Page 72 of Grump Hard
God, what a night.
The best night of my life…
The pounding comes again, more insistent this time, accompanied by muffled voices.
“Holly! Holly, are you in there?” a man asks.
“Honey, are you okay?” a worried female voice chimes in. “The Victors said they saw lights in the tower room last night before the power went out.”
“Luke?” It’s my brother, Bran, I realize, my pulse picking up. “Are you in there? We’ve been up all night, scared to death.”
“Yes! I’m here! Just a second!” I call, making Holly flinch awake with a snort.
“I’m up! I’m up, Mom! I promise I won’t be late for the bus,” she mutters in a rush of breath, clearly still half asleep.
“People are here,” I whisper urgently. “We have to get up. Get dressed and?—”
Before I can finish, or either of us can make a move to get any less naked, I hear the distinct sound of a key turning in the lock, and the door flies open.
Icy air sweeps in. Boots stomp across the floor. A flurry of concerned voices rises and swells, and then, suddenly, we’re not alone.
Willow hurries in first, her purple coat flapping. Holly’s dad, an older woman I’m guessing is her mother, my siblings, the mayor, and several members of the town’s volunteer search party follow close behind her. They rush into the lobby, coming to an abrupt halt as they take in the scene before them.
Me and Holly. Tangled together on a bed of quilts and play mats. Very obviously naked under the covers, and frozen like two horny deer caught in the headlights.
For a moment, no one moves. Or speaks. Or blinks.
Then Cheeks pokes his head out of his trophy bed and chitters indignantly, breaking the spell.
Willow laughs, nodding along. “You’re right, darling. Of course, you are. And that’s so wonderful to hear! Come here, my love, I was so worried.” Cheeks bounds out of his bed, across the floor, and into her cupped hands. She scoops him up, nuzzling him to her face as she whispers something unintelligible into his ear.
“Well, well,” Bran says, casting a pointed glance at my bare chest, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. “Look who else was up all night? I suspect you were having a lot more fun than we were, though.”
“Bran!” Ashton elbows him in the ribs. Turning back to us, she gushes, “It’s so good to meet you, Holly! You’ve been a great influence on my grouchy big brother. The change is incredible. Seriously, I can’t begin to tell you.”
“Really top notch,” Elliot agrees. “He’s a changed man.”
“And so brave! Thank you so much, Luke.” The middle-aged woman with eyes the same cornflower blue as Holly’s beams at me. “We heard how you charged out into the storm to look for our girl the second you knew she was missing. We can’t thank you enough.”
“We really can’t,” Holly’s father, George, agrees. “We sure are grateful to you for keeping our daughter safe.”
“Thank you, but she’s the one who saved me, actually,” I say, wanting to set the record straight. I’d rather do it while fully dressed, but… “I was half frozen by the time I found her.”
“Hypothermia kills,” Willow agrees, nodding sagely. “Good thing you got skin to skin and under the covers. Best way to get warm.”
“Not to mention get yourself in the family way,” an old man in the back mutters.
The even older man beside him snorts in amusement.
“No, Cheeks says they used protection,” Willow says, summoning a huff of outrage from beside me.
“Can everyone please stop talking about us like we’re not here?” Holly squeaks, her face so red I’m worried she might spontaneously burst into flames. “And maybe stop talking completely until we get dressed?”
“Yes, please turn around, everyone,” Hattie says, slipping into mayor mode with a clap of her hands. “Let’s give them some privacy.”
“Or everyone could step back outside for a few minutes,” Holly mutters beneath her breath.
But clearly, no one is interested in leaving the scene of the hottest gossip to hit Silver Bell Falls since that convict was caught holed up in the root cellar beneath our feet. Thankfully, however, one by one, our rescuers spin to face the walls, the door, the painting of Captain Herbert by the entrance—anywhere but the two of us.
