BEING around a campfire reminds me of camping when I was younger.
My parents plowed every spare dollar they had into skating, so we couldn’t afford to go on exotic or luxurious holidays when I was a kid. But every summer we would camp at Snoqualmie Pass for a few nights, and I loved it.
I’d help Dad build a campfire, and Mom would prepare the stuff for s’mores, then we’d sit in front of the fire all night, playing cards.
A campfire in the backyard of a big-ass house in Maple Hills isn’t quite the same as the Washington wilderness, but the company is good. The party started to naturally get louder the more drunk people got, so the guys thought it would be a great time to head outside and sit on huge comfy camping chairs, drink beer, and talk nonsense like old women.
I’ve started to sober up after my excessive shot taking from earlier. Now, I’m just left feeling sleepy and needy. Robbie is extremely pleased with his new game but has decided that next time, he’s going to take away the cups of soda to make it worse and put another person on the mat. I didn’t even know there was soda on offer because all I got was tequila.
I’m grateful that Henry threw the game because I was seriously going to vomit. When I managed to grab him after Gen-gate, he said he took his hand off the mat on purpose because he was worried she was going to accidentally expose herself. I said what about me and the risk of me exposing myself? He said it was only a matter of time until that happened anyway, and I should probably invest in some pants.
He’s in a bad mood now because when he tried to find his mistletoe girl, she and her friend were nowhere to be found. He didn’t think to get her number or, you know, her full name.
The crackle of the fire is relaxing, to the point where I might fall asleep outside. It doesn’t help that I’m curled up on Nathan’s lap under a blanket, his hand tickling up and down my leg and his other arm cradling me like I’m a baby. It sounds strange, but I’m ridiculously comfortable. He’s laughing away with his friends, talking about sports, and sipping on a beer. He keeps name-dropping sportspeople I’ve never heard of, which is helping me stay zoned out.
Every so often he looks down and kisses me on the forehead, checking that I’m comfortable enough and I’m warm enough. Then he wraps the blanket around me tighter and makes sure none of me is exposed.
There’s a warm, full feeling in my heart when I’m around this team. It’s unfamiliar but familiar at the same time; a contradiction, I know, but so specific that it feels like it was specifically designed for me. It’s the feeling I didn’t know I needed until these guys crashed their way into my life three months ago.
Every second that passes makes it harder to keep my eyes open, his heartbeat drums softly against where my cheek is resting like a lullaby, and eventually, I can’t fight it anymore and my eyes flutter closed.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been out when the shouting shakes me from my deep sleep, but it’s Nate springing to his feet that properly wakes me up.
It’s like when you’re dreaming, and you feel yourself falling so you jerk awake and adrenaline soars through your system. My skin feels like it’s buzzing as Nate harshly lowers me onto the seat he just vacated. One quick look around the campfire shows all the guys jumping up and running toward the house.
“Stay here and don’t move,” Nate says, before running toward the house too.
I unravel the blanket wrapped around my body and stand to follow, but as he reaches the back door, Nate turns to look at me. “Sit the fuck down, Anastasia.”
I’m frozen on the spot, half ready to run in and half unwilling to ignore Nathan, both because I know something bad is clearly happening. My phone starts ringing and I scramble to find it, finally grabbing it from underneath the seat.
“Where are you?” Sabrina shouts over the noise on her end.
“The backyard. What’s going on?” I ask, jogging toward the backdoor.
“There’s a fight. Stay outside, I’ll find you when they stop.”
“Who’s fighting?” Please don’t say, Nathan.
“I don’t know! I’m in Robbie’s room, I can just hear it.”
There is no one hanging out in the den when I walk through the doors from the backyard; they’re all huddled in the archway to the kitchen and living room.
The crashing and shouting are making me feel sick, and so is the fact that I can’t see any of the boys, which means that they’re on the other side of the crowd. Being five foot four has some advantages, but right now, pushing through a crowd of drunk people, it has zero.
I’m panting by the time I make my way through the gathering. When I finally get to the source of the noise, my heart sinks to my stomach.
Kris and Joe are pulling Bobby off some guy in one corner, and Mattie and JJ are pulling Henry off someone else in another. My blood feels corrosive, rushing around my body as my heart pumps erratically.
Scanning the room frantically, I spot Nathan, pinning someone to the wall by their throat. Blood is pouring out of both of their faces, Nate’s face hard as he says something to the guy through gritted teeth. It’s not until JJ leaves Henry to pull Nathan off the guy that I realize the guy Nathan is pinning is Aaron.
I can’t move.
Aaron’s face is swollen and cut; he doesn’t even spot me as the guy Henry was fighting with drags him out of the door.
“Everybody out!” JJ shouts, when someone turns off the music. “Get the fuck out now!”
I feel like Mufasa getting stamped as everyone starts pushing past me to leave. I need to move but I can’t. How the fuck did this happen? Why is Aaron even here?
Feeling a tug on my hand, I follow, letting Sabrina drag me out of the way to where Robbie is sitting with his head in his hands.
