Fuel the Fire (52 page)

Daisy wags her brows. “Did I?” She spins to Ryke. “You can pat me down for contraband. I like to hide things in my—”

“Okay,” Lo cuts her off. “I’m already sorry I asked.”

Lily raises her hand, her other one bracing Moffy on her hip. “Is anyone else scared of bears?”

“Moose are scarier,” Willow proclaims, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

“There are moose here?!” Lily’s eyes grow to saucers. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about the moose?! Lo, did you know about the moose?”

I can’t take her seriously when she keeps repeating the word
moose
with her high-pitched voice.

“No, no,” Willow says quickly, “I just meant in general. There were a lot of moose in Maine, but I’ve never been around here, so I wouldn’t know.”

“No moose,” Connor clears this confusion.

Ryke groans. “Can we please fucking ban the word moose from now on?”

“Agreed,” I say.

“I like a good moose in the morning,” Loren says, just to piss us off.

“But really,” Lily interjects before I shout a retort at her husband, “there are bears…so no one is scared but me?” We’re all quiet.

“Wha…really?” She frowns.

“I’ll protect you,” I tell Lily, confident about this.

Loren snorts. “By what? Kicking the bear in the balls?”

I glower. “I have a gun.”

He blanches. “Wait…you’re serious? I always thought you were joking when you said you had one.” I’ve made a few offhand quips about shooting my gun, so I can see how he thought it was another exaggeration of mine.

“We obviously need to go over the fucking rules about bears,” Ryke interjects. “Unless it’s hunting season or the bear is attacking you, you can’t shoot it.”

“Says who?” I snap back. I turn to Connor to confirm, and he nods like it’s more than just an arbitrary rule Ryke made. 

“The fucking law,” Ryke refutes. “I can’t believe I camped with you, and we didn’t talk about this.” He was too busy fucking my sister in a tent. I bite my gums, refusing to unleash this and embarrass Daisy. “Look, I brought bear spray for everyone, so it’s non-fucking-negotiable.”

 
“Let’s start unpacking before it gets dark,” Connor cuts into the conversation, checking his watch and then the lowering sun.

“You guys should look at the house first,” Willow proclaims. “I’ll start unpacking.”

“You’re not here as manual labor,” Loren says, softening the edge in his voice. “So you should explore the house with us.”

Willow clears her throat uneasily. “I…” She glances at my Escalade…like she’s hiding something.

I can’t imagine what though, and I look to Connor for his thoughts. He’s still studying her.

She takes a deep breath. “I was going to call my mom—I mean,
our
mom. Or…you know, whatever she is. I just needed a minute alone.”

The air thickens, and we all look to Lo.

He nods without falter. “Yeah, I didn’t realize you were in contact with her, but…definitely, as long as you don’t tell her the location of where you are—”

“No way,” she says. “I’d never do that.”

“I just had to make sure,” he says, scratching the back of his neck and then he points at me. “We need to talk about the gun thing. Where is it?”

I walk up the steps of the lake house and everyone joins me except Willow. “My glove compartment,” I tell him. My phone vibrates as soon as I reach the porch.

We scheduled the plane for the end of the week, so we’ll be there in a couple days. Don’t have too much fun without us.
– Poppy

My older sister, Sam, and their eight-year-old daughter were invited to the lake house, but Maria has school so they’ll be here for the weekend.

“Is it in the glove compartment all the time or just here?” Lo asks.

“All the time,” I tell him, walking around the porch to inspect the deck and view from above before I head inside. I pass multiple rocking chairs and an outdoor chess set.

Lo, Ryke, Daisy, and her husky are the only ones who follow me. Connor and Lily go inside with the babies.

“Is there a no-guns-in-the-house policy?” Ryke asks his brother.

Lo spins on him with sharpened features. “You have a gun,” he assumes. “
In
the house?”

“I didn’t think you’d be bothered by it,” Ryke says, looking genuinely sorry for not telling him. We reach the front of the deck, and they’re too busy focused on each other to see the sprawling view of the lake. I’ve never been partial to nature, a city girl at heart, but I’m already in love with this.

“I wouldn’t have been a year ago,” Lo explains. “But there are two babies in that house. Please tell me you keep it locked in something.”

