Without waiting for a response, he reached down and placed my hand in his. He shot me a smile, dimples forming in his cheeks.
He said I needed to trust them and that things would work out. And as I held his hand while he led me out under the steadily darkening sky, I believed him.
Chapter 25
Hunter’s hand tugged me through the soft fall of rain in the direction of the car. Parker and Christian helped Whitney haul several rather rotund pumpkins into the trunk. Once they were finished, Christian took a swig from his water bottle. Parker shut the trunk door when we approached, and I quickly extracted my hand from Hunter’s.
Despite what they said about dating them all for now, I didn’t feel comfortable showing affection to one while in front of the others.
Hunter’s lips pursed, but he didn’t say anything as we stopped by the back of the car.
"Hey, guys, where are Kai and Ollie?" Parker asked as he wiped his hands on his jeans. His silver-white hair was a little disheveled and stuck up slightly on one side of his head from the drizzling rain. I should have brought his umbrella.
"They went through the corn maze.” Hunter scanned the maze exit, but we’d all seen how large it was. It would take the guys a while to make it out. “Did you find enough pumpkins?”
Christian nodded and patted Whitney’s head. “Sure did. This short stack found some perfect pumpkins for carving.”
Whitney practically preened at his praise. Ditching Christian’s side, she lunged at Hunter, hugging one of his long legs. “Will you carve one with me?”
Hunter’s expression melted to one of pure affection as he slipped one of her hands in his. “I’d love to.”
“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you,” Christian began, stealing Whitney’s other free hand, “but I think I spotted some games back there where you can win some big stuffed animals. How about it, Whitney? Should we—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish because Whitney was already charging forward with the two large men in tow. The rest of us chuckled and trailed after them.
For the rest of the day, we played various games. We played tic-tac-toe with miniature pumpkins, rode the cow train, dipped our toes in the kernels of corn at Corn Cob Beach, and once the sky darkened enough, we snacked on s’mores beside the campfire.
My heart filled with warmth watching Whitney race around the festival, taking in each and every booth and fallen shuck of corn with bright eyes. Today, she was like any other eight-year-old.
And for a moment, I forgot she was sick.
By the time we’d finished visiting all of the booths and attractions we wanted, Whitney’s face had been painted to look like a giant purple butterfly. After sweating and snacking on cotton candy, the paint had smudged so the design resembled a giant purple blob. We still hadn’t seen Kai and Oliver, and as we all huddled next to the car, several of the guys tried calling them.
“Seriously. We’ve been here for hours.” Parker shot off another text to Kai and Oliver. “How long does it take to get through a maze?”
We waited some more, and just as Whitney was dozing in Hunter’s arms, Ace spotted them.
He pointed at the two figures exiting the maze. "There they are."
We all turned and watched as a very disgruntled Oliver and gleeful Kai headed our way. I recalled the two of them making a bet earlier, and if Oliver’s face was any indication, he had not won. Hopefully, it wasn’t anything too important he’d lost.
“What took you guys so long?” Christian asked, helping Hunter place Whitney in her seat. She was awake now, though just barely. “We tried messaging you guys a ton of times.”
“Sorry, I actually lost my phone,” Kai said with a shrug. “We tried to backtrack all over that maze, but the thing’s a beast. We couldn’t find it anywhere.”
Ace frowned. “That’s not good. Did you at least have a password on it?”
Kai waved his hand and shook his head. “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. It was protected.” Grinning, he eyed Oliver with a twinkle in his eye. “I’m just glad I remembered to back up my pictures on the web.”
Flinching, Oliver glared at him. “It’s not funny, Kai.”
The rest of us glanced at each other in confusion.
“Sorry, you’re right,” Kai said, though his voice sounded anything but apologetic. “Well, let’s get back before it gets too late. I’m so exhausted my head is spinning.”
Oliver muttered to himself as he hopped inside the front passenger seat and slammed the door.
We all turned to Kai in question.
He shrugged, not giving anything away as he whistled softly to himself, tucking his slim fingers into his pockets.
Okay...
With a sigh, Parker crawled into the car, and I followed after. Whitney, Hunter, and Christian were crammed in the very back, though none appeared terribly uncomfortable. She woke up more at the commotion, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and smearing her purple face paint even more.
"Are you excited to carve pumpkins, cutie?" Parker asked Whitney as he buckled his seatbelt.
Whitney practically beamed at him and nodded enthusiastically. He chuckled and reached backward over the seats to ruffle her hair.
Kai slipped in after me and flopped his head on my shoulder with a sigh. He smelled of his normal self—like mangos—but after spending so long in the corn maze, he also smelled like earth and hay.
"Can someone call my phone?" Oliver muttered from the front.
Ace froze with his hand on the ignition. “You don’t have yours either?”
Grumbling, Oliver emptied out his pockets. “I had it back in the maze. I was using it to call Kai’s.”
Something didn’t sit well with me. While it was unfortunate that Kai had lost his phone, things like that happened. But the fact that Oliver had lost his as well was just bizarre.
And suspicious.
When Oliver’s search came up empty again, Ace slunk out of the car. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to go check with the security to make sure no one turned the phones in.”
I watched as he left, concern gnawing at my gut. We waited patiently for Ace to return, but when he came back empty-handed, I frowned.
“Nothing?” I asked, and he shook his head.
Sliding into the car, Ace started the ignition. “I gave them my number in case someone finds them, so there’s that.”
Maneuvering his way out of the parking lot, he began the drive back to their place.
Once we were on the freeway, Ace tossed Oliver his phone. “Call Arthur and let him know what happened. He might be able to track it.”
