Page 71 of Stoker's Serenity

“No shit,” I affirmed with a reckless grin.

“What’s up?” she asked lightly, tucking herself into my side.

“Want you to meet the twins. This is Nox and this is Rush, they’re Sacred Hearts.”

“Hi,” she murmured timidly, and I could understand why. While Nox was tall and had a wiry build, Rush always looked like he was about to fuck something up. He was just an all-around built dude.

“Nice to meet you…” Rush trailed off so she could supply her name if she wanted to.

“Oh, it’s Serenity,” she said, taking his offered hand and shaking it lightly. “But everyone calls me Orchid now.”

“Nice,” Nox said. “How’d you come by that one?”

She smiled and said, “I raise them. I have a little greenhouse at home. Took a class in high school, horticulture, and fell in love with it. I’ve been growing them ever since.”

She’d told me about her Horticulture teacher in the school they’d transferred her to. How he would let her hide in the greenhouses at lunch, let her disappear from the rest of the student’s cruelty. Let her be herself, and taught her extra about the plants and about orchids specifically. He had been a spot of kindness, a light in the otherwise dark of her teenage existence.

I wanted to find the man and buy him several rounds of beers.

“Nice, mine was wood shop,” Rush said and she smiled. “Build my own furniture and other things as a side gig now.”

“That’s awesome.” Serenity smiled big.

“You guys got your room yet?” Nox asked.

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

“You do,” Charity said, sidling up and handing over a key. She winked at me and wandered back off. I hadn’t even seen her come in from outside. It was supposed to be officers-only put up in the lodge, and I realized that she and Galahad had probably given up their room so we could take it. There were way more Sacred Hearts here than just their mother chapter. Every chapter from across the states were here, and I’d even heard they might be going international.

“Cool, thanks, Blossom!” I called out.

“Don’t mention it!” she called back over her shoulder with a little wave.

“Staying inside, huh?” Rush asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Let’s go grab your shit,” Nox said, and we did just that, packing in mine and Serenity’s bags, giving her a chance to grab a quick shower and a change into some cooler clothes.

“Fancy a swim in the lake?” I asked, and she looked at me dubiously. I laughed and said, “No gators up here, Little Orchid.”

“Leeches?” she asked.

“If there are, we’ve never encountered ‘em,” Rush said.

“Before we do, let’s check and see if Maren and Bailey want in.” Nox gestured for us to follow.

We went out of our room, didn’t bother to lock the door, and left the key inside. We didn’t have to worry about our shit being stolen with this crowd. No one wanted to be out bad for anything we’d brought with us.

We went out to the lake, found Nox and Rush’s two women, and said hello to Trigger, Reaver, and Dragon along the way.

“Check it out, we got a blob this year!” Reaver crowed and sure enough, they were getting the giant inflatable going across the lake to where there was a high enough cliff face to jump off onto it from.

“Nice!” I called back.

We settled in on some giant, round inflatable air mattresses that were big enough to fit four or more people, with a well in the center for ice and cans of beer. The edges held built-in pillows to lean back into. I helped my little orchid down into one and she cuddled up against me as Rush and Nox pushed us out into the lake.

Maren cuddled up with Nox like Serenity cuddled into my side, and Rush and Bailey took up the other two slots as we bobbed out into the open water.

---