Page 114 of Wildfire
He ignores me, diverting the conversation. “You good? You have everything you need for school? I’ve got some money heading my way with this deal, so, y’know, I can help out more now.”
“I have everything I need,” I say, closing the door and rolling down the window. “But thanks.”
“This is what I’ve been working so hard for, this deal. All the shows, all the traveling. We’re gonna fix everything. Money buys resources, Russ. Things will be good again real soon,” he says.
“Bye, Ethan.” He pats the side of the truck before heading back toward the house, and I make a mental note to call him to check in soon.
LETTING MYSELF INTO THE HOUSE,I find Aurora in the backyard huffing over some fabric on the ground. “What’re you doing?”
She squeals and looks at me over her shoulder. “Oh my goodness, announce yourself before you sneak up on a girl. I nearly had a heart attack.”
She continues to pull at the material even as I walk toward her. “What’re you doing?”
“I found a tent in your wardrobe!” she says happily, looking up at me from the ground. “But I don’t know how it works and there aren’t any instructions. I thought we could camp outside next to this fire pit.”
“Ten weeks in the great outdoors wasn’t enough for you?” I say, smiling. I sit cross-legged on the grass and pull the tent farther away from her. “If you put it this close to the fire it’ll melt.”
“Why do you know everything?” she groans, moving all the pieces to the new spot.
“Why do you not know that you shouldn’t put plastic near fire?”
Crawling along the ground in my direction, she climbs into my lap and immediately brushes my hair back, kissing my forehead. “This is my formal invitation to talk about how your day has been.”
“I still need a little time to wrap my head around it before we talk about it. Is that okay?”
She hugs me closer. “Is there anything I could do that might help you feel better?”
“You can explain to me how you think my six-five ass is fitting in this tent with you.”
Her eyes freaking light up as she grins at me. “We always make it fit.”
Chapter Thirty-SevenAURORA
THE TENT WASN’T ONE OFmy better ideas, and somewhere around 2 a.m. I got so annoyed with the noise it made when I moved around that I dragged us both back into the house.
I thought the tent would be romantic, but for the first time, we really did struggle to make it fit. It was stuffy and annoying, and I entirely misjudged how cute it would be. There was also a massive spider that Russ claimed he removed, which I truly believe he did not, and now I’m worried I ate it in my sleep.
I hear the sound of the front door opening while Russ is in the shower, and I know that I have a short window to join them as the water shuts off. Pulling on some shorts under the Callaghan jersey I stole from Russ’s wardrobe, I head downstairs to what I hope is going to be his favorite surprise.
It feels weird wandering around Russ’s house like I live here, when the people who actually live here just arrived. Bobby and JJ are fighting over the Happy Housewarming Party banner that appears to have been edited with a Sharpie to say Happy Housecoming Party.
“Housecoming?” I ask as I reach the bottom step.
“It’s the closest we could get to homecoming on such short notice,” JJ laughs.
Bobby holds it up. “You could have made it say ‘homecoming,’ you just didn’t want to.”
A smaller woman I recognize from all the pictures steps in front of me and reaches out for a hug. “Hi! I’m Stassie, it’s so nice to meet you. Nate told me all about you, but he has hockey stuff and can’t leave Vancouver. He’s really sad he’s missing out.”
“Maybe he should have stayed on this side of the border then instead of moving and moaning about it every two seconds. Hi, I’m Lola. I am already obsessed with everything I know about you and I’m planning for us to be friends.”
“Russ has told me really nice things about you both,” I say honestly. “It’s really nice to meet you, and thank you for getting everyone here.” Why am I being so formal?
“If muffin is saying nice things about me, then I’m not working hard enough to scare him,” Lola says, looking confused.
“You definitely are, babe,” Robbie says. “You’re doing a great job with everyone.”
“Rory?” Russ calls from upstairs, and everyone instantly goes quiet. “Are you talking to someone?”
