Chapter Seventeen
Lucy
The thunder shakes the house with a fierce boom, causing me to drop my book.
I stand and walk over to the window, looking out into the night.
It’s not late, but the clouds have covered everything in darkness.
The trees are swaying back and forth noticeably when lightning splits the sky like shattered glass. The power promptly kicks off.
Oh, great.
Pulling out my phone, I send a quick text to Ember. I’ve barely locked my phone when her face pops up on the screen, and I accept the video call.
“What’s going on? Everything okay?” Ember’s voice is full of concern.
“Yes, Ember. I was just seeing what you were up to.” I shrug my shoulders even though I doubt she can see.
“Why is it so dark there? Where are the guys?”
“Power went out. I think we’ve hit the worst part of the storm. Hopefully, it will be over soon. The guys are home. They said they weren’t going out with the lightning. Ren made a comment about not getting hit by lightning again or something.” I roll my eyes and smile.
“So why are you hiding out in your room and not with them?” Em gives me the side-eye, cocking an eyebrow.
“I’m already in my pajamas. I don’t want to put my bra and pants back on,” I whine into the phone, and Ember lets out a giggle.
I hear a soft knock before my name.
“Hey Love. We have a fire going in the living room with some candles and lanterns lit if you’d like to join us.” Ren's voice drifts through the closed door.
“She’ll be right out!” Embers yells loudly through the phone.
“Hi Ember.” Ren chuckles to himself and continues, “No pressure, there’s no heat right now besides the fireplace so if you get cold, we’ll be out there.” I hear him start to walk away.
“Damn it, Em. Now I have to go out there,” I huff. “And I have to put real clothes on!”
“Do you remember what I said earlier? Be confident. Walk out there like you own the place, Lucy. Let them know who you are. Now say it with me. Confidence.”
“Ember—” I’m cut off by her repeating the word.
“Say it, Lucy.” She stares at me through the phone.
“Confidence.” It comes out just above a whisper.
“What are you? A fucking mouse? Say it louder.”
“Confidence,” I say with a little more voice behind it.
“One more time like you mean it.”
“Confidence!” I say louder, and Em smiles.
“That’s my girl. Now go make those guys hard just from looking at you. Love you!” She blows a kiss and hangs up the call.
I put my phone down and walk into the bathroom to look at myself.
The black band tee I’m wearing stretches across my breasts, making my piercings somewhat visible.
The short green biker shorts show the curves of my hips and the roundness of my ass.
I love my shape, even though it took me years to get to this point in my life where I don’t actually dislike myself.
My raven-colored hair sits in its own knot on the top of my head, with pieces falling to frame my face.
My cheeks have always had a natural blush color to them, which becomes worse when I do actually blush about something.
I used to dislike my eyes, but as I grew, I began to love the icy blue color.
It was different, like I am, and Nana used to always say how beautiful they were.
Thinking about her makes me tear up, so I lean my head back and blow out a breath.
Get it together, Lucille. Either spend the night crying alone, cold in your room, or go join the guys where it’s warm.
I can hear Ember’s voice in my head telling me to get out there. I let out a sigh and giggle, opening my eyes. Looking in the mirror one last time, I say the word, “Confidence.” Smiling at myself, I strut into the bedroom, grab my phone, water cup, and head to the door.
I peek down the hallway, where I can hear muffled voices and laughter and see the flicker of candles. I notice Ren left me a small lantern by my bedroom door, so I pick that up and start moving, repeating the word in my head.
Slowing my steps, I turn off the lantern and stop before turning into the room when I hear my name.
“I like Lucy, man. It’s been fun having her here.” Ren’s voice is filled with sincerity, and I suppress a smile by putting my fingers up to my mouth.
“I know, Ren. But it’s not like we can keep her here forever. She has her own shit goin’ on at her Nana’s and her relatives being weird about everything.” Nash lets out a breath as my shoulders slump a fraction because he’s not wrong.
