Page 72 of Stoker's Serenity

“Let the relaxation and good times commence,” Rush declared, as 70s rock blared out over the lake from the back deck of the lodge.

“Fucking fantastic,” I declared.

“So, how long you two been official?” Maren asked.

I looked down at my little orchid with her big, black, bug-eyed sunglasses covering most of her face and she answered, “Um, well, we met a few months ago at a show.”

“What kind of show?” Bailey asked.

“My band was playing a ‘Battle of the Bands’ as a lead up to the main act,” I said.

“My best friend Linny dragged me out. It ended up being a total shit show, except I got to meet Stoker.”

“Nice, but when did you becomeofficialofficial?” Maren pressed.

“As in, my Ol’ Lady, is what she’s asking, babe.”

“Oh!”

“Right before we hit the road to come out here is when I asked,” I told her.

The twins exchanged a look and a silence fell over the raft. Orchid’s hand tightened around mine.

“You know what happened ain’t ever going to happen again, not with the likes of us, right?” Rush asked.

“Rush…” Nox cautioned his brother.

“No, it’s all good, Nox,” I said easily. “No disrespect meant or even implied, boys. I swear on my mamma’s grave. This was what was right, what I wanted more than anything.” I clutched Serenity into my side and dropped a kiss against the top of her hair. She sighed out happily, tension draining from her lithe small frame, and the boys visibly relaxed.

“Okay,” Bailey said when the tension had dissipated almost completely, “so what made your first meet such a shit show, then?”

“Oh, God!” Serenity covered her face with her hand. “It was awful!”

I let her tell the story, because yeah, it hadbeen awful, but it’d put her in my path. It’d put me right where I needed to be to score a chance with someone as selfless and beautiful as she was and as a result, I wouldn’t change that night for anything except to maybe take away her pain… like she’d needed any more of it.

We drifted out into the lake, enjoyed some cold beers and soda from the raft, and chatted with Hossler, Lightning, and Reaver’s boy when they paddle boarded by.

When the dinner bell rang, the three of us guys paddled us back to shore with the paddles strapped to the sides of the raft, tying up at the smaller dock over by the littler, fairytale-looking stone cottage on the property.

Serenity paused outside of it while the other two couples forged ahead and said, “It really needs a trellis and a climbing clematis vine there.” She pointed to a too-empty expanse of cobblestone wall and I nodded.

“That’d be real pretty,” I agreed. She sighed and I cocked my head. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just not used to people-ing so hard, you know?”

“Let’s get some food and if you want, we can always head back to the room, just you and me, anytime.”

“I don’t want to be rude?” she said, and I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. I turned her to face me and gripped her shoulders lightly.

“Hey, look at me,” I murmured. She looked up and chewed her bottom lip nervously.

“You want to go back to the room at any time tonight, you just squeeze my hand three times like this.” I gave her shoulder three rapid but firm squeezes. “I’ll make all the excuses. You just let me know. It’s all good, baby. I want you to enjoy yourself, and part of that is not letting you get too overwhelmed.”

She smiled and nodded. “Thank you. That honestly makes me feel loads better.”

I figured it would. One of Marlin’s pro-tips when it came to dealing with trauma – always have an out. He’d told me it was important for Faith to never feel trapped. After some of the things I’d gotten from Serenity, I realized that even though her situation was vastly different from Faith’s, that it translated the same.

She couldn’t handle feeling trapped or ridiculed, feeling put on the spot was bad juju and I couldn’t blame her one bit. So… ‘Always have an out.’

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