“It’s in a fucking safe, I promise,” he says. “I can keep it in the car…if you
really
need me to.” He glances towards Daisy, like he’s checking to see if she’s okay with the plan.

And I realize—that gun must be for her, to ease her mind when she’s scared at night.

Daisy scratches Coconut behind the ears. “I’ll be okay without it in the house, Ryke,” she says, not dodging the topic like she usually does. Then she howls, which makes Coconut howl.

I hate when she does that since I’m not that fond of dogs, but it’s somewhat more endearing in the wilderness.

“Alright, Calloway,” he says with a nod.

“You can keep it in the safe,” Loren suddenly declares. “I didn’t know…” He glances quickly at Daisy. “Sorry…”

An apology from Loren Hale is hard to come by.

“It’s okay,” Daisy says quickly, not wanting to cause anyone remorse. “Honestly, Lo, we should’ve asked first.”

I clap my hands together. “Let’s unpack.” Everyone focuses on me, slicing through the tension. I strut towards the sliding glass door, my heels
click-clacking
across the deck.

“Yes, your majesty!” Lo calls as I slip inside.

We’re here, no paparazzi, safe and away. It’s supposed to be a time of sanctuary, but I have a feeling some of us may kill each other.

[ 47 ]

ROSE COBALT

“There are rules,” I announce to the living room, a candle in hand and a box of matches in the other. Violent rain pelts the deck tonight, which seems fitting for our spooky slumber party. We’ve pushed the oversized leather furniture closer to the wide, floor-length window, the house rustic with cabin décor like quilts and red, bear-patterned rugs.

“Of course there are,” Loren says, carrying bowls of popcorn with Ryke and Connor into the room. Lily, swaddled in the thickest quilt, unrolls her sleeping bag with Daisy and Willow.

I strike a match, hoping to appear more threatening. With a flame in possession, I certainly feel destructive. “Number one: you knock over a candle, you have twenty years of bad luck. So be aware of where they’re placed.”

Connor heads over to me. “I’d take stock in your rule if it wasn’t completely nonsensical.”

I give him the side-eye, his grin pulling his lips. “You’ve never heard that if you break a mirror, you have seven years of bad luck? It’s the same concept, Richard.”

“I’ve heard that equally bogus saying, yes.” He blows out my lit match.

I’m about to combat when I realize it was seconds from burning my fingers. Fine. “Two.” I speak more to Connor than the rest of the room. “No mockery.” I narrow my eyes. “Or you will be severely harmed by fire.”

“That’s too bad for you,” he says.

I try to hold my ground, not appearing as perplexed as I feel. “In what way?”

“I’m too smart to burn alone, so you’re going to be set on fire with me.”

I think we’ve already been set on fire together…

Loren passes Connor and tosses popcorn at him. “You two done flirting?”

“We’re not
flirting
, Loren.” I scoff, sensing Connor’s ego growing in diameter.

Connor’s eyes soak through me, his attention one-hundred percent mine. Your importance to Connor depends directly on the amount of time he gives you—and if I travel back in time, to our teenage years, I realize that I’ve always ranked near the top of his list.

He holds my gaze and then takes the matches from me, setting down the popcorn bowl. He begins to help light the remaining candles that circle the room. I catch his eyes flitting back to me, his smile still there.

I can feel my lips traitorously mimic his expression.

He grins more, but I strangely like the sight.

“Is that the last rule?” Daisy asks, tying her hair into a high bun.

I had more, but they seem superfluous. I just want everyone to have a good time. “That’s it,” I declare, taking a seat on my dark blue sleeping bag just as Connor finishes lighting the last candle. And then a phone rings.

We all begin to check ours—

“It’s me,” Connor declares. I stiffen, watching him put the matches on the couch. He’s going to take the call. I can’t read his expression, so I worry it’s…

“Is it Scott?” I ask him.

The entire room falls into a tense hush. They all know he’s been trying to befriend Scott, but no one knows what that entails but me. Even without the details, everyone can see how much stress has piled on top of him. He may not show it in his features, but there’s a quiet intensity that hangs above Connor that wasn’t there before.

“No,” he says, passing me. “It’s Frederick.” He flashes the phone’s screen to me, just to ease my concern. “I’ll be a couple minutes. You can start calling upon air particles without me.”

“No one likes a skeptic,” I retort.

