Page 47 of Next to You

“No, um, we, I mean it was New Year’s Eve so…”

With perfect timing, my oldest brother, Hunter, popped his head through the door. “Hey,” he greeted me. “Brody is driving your truck to the shop. We got it up and running. Deacon has Lucy’s car on the flatbed, it was a bitch to dig it out, but we got it. Later, Spence. Say hi to Lucy for me.” He added with a teasing smirk.

“Thanks.” He wasn’t being a dick. He and I could have an entire conversation without uttering a sound. He was curious and would be happy for me if I ended up with Lucy.

“Ignore him. Your brothers have been taking bets about what went on while you were here?—”

Immediately, I went from being thankful to pissed. “What the hell? Bets? I won’t stand for any shit talk or gossip about Lucy?—”

He placed a hand on my arm. “Hold your horses. They know about your thing for her. We all do, Spencer. They’renot spreading shit around town or being disrespectful; you know better than that. It was all in good fun and nothing inappropriate. You know I don’t allow that kind of shit. Come on now.”

Feeling sheepish and also like I’d just laid all my cards on the table. I backed off. “I overreacted. I’m sorry.”

His eyebrows shot up as he tilted his head to watch me. “That reaction was telling, though. Protective.” He smiled approvingly.

“Was it?” I hedged. “I don’t know what I’m feeling. I mean, okay, I do, but I don’t know what to do about it.”

His eyes darted toward the bathroom. The water was running, so she must have been washing her face or brushing her teeth. Something was making her take forever, which was good. I needed a minute to gather my thoughts and hear what my father had to say.

“Get her number, son.” He tapped the table decisively. “Ask her out.”

“That sounds so simple. Ask her on a date.” I huffed a laugh. “But how can I do that when everything that happened here is the opposite of simple? We have real feelings for each other, way more than first date stuff.”

“Easy. When you leave, you’ll be starting over. Just not at the beginning, you get me?” He sat back, crossing his arms over his chest with a satisfied smirk.

“How does that make no sense and describe exactly what this feels like all at the same time?”

His lips tipped up in a wry smile. “It’s kind of like life, isn’t it? It’s impossible to figure out, and you’re always starting over because of some bullshit or another. It’s frustrating if you think about it too much.”

“Hell yeah, it is. Frustrating is definitely the right word. How is everything in town? I should have asked about that first. Is Larry okay?”

“Everything is fine now. Same old, same old. Hunker down and then clean it all up. Nothing out of the ordinary other than the number of trees that fell up here. They’re cleared away now. Larry is fine; you’ll have a hell of a time getting him away from Tucker’s kids, though.”

I shook my head with a chuckle. “Tuck can get his own dog for the kids.”

“I was mostly joking. They know Larry is your baby.”

The water shut off in the bathroom, and my eyes fell closed as I tried to come to grips with everything that had happened between Lucy and me.

“Hey, you know what to do, okay?” He patted my arm before sliding his chair out from the table. “I’ll go wait in the truck. Get your girl.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

He flicked two fingers out in a wave. “Always.”

I watched him walk out, greeting Lucy on his way out the door.

“Where is he going?” she asked.

An odd sense of formality hovered in the air between us—an uncertainty I did not like. I wanted to kiss her, slide my hands into her hair, and make all this doubt disappear.But should I?

“He’s going to wait in the truck.”

“Oh, alright.” She stood next to the chair we had used last night—an odd symbol of how far we’d gone while staying in the same place. Would what we found together work in the real world? “I know we said this wouldn’t end but, Spencer, I don’t know what to say?—”

She had changed into the clothes she wore when we got here.

Seeing her dressed like that made this moment feel bizarre and full-circle, as if we’d lived a lifetime in a few days.

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