Page 115 of Wildfire
“Yeah,” I call back upstairs. “The ghosts.”
“Okay! That’s not at all creepy and unhinged, thanks. I’ll be down in a minute.”
The guys move in silence to quickly pin the banner to the wall at an angle that is definitely not straight. Henry produces a massive bag; when he empties it balloons flood across the floor. Our half-assed decorations look like the world’s saddest birthday party, but in reality, it’s the sweetest thing his friends could have done for him.
While Russ was at his parents’ house yesterday, I received a call from an unknown number that turned out to be Stassie. She hadn’ttalked to Russ herself, but she knew if he was missing JJ’s housewarming party because of family trouble it was likely going to be bad. She wanted to know if it was okay for them to come here and throw Russ a homecoming party.
And so the housecoming party was born.
“I feel like all my kids are home,” JJ whispers proudly as we hear Russ’s bedroom door open.
“You don’t live here,” Robbie whispers back.
My heart feels as loud as Russ’s footsteps, and the farther he descends, the more we see of him through the banister: ankle, calf, knee, thigh…
“Is he naked?” Mattie whispers, panicked.
“I did not sign up for seeing anyone’s dick today but my own,” Kris mutters.
Upper thigh… boxer shorts. Thank God. The group releases a collective sigh of relief, and when he gets far enough down the stairs that he can see into the living room, he freezes.
“Surprise,” Henry says in the most unexcited way possible.
Russ’s jaw drops. “What the fuck?”
I’VE HEARD ABOUT THE GUYS’trip to Miami so much I feel like I was actually with them.
“We should all go next year!” Mattie says excitedly.
“No,” Henry and Russ say at the same time.
“I think I’m going to go back to Honey Acres next year, so I’ll have to politely say no,” says Russ.
“If they’ll have you,” Henry says, taking a bite of a chicken wing. “You got caught breaking their number-one rule, and it’s not like you two will grope each other less in a year’s time. We learned that one from Nate and Robbie.”
Russ, who is currently resting his head on top of mine with hisarms draped over my shoulders, ensuring as much physical contact as possible, scoffs. “Nate and Robbie groping each other?”
Stassie’s eyebrow quirks. “That sounds about right, yeah.”
They all launch into different stories, stopping to explain the significance to me so I don’t feel excluded, and Russ’s arms tighten around me. “You okay?” he whispers into my ear. I nod, continuing to listen to a story about the time Robbie and Nate fell out of a ski lift.
This group dynamic is new to Russ, too, but I can see why it’s so important to him. This group is a family more than they’re friends, and they’re so welcoming that it’s impossible not to fall in love with every single one of them.
That’s what we both desperately need, I think. To be surrounded by people who make us feel loved and wanted. We’ve spent the summer getting used to it with Xander, Jenna, and Emilia… and the dogs, of course. My relationship with my mom feels like it’s healing, and Russ is on a path with his parents that I hope will give him peace.
All the pieces of our lives are fitting together like a jigsaw, and I finally have the inner pieces.
Bobby finishes telling a story about an away game that left him locked outside the hotel naked, getting screamed at by their hockey coach, which gives me the opportunity to ask a question I’ve been wanting an answer to for weeks.
“Guys, why do you all call Russ muffin?”
Robbie opens his mouth to answer me immediately, but then closes it and frowns, looking at Kris. Kris has the same confused expression as Mattie, and one by one they glance at one another with the same look of uncertainty before JJ finally answers. “I literally have no idea.”
I turn in Russ’s arms to look up at him and he’s hiding a grin. “Do you know?”
“Yeah. Long story short, I used to work in a bar and Stassie was there one day on her own. These horrible customers were harassingher, and I didn’t really know her at this point, so I pretended to be her boyfriend. Basically I fake-dated Stassie for an hour, and that’s the nickname she gave me.”
“I love fake dating.”