“What if she wants to stay?” I can hear the hope in Ren’s voice.
“What if she doesn’t? She’s been here for less than a week.” Colson’s harsh tone startles me.
“Maybe if you weren’t such a dick to her, she would, Cole.” Ren’s voice sounds agitated.
“Look. We can’t make this decision for her. She’s only here until the fire chief calls. Let’s drop it.” Nash ends the conversation.
I don’t want to stay here. Do I?
I lean softly against the wall, and my mind starts racing.
Being here has been fun and comfortable.
Ren and Nash have been so welcoming and always include me in whatever they do besides work.
Colson, on the other hand, looks at me like he hates me ninety-five percent of the time.
My thoughts are cut short when I hear one of them stand up.
“Anyone need another beer?”
A round of yeses comes from Ren and Colson, and this is where I need to decide if I’m joining them or running back to my room.
Confidence.
“Count me in, Nash,” I say, rounding the corner into the living room.
“You got it, Darlin’.” Nash’s smile warms me. Ren greets me with a full dimple smile and a pat to sit beside him on the couch. I make my way over and sit down, nodding to Colson, who just nods back.
“What made you come out, Love?” Ren smiles as he asks.
“Oh, I was just missing my favorite knucklehead,” I reply, leaning over to ruffle his hair.
Ren lets out a laugh. “I hope you guys heard her call me her favorite!”
I grab the beer bottle Nash holds out for me. “What are you guys doing out here anyway?”
Nash sits and lets out a huff. “Just chattin’, Darlin’.”
“I got an idea. We’re basically still strangers.” Ren looks at me and winks before continuing, “Let’s play twenty questions.”
Colson lets out a groan, which makes Nash and me chuckle.
“Rules?” I ask, taking a sip of my drink.
“Each person asks twenty questions. Honest answers only. No rules on questions. Ask whatever you want.”
I swallow hard, thinking about everything I want to know about them and what they might want to know about me. “Alright, who goes first?”
“I’ll go.” Nash leans forward in his recliner and rests his arms on his thighs. He gives us all a devilish smile.
Here we go.
We’re two hours and a few drinks deep into twenty questions, and I can’t remember the last time I laughed this much or felt this free. We all went over our twenty-question limit about an hour ago but kept going.
I’ve learned a few things about the guys, including their favorite colors.
Nash’s is green, Ren’s is blue, and Colson’s is black.
Nash says he would eat cheeseburgers for the rest of his life if he could.
Ren says sushi is his number one choice, but it’s hard to get in this little town.
Colson surprises me by saying that he would eat carrot cake every day if he could.
We’re all laughing about Ren’s most embarrassing moment being at a bar when he saw a very attractive person. He had turned to watch them walk by and then ran right into the corner of one of the tables, which was the height of where his balls were.
“You couldn’t walk normally for a couple days after that,” Nash says, laughing.
“I think I get phantom pains sometimes because of that,” Ren says seriously, which makes everyone start laughing again. Once the laughing dies down, Colson looks at me and gives me a small smile.
“Your turn, Rich Girl.”
I already have a nice buzz going, but I take another drink anyway, trying to give myself time to decide if I want to ask what I really want to know.
Ren can see the war on my face and speaks up. “Oh man, I think shit’s about to get real deep now.”
I let out a laugh. “I do have a question for Nash.” I look over at him, and he almost looks nervous.
“Ask away, Darlin’,” he says, leaning back in his chair.
“You told me you fell in love with the guys along your journey, but I want to know if there was a specific moment you can think of when it happened?”
Nash smiles, and I can feel Ren staring at him from beside me.
“Damn, Darlin’. You are askin’ the tough questions now.
” Nash points his bottle towards Colson.
“With grumpy ass over there, I think it was the first time he defended me. I mean, he was gettin’ in fights all the time, but there was one summer, a couple years after we had all become friends, where I knew things had changed.