I’ve never seen a party empty so quickly. The last person leaves, and the door slams shut, which seems to give Robbie the privacy he wants. “What the fuck were you thinking?” he bellows. “You’re all lucky the fucking cops aren’t here!”
JJ shrugs as he drops onto the couch, wiping the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. “Had it coming.”
I’m too busy staring at their busted faces and hands to notice Nathan step in front of me. “I told you to wait outside,” he says angrily.
“I was worried.” As far as Christmas grottos go, this one now looks like one from nightmares. There’s a tree on its side with ornaments decorating the floor instead of its branches, and half of the fairy lights on the walls have been pulled down. Joe appears with an armful of beer bottles and starts handing them out, which annoys me because beer shouldn’t be the priority here.
“Do you guys have a first aid kit?”
“You could have been hurt, Anastasia!” Nate yells, making me jump.
“Me? I’m not the one with the bleeding face! Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” I yell back.
“Aaron was drunk and mouthing off with some guys I don’t know,” Nate says, taking the cold beer from Joe and holding it against his jaw. “Typical Aaron bull.”
“So you beat the shit out of him? Really, Nathan? With Skinner on your ass you thought, let’s make this whole situation so much worse?” Robbie moves next to me, passing the first aid kit into my shaking hands. “Sit down!” I snap at Nate, apparently in a scary enough way that he does it without a fight.
It looks like they’re prepared for this situation because Robbie gives a different first aid kit to Brin and she begins to wipe the blood from Bobby’s face. He’s wincing with every touch, and she just tuts loudly. “Oh shut up, you big baby.”
“You’re shouting at the wrong man, Stas,” Nathan says, hissing when I wipe the alcohol solution across the cut on his cheek. “I was stopping the fight. Which is why you should have stayed outside where I left you.”
“You don’t get to be mad at me right now!”
“I do when you ignore me and put yourself in harm’s way!”
I want to kiss him and strangle him. Scream at him and take care of him. Careless, reckless man. He grips my wrists lightly with each hand, slowly lowering them. It’s not until his steady hands are on me that I realize mine are shaking.
“I hit Aaron. You can shout at me, Stassie.”
Perhaps the one person I wasn’t expecting to hear that from is Henry, but here he is, sipping a beer and pressing an ice pack to the side of his head. He doesn’t look guilty, there is no hint of remorse in his voice. He was just simply informing me that he hit Aaron.
“What the fuck, Henry?” I squeak, brushing Nate’s hands off me when he moves up my arms and tries to squeeze my shoulders.
I’m still mad at him and he doesn’t get a free pass just because Henry wants to be Muhammad Ali.
“I’m not going to apologize.”
“I got a busted face splitting up the bullshit you caused,” Nate shouts at him, pressing a Band-Aid to his cheek. “You’re gonna fucking apologize to her if she wants an apology.”
“You want me to repeat the things he says about her? So she understands why he deserved it?” Henry says, looking straight at Nathan, face emotionless. “He’s a piece of shit and I’m not sorry. You’re only pissed at me because you should have done it months ago.”
“Watch it, kid,” Nate snaps, and my stomach sinks.
“At least your ban would have been worth it. He came here looking to start shit. He succeeded. End of story.”
“What do you mean what he says about me? Can you stop talking about me like I’m not here?”
Everyone’s eyes are on me, but no one is saying anything. It feels like screaming into a void. It’s like there’s a huge secret and I’m the only one who wasn’t clued in.
“It doesn’t matter, Stassie,” Robbie mutters. “You can’t just fucking fight people for talking shit, Hen.”
“I happen to disagree,” JJ says, standing from the couch to grab another beer. “Just give me the heads-up next time yeah, Hen? I was about to score and your little dramatics cockblocked me. Consider us even for the Gen thing.”
“Can someone please explain to me what the fuck is being said about me!” I shout over them chatting like somehow this situation is normal.
Sabrina is totally unfazed as she examines each of them for injuries, moving on to the next when she’s cleaned all the cuts.
“Brinny, how are you so calm?” The adrenaline is well and truly worn off; I feel exhausted, and I haven’t even done anything other than get more and more confused and shout.
She shrugs and kicks at Nathan with her foot until he gets the message and shuffles along enough for her to sit down beside me. “I have brothers. Our house looked like this most days—this is tame.” She looks at Nathan and scowls. “Make yourself useful and go get her a drink, Rocky.”
She wraps an arm around me and kisses me on the forehead. “Sometimes it’s better not to know what people say behind your back, honey. I think we both know Aaron is a snakey little shit, and when you get back from Colorado it might be time for us to talk about our living situation.” I tilt my head to rest it on her shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on him,” she whispers. “He was protecting Henry.”
Nathan reappears with two bottles of water in one hand, holding out his other to me. “Let’s go to bed.” He’s not asking, he’s telling, and as much as I want to stay down here, I feel like I’m more likely to get answers from him alone.
Brin kisses me on the head again. “Go, I’ll see you in the morning.”