Oliver did as told, and for the rest of the ride, we drove in tense silence while he relayed everything to Arthur.
I hadn’t noticed I was tapping my thigh until Kai settled his hand over the top of mine, stilling it.
Glancing up, he smiled at me. “It’s going to be okay. Those phones are locked and protected. No one will be able to break into them.”
Trying to take comfort from his words, I sat in silence while we made our way back. The sun had set now, though it wasn’t terribly late.
We made a pit stop at a grocery store to grab some carving supplies before carrying on.
Still, the guys didn’t say much, and it was beginning to drive me up the wall.
“Hold up!” Kai shouted before we had a chance to leave the strip mall.
Ace slammed on the brakes, barely managing to stop the car before Kai jumped out. He raced toward a pet store on the corner of the strip, and I raised my eyebrows as he disappeared inside.
Everyone else seemed just as flabbergasted as I was, and it wasn’t until Oliver began spewing ice cream curses that I knew I needed to ask.
"What did the two of you bet earlier?"
"You'll see," he mumbled, crossing his arms like a child.
Whitney snored lightly, her head resting on Christian’s arm while Hunter cradled her hand in his. She was out like a light, so we probably would need t
o put off carving pumpkins until tomorrow.
Until tomorrow? My heart expanded painfully. Am I actually planning to come back tomorrow?
If someone had asked me yesterday, I might have said no. But after spending time with them today, it had just felt so natural. There was no denying it—I enjoyed my time with them, and most of all, Whitney loved hanging out with them, too. So, yeah, I did want to spend more time with the guys.
If I didn’t know better, my heart had decided for me.
I needed to sit down and speak with Whitney and figure out what she thought of the idea of touring with the guys. Because, damn it, it was selfish of me, but I really wanted to do this.
Kai exited the shop with a medium-sized glass box in his arms. Once he climbed inside the car, it took me a second to figure out what he held.
I stared at the eight-legged beastie standing still in the cage. "Is that a tarantula?"
"It's a fucking nightmare is what it is," Oliver grumbled from the front seat. He peered around the headrest, his green eyes glued suspiciously on the cage.
"Oliver lost the bet, so now he has to keep a tarantula as a pet," Kai explained as he thrust the cage into Oliver's unwilling arms. "He has to take care of it. Feed it, play with it, and let it sleep next to his bed."
I tried to hide the smirk on my lips but failed miserably. Reaching forward, I patted Oliver’s arm. “You should really stop making bets. First the ice cream cursing and now this?”
Oliver glared glumly at me for a moment but immediately moved his eyes back to the spider beginning to crawl around in its cage. "Rocky road, why do spiders have to move so creepily?"
Peering down, I studied the spider. It was about the size of my hand and an earthy brown color. It moved leisurely about its new home, its hairy legs taking slow, measured steps.
"It's kinda cute in a way," I said, sitting back straight. "So, what are you going to name it?"
Oliver’s perplexed face brought a smile to my own. "Name it?"
Laughing, I covered my mouth. "Yes, Oliver. You name pets."
"How about Aragog?" Kai suggested, buckling his seat belt, but Oliver shook his head adamantly.
"No way am I ruining Harry Potter with this thing." His untrusting eyes glared piercingly into the cage. "How about Ugly Ass Motherfucker. UAM for short, for those of us who can’t swear."
“Two hundred,” Hunter whispered from the back.
I rolled my eyes at Oliver. "Oh, come on. Name him something cute. Like Fluffy."
Oliver choked, his eyes widening in horror. “I don't think Fluffy is a good fit."
I bit back my laughter and grinned. "Why not?"
He rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat as Ace shifted out of park.
For the rest of the drive, I listened to Kai and Parker mull over different Disney princess/spider combinations, like Spinderella, Jaspin, and Moanabiteyou.
It reminded me once again just how much I felt like I belonged. These guys, in such a short time, had included us in their little group. Their little family.
I loved the way Kai’s eyes lit with mischief and how Hunter’s cheeks dimpled when he smiled. I loved when Oliver cursed with ice cream flavors and when Christian spoke in a foreign tongue. Then there was Ace leading the group like a big brother and how Parker was always there to play peacemaker.
We fit.
I’d never been one to think of cosmic connections, but I couldn’t hide from the facts when they stared me straight in the face.
First, with Oliver being Samantha’s beloved nephew, one whom she had spoken of from the moment I moved in.
Then there was Kai, my boss’s college roommate back when they used to live in California.
And I couldn’t ignore the fact that out of all the people in the world, the only ones who made my heart sing were grouped together in a band.
No, I didn’t think it was a coincidence.
My heart pounded against my ribs like it was knocking, asking to be set free. With them.
Fate had aligned our paths, and now as I felt myself accept. I just had to hope fate knew best.
To be continued.
Also by Vannah Summers
Ballad of a Broken Soul Series
Lonely Lullaby
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Living With Sight Series
Flirting With Fate
About the Author
* * *
Vannah has two children-her daughter, Holly and her husband-and lives surrounded by mountains. Growing up, she loved reading and writing and even wrote a book at the age of thirteen. Someday, she'll find where she saved it. Thirteen-year-olds aren't terribly reliable people.
Currently, she's a multicultural cosmetologist with an unquenchable love of all things Harry Potter. She likes to travel the world, experiencing various cultures, and despite what her hubby believes, she's an introvert with a talent of acting like an extrovert. In her free time, she enjoys making up fictional characters and chasing her toddler around the house for a hug.
Website
Lonely Lullaby Page 21