A group of older kids were picking on me about somethin’ I don’t remember now.
They had about a foot each on Cole, but he walked right up to them anyway.
I don’t know exactly what was said, but the next thing I knew, Cole was throwin’ punches and took them all down within about thirty seconds.
I knew at that moment I loved him and that even though he wouldn’t say it, he loved me too. ”
Looking at Colson, he has a small smile on his face, even though his eyes are pointed down at the drink in his hands.
“What about me?” Ren says playfully.
Nash laughs and starts again. “Fallin’ for you was like startin’ a fire.
It sparked the moment I met you. It was small at first, but I could feel the warmth grow every time we were together.
Every time you made me laugh. Every time you showed up for me.
It grew with time. The day you kissed me was the day that fire exploded inside of me, and I’ve been comfortable and warm ever since.
It’s a fire I hope never goes out, even on our worst days.
It wasn’t just a single moment with you, Ren.
It was all the little moments pilin’ on top of each other, startin’ with the first moment I first saw you. ”
Ren’s eyes are glossy, and he quickly swipes away a stray tear. I feel the unshed tears in my eyes as well, and we sit in silence for a moment before I stand up.
“That was beautiful, Nash. Anyone need another drink?” I ask, walking to the cooler in the kitchen. A round of yeses fills the air along with my phone ringing.
“Hey, Love, it’s the fire chief.” Ren holds up my phone.
“Shit. Can you answer it before it goes to voicemail?” I rush to grab the drinks and quickly walk back to the couch.
“Sure, Chief. She’s right here,” Ren says as Nash takes the drinks from me and I grab my phone, putting it on speaker.
“Hi Chief. Sorry about that. What’s going on?” I ask as Nash opens my bottle for me.
“There's been an incident at your Nana's house.” I suck in a sharp breath while he continues, “Looks like one of the lightning strikes hit the roof on top of the living room and caught fire.
Luckily, we were able to get it out before it spread to other parts of the house, but I'm sorry, Ms. Winslow.
It's going to need some work before we can allow you back in there.”
Blinking back tears, I fight past the lump in my throat. “It's alright, Chief. I'll figure something out. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Sorry to ruin your night, Ms. Winslow.” I can hear the sorrow in his tone.
“Please, Chief Lawson, call me Lucy.”
He lets out a soft chuckle. “Only if you call me Miles from now on. Again, sorry for the bad news. The storm should clear up tomorrow. When it does, I'll meet you at the house and talk to you about it then. Have a good night.”
My head is spinning when Chief Lawson hangs up the phone. I can feel a tear spill over onto my cheek, but I don't move to wipe it away. Nash places a hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Love. We’ll figure it out,” Ren says in a soft voice while he wipes away a tear. I nuzzle my cheek into his hand.
“What am I going to do?” My voice cracks as I fight back more tears from falling.
“Do you really think we’re going to let you do this on your own, Darlin’? In case you forgot, we don’t only do landscaping.” Nash pats his hand against my shoulder and lets out a quiet laugh.
“You guys are busy, though. It’s almost summer. Colson said you guys are busy in the summer. Where am I going to go? I need to call Ember. See if I can move back in with her for a while.” I can feel the panic rising as my chest tightens.
“How are you going to oversee the repairs from states away, Love?” Ren lifts my chin so I’m looking into his eyes. “You know you can stay here for as long as you need. We are here for you.”
“We aren’t goin’ to kick you out. We may get busy in the summer, but we can always make time to do the repairs that need doing, Darlin’.
Don’t worry about leaving here. Once we meet with the chief and know the extent of the damage, we can make a game plan.
You don’t have to run away though.” Nash pushes my fallen hair out of my face and behind my ear in a soft motion.
I can feel my breathing return to normal, and my chest loosens at their sweet words. I’m hesitant and exhausted, and the lump in my throat is lodged tight, so I do the only thing I can. I whisper out a single word.
“Okay.”