Page 111 of The Spider & the Storm

“And my stuff—”

“We'll make it fit. And remember, it's not forever.”

She inhaled deeply, staring into my eyes with her lips locked tight, then sighed. “Right. It's not forever.”

One corner of my mouth quirked into a forced smirk before I abruptly got out of the cab, not giving her the chance to change either of our minds. I flipped through the ring of keys, looking for the one to unlock the shed, when Stormy exited the cab to come stand by my side.

“So,” she said as I crouched to fit the right key into the lock.

“So.”

“I guess I'll check out of the hotel and grab my stuff.”

I glanced up at her as I turned the key and unlocked the shed.

“I have to go to work today, but when my shift is over, I'll come here and call you at the gate. And then, tonight, I'll tell you a story.”

As I stood, rolling the garage-style door open, the scent of grass clippings and earth pummeled my senses. I stepped onto the concrete floor and grabbed the work gloves from off the seat of the mower, then turned to Stormy as I put them on.

“Text me your schedule, and I'll make sure it's open by the time you get back.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CONNECTICUT, AGE TWENTY-FIVE

There was a car in the driveway, parked behind Luke's motorcycle. I leaned my head back against the car seat, squeezing my eyes shut and sighing, already dreading whatever sights and sounds of transient passion might be awaiting me on the other side of the door.

I could just wait here until she's gone.

Yeah, I could, but God only knows how long that's gonna take, and I need to throw a load of laundry in before I go to sleep.

Begrudgingly, I released another sigh and climbed out of the car. If I'd known Luke had company, I would’ve asked Marie—the woman who I’d just slept with—if I could hang out for a while. Maybe used her shower or watched TV for a few hours until I could be certain Luke had passed out. But that also would've been ridiculous, and I knew it, yet it still felt preferred over hearing my older brother yelling for his bedmate to “take it all.”

“Great,” I grumbled, closing the door behind me.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” a woman chanted loudly from upstairs, and I rolled my eyes as I slowly began to ascend. “You're so good. Oh God, you're gonna … oh God … you … GOD!”

I rolled my eyes to the paint chipping off the ceiling. “Oh, that's exactly what he needs. To think he'sGod.”

I moved my feet quickly up the stairs, knowing there was no reason to be quiet. Neither of them would hear me over the noise they were making, and, yeah, maybe I was a little jealous of that when the woman I’d just left couldn't reach her orgasm and simply told me “not to worry about it.”

“Shit, baby,” my brother groaned as I reached the landing. “You take that dick so fucking good.”

She actually screamed in response, and … Jesus, was shecrying? “God, o-oh God, oh God …”

At the end of the hallway, the light shone from beneath my brother's door. I was at least grateful he'd had the foresight to close it this time as I headed in that direction, walking past my room and hanging a right into the bathroom.

I shut the door as she let out another scream, accompanied by my brother's telltale primal shout, like he was heading out to hunt with his fellow tribesmen. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I unzipped my jeans and used the bathroom. I never knew if Luke's ability to not give a shit was admirable or not. I'd been trying to decide for ten years now, and—

My lips parted with a surge of overpowering distress as the stream slowed.

Ten.Years?

It had been ten years since my parents had left the house and never returned. Ten years since I'd heard their voices, ten years since I'd listened to them perish in a fiery crash. God, how had I allowed this day to arrive without hardly thinking about what it was? How had I managed to have sex—tocome—without once remembering that my parents hadn't been given the chance to watch me grow up?

I tucked myself back into my jeans and flushed the toilet, moving now in a dreamlike haze as the events of that night rolled in like they'd happened yesterday and not a decade ago. The sound of my mother's cries. The crunching, twisting metal. The nothingness that followed. The uncontrolled sobs that had racked my body as Luke pried the phone from my whitened knuckles.

Pain pricked the backs of my eyes as I stared ahead at my reflection in the broken mirror. My hair was longer now, brushing the tops of my shoulders. My beard had filled in. My dark eyes wore the circles of someone overtired and overworked. I'd reached adulthood somehow without the guidance of my father and the comfort of my mother, and still, in this moment, I felt so helpless and unsure of what the hell to do next.

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