Chapter Nineteen
Ren
It’s been about three weeks since starting on Lucy’s house, and the sunny, cloudless days have arrived alongside the scorching heat.
It’s late in the afternoon, and we are trying to get a lot more done with what few hours we have left.
We didn’t get to do a lot this week being back on our normal summer schedule, but we’ve been here every evening this week.
We moved appointments around so that we could spend the weekends working here.
Grabbing a water bottle from the cooler, I drink it down about halfway and take off my shirt, using it to wipe the sweat from my forehead before setting it down.
I should have taken it off sooner, like Nash and Cole, but I get self-conscious sometimes being smaller than them.
It’s not that I’m small in general, but I am a little shorter, and they have some muscle over me because of it.
I chug the rest of the water and wipe my forehead once more before walking back to the house.
Once I hit the porch, I hear a motor coming down the drive. Turning, I smile when I realize it’s Lucy. Once she pulls up, I walk to her car and open the door.
“Well hey there, Love. What brings you out here?”
“In case you forgot, this is my house.” Lucy sticks her tongue out at me and we both laugh. “Actually, I figured you guys might be getting hungry right about now, so I brought some food. You have all been working so hard on the house for me. This is the least I could do.”
“You didn’t have to, Love.”
She gets out and rounds the car to the passenger side, opening the door. When she turns to face me, she has ice-cold drinks and two bags of food from the diner. My stomach growls loudly, and Lucy cocks a brow.
“You sure about that?” Her voice is playful as she lets out another giggle.
“Thank you, Love. I’m sure the guys will appreciate it.” Grabbing the drinks from her, I motion for her to head towards the house and I follow close behind.
She’s wearing dark jean short shorts and a baby pink tank top with black flip-flops.
Her hair is up like it is most days, and she has a small amount of makeup on.
Her eyes are back to the icy blue color they were before the news about the house.
I know she was super upset about what had happened, and she didn’t leave her room or say much for the first few days afterwards.
It’s nice to see her coming back to herself lately.
I bump into the back of her when she stops in the doorway of the house. I can barely hear her sharp intake of breath as she sees Nash and Cole shirtless. I lean down and put my lips next to her ear and whisper.
“Like what you see, Love?” She sucks in another sharp breath as goosebumps cover her skin. “If you like this, wait until you see them naked.” I feel the shiver run down her spine as I nip her earlobe.
“Food is here,” I say loudly and walk around her.
Happy mutterings and thank you’s fill the space as we all make our way into the kitchen area.
Lucy starts unloading the food from the bags, setting things on the counter.
When she finishes, she takes a step back.
Biting into a grilled chicken sandwich, I can see the flush on her skin and the small beads of sweat on her forehead.
“You alright, Darlin’? You look a little hot,” Nash asks before biting into his burger.
“I’m alright. It’s just hot out.” Lucy shoots me a quick look, and I let out a chuckle. Her blush is brighter, and I love the way she looks in this moment.
I think about how beautiful she is, and my mind wanders to her reaction to my comment in the doorway.
I haven’t been in her room since the night of the storm, and unfortunately haven’t had a taste of her since that first time.
I was rock hard when I left her half naked in her room that morning, and it took hours for it to go away.
I want to taste her again. I want her lips around my cock. I want her with all of us.
Stop thinking about it, dumbass.
I make sure everyone is distracted before adjusting myself, and we continue eating and chatting. I need to find a way to at least repeat that morning in her bedroom, maybe more. I don’t want to push her, but I think she would be interested if the opportunity presented itself again.
After Lucy leaves, Nash, Cole and I get back to work. We’re just about done for the day when Cole slams a board against the wall. He’s been more on edge today than usual, and I can’t figure out why.
“Hey, you okay, man?” Nash asks, putting his tools down and walking towards Cole.
“I’ve told you a million times today, Nash. I’m fucking fine.”
“Then why are you throwing things and getting overly pissed?” I cross my arms in front of me. Him being angry could end up with one of us getting hurt, and I don’t want that to happen.
“Fuck you, Ren.” He shoots daggers with his eyes my way, and it takes me by surprise.
“You’re going to get one of us hurt if you keep acting like that,” I raise my voice above the sound of him walking towards me.
When we’re toe to toe, he stops and growls, “Fuck. You.” With that, he turns and heads out the door.
I look over at Nash, my eyes wide while he’s shaking his head.
“Did you have to push him, today of all days, Ren?” Nash sounds exhausted.
“What do you mean? He’s been a complete dick all day, throwing shit around. One of us was going to get hurt.” I hear the truck start up and take off down the driveway.
“Fuck. Ren. It's the anniversary of his mom’s death today. He’s always worse on this day. How did you forget?”
Shifting on my feet, I rub the back of my neck. “Shit. You’re right.” I let my head fall forward, and I can hear Nash walking towards me. “I can’t believe I forgot. I’m such a shitty friend.”
Nash wraps me in his arms and rests his head on mine. “You’re not a shitty friend. We’ve been working more than normal and not gettin’ enough sleep on top of it.”
“I should have remembered, though. Or noticed the difference in his behavior this week. I thought maybe it was just having Lucy there that was throwing him off more than usual lately. He usually takes the whole day off.”
“He usually does, but decided not to today. It’s no one’s fault, Ren. He’ll be alright. He’s going to go home and shower, change, and go out like he always does on this night. He’ll come home at some point for some sleep and be really hungover tomorrow.”
“Maybe we should let him sleep in tomorrow?” I step out of Nash’s embrace and lean against one of the renovated walls.
“We can do that. Heaven knows he’s going to need it.” Nash lets out a chuckle.
“Should I text him? Let him know I’m sorry?” I ask, my voice getting tight as my feelings of guilt worsen.
“If it will help you to feel better, yes. You know he’ll forgive you. He just needs this night to forget.” Nash mirrors my stance before checking the time. “Let’s call it a night. Stop and grab some food and beer and just go home.”
“We don’t need to grab food,” I say, looking up at Nash. He cocks his head and gives me a curious look. “Lucy said she was baking a casserole for dinner tonight. I’ll take her cooking over the diner any day.”
Giving me a warm smile, Nash reaches his hand out for mine. “Alright then, just beer.”
Hand in hand, we make our way outside and I can’t help myself when I say, “Glad we took both trucks today.” We both laugh and climb in.
Sliding into our seats, Nash reaches over and places a hand on my cheek. I lean into his touch and smile. “Thank you for being you, Nash. I’m not sure what I would do without you.”
“You can thank me by leanin’ over this console and givin’ me a kiss.”
His smile makes me want to melt into a puddle as I close the space between us.
His lips touch mine softly at first until his hand reaches around the back of my head and pulls me in closer.
Our kiss is passionate and fills me with so much happiness, I feel drunk when he pulls back.
Moving back to my seat, the grin on our faces matches each other’s as Nash starts the truck.
“Let’s get you home, Sweet Boy. I wanna do dirty things to and with you.”