep each other safe, even if it takes every last piece of our battered hearts to do it.
If that’s not a miracle, I don’t know what is.