“On the contrary darling, everyone
loves
me.” He smiles as though he’s the exception. He is, in a lot of ways, though I won’t ever admit it to him. He puts the phone to his ear, disappearing into the bathroom for privacy.

We’re all in a wide circle, the sleeping bags cushioning the floor.

Lily hugs her popcorn bowl. “Is anyone else scared of ghosts?”

Lo’s smile dimples his cheeks, and he swoops an arm over his wife’s shoulders. “I’ll protect you from the supernatural, love.”

“What if Rose conjures a demon?” she combats.

 “I’m not going to conjure a demon.”

“Because she is the demon,” Lo tries to whisper this to Lily, but his voice echoes off the vaulted ceiling.

“Return to hell, Loren,” I rebut.

“Not if you’re there.”

I consider grabbing the bear spray and directing the nozzle at his face.

“What first?” Daisy interjects and thusly breaks our small argument that could’ve escalated into a fight.

This slumber party is about rekindling old times together while bringing in new things, all of the guys and Willow.

“Light-as-a-feather first.”

Daisy wags her brows at her boyfriend. “I think we should do Ryke first.”

It comes off as a sexual innuendo.

“I’m rating this party G,” Lo says, “for Gross.” His voice is lighthearted, not meaning the words as anything more than a joke.

Daisy smiles. “I give it a NC-18-to-27 rating.” She extends her arms theatrically. “No Cake for any of us.” She puts her hand to her forehead, feigning fainting. “The
horror
.”

 Everyone laughs, even me. When we quiet down, I motion to Ryke, “You need to lie in the middle of the circle.” He does as instructed without complaint.

Lo eats popcorn out of Lily’s bowl. “Good luck, bro. May your sacrifice bring us twenty days of good harvest.”

Lily pokes his chest. “We’re playing light-as-a-feather, not sacrificing him.” Her head whips in my direction. “Right?”

In no way would I harm one of our own. “We’re not sacrificing anyone,” I declare.

“You girls may not be able to lift me,” Ryke warns us.

I laugh shortly.
We will conquer.  

“We’re the Calloway sisters,” Daisy proclaims, nudging my arm and then Lily’s. “We can do anything, right?”

“Definitely,” Lily and I say together.

“Plus Willow,” Daisy adds and raises her hand to the eighteen-year-old girl. Willow high-fives her with a growing smile, and I recognize now that Daisy is better at integrating people on the fringe of groups than maybe I am.

Lo shuts off the lights before returning to his popcorn.

“Are you going to participate?” I ask him.

“I’m going to casually observe my brother being picked up by a bunch of girls at a sleepover.” He snickers like this is too good to pass up and eats more popcorn.

“I can fucking hear you giggling,” Ryke tells Loren, about to turn his head, but I snap my fingers and he looks at the ceiling again.

“Is the sacrifice supposed to be talking?” Lo asks me.

I ignore Loren, and I sit on one side of Ryke with Willow, and then Lily and Daisy are on the other side of his body. After I give brief instruction, we each slide no more than two fingers beneath him. I’m near his shoulder blades.

I say first, “Light as a feather, stiff as a board.” The girls then begin to repeat the chant with me.

“
Light as a feather, stiff as a board.
”

“
Light as a feather, stiff as a
—”

“Cock.” Lo causes Daisy to break out in a fit of laughter, ruining the concentration of the ritual. Lily is probably a new shade of red, but I can’t even tell in the dark, the candles only adding a dim, orange glow to the room.

I wish we started with Lo in the middle—then I could’ve purposefully dropped him on his ass.

My glower should send Loren shrinking, but he just stares right at me, unaffected. “What?” he says. “You knew I was going to do it.” When I had slumber parties with Lily and friends, he
always
crashed them, and whenever we reached this part, he’d make the same infantile comment.

“For some insane reason, I thought you would’ve matured past ten-years-old.”

“I’m twenty-five. I am acting my age. My ten-year-old self was the one ahead of his time.”

I wave my hand at him, silently telling him to shut up. My heart may be smiling though—if a heart can smile. It is like old times, but better…I look at Daisy. “Let’s do this again.”

Daisy gives me a thumbs-up, and Willow and Lily nod, ready.

We begin the chant in hushed whispers, “
Light as a feather, stiff as a board.
”