Page 50 of Refusing Kendall

From the Darkness

I’m quick to learn that there was another condition to Lucas’ deal. I find out the day that they leave for vacation, when none other than Ryleigh shows up on the doorstep. She even lets out a little girlie squeal as I open the door.

“Slumber party, chica,” she says, locking her arms around me. “I must say you look like ass, though.”

I roll my eyes even as I grin at her, “Thanks for that. I’ve had a shit couple of weeks.”

Her expression turns to concern, “What happened? Wait, don’t tell me yet. You’ve got another surprise.” She holds up a finger.

When I go to shut the door, it only moves a few inches before stopping.

“Umph,” someone says from the other side. It shocks me enough to jerk the door back open.

“What’s the big idea, huh? Do you know what kind of strings I had to pull to be able to come here?” Lincoln asks with a smile. He barely gets his arms extended before I’m in them, wrapping him up in a hug.

I know there’s a goofy grin on my face, but I don’t give a shit. I’m so excited they’re both here that I can barely contain myself.

“What are you guys doing here?” I ask as I help them bring their bags in.

It’s Ryleigh’s turn to roll her eyes, “You can’t honestly think that they’re going to leave you by yourself for a week. Even though, I was surprised when Lucas called and not my brother.”

Thinking about the rift between the five of us makes my stomach hurt to the point that it pisses me off, and I snap at her by accident, “That’s because your brother is being a fucking asshole and couldn’t give two shits less about anyone but himself.”

Her eyes go wide, but she nods, “Yeah, he’s been known to be quite the ass munch at times. What did he do now?”

“Are you sure you want to open that can of worms right now?” I ask in reply.

“Let’s get food first,” Lincoln suggests as we drop their bags in the kitchen chairs.

An hour later, we’re all perched downstairs filling up on pizza with a movie playing on the TV as background noise. When the subject is brought back up, I tell them start to finish everything that has happened since Goose’s accident. The only thing I leave out is the incident with Goose passing out, literally, on top of me. Not that I don’t trust them, but that will be embarrassing as fuck to him someday. It’s best it stay between him, Lucas, and I.

“Well damn, lady. Why didn’t you call us?” Lincoln asks.

Ry looks ready to murder someone. Whether it’s me for holding out or the guys for acting the way that they are, I don’t know. Trying to smooth it over, I answer, “Because, we’ve also got someone psycho stalking us. Needless to say, we’ve had our hands full lately.” I decide ripping that BandAid right off and continuing straight into that story is the best idea. They’ll both probably be too stunned to say much regardless.

Even after I stop talking, there’s nothing but the sound of the TV in the room until Ry finally speaks up, “So, pretty much, your life has gone from The Bachelorette to Days of Our Lives in the time that you’ve been gone.”

Maybe because it’s true, but I can’t help laughing at her analogy.

“Okay, that’s it,” Lincoln says clapping his hands together. “You need some cheering up. I’m only here for two nights, so let’s make the best of it. Let’s go dancing.”

Ryleigh perks up at this and even does a little clap, “That’s perfect. I haven’t done anything fun in forever.”

“Whose fault is that?” he asks sarcastically.

She clicks her tongue in her mouth, “Umm, actually, it’s your brother’s fault. I’m beginning to think that you’re the best one in the bunch.”

I’d argue any day of the week that Lucas is, but Lincoln is definitely a close second. He makes a motion with his hand, accepting her praise.

We sit for a little while longer as I want to make sure that we cover the things happening in their lives, too, which turns out to be nothing new for either on of them. Or, it could just be that they’re telling me this so we can get out of here faster. I’ll have to be sure to pull them to the side at some point this weekend to find out for sure.

“Are we doing this, or what?” Lincoln asks with a devilish grin.

Ry and I jump to our feet and race up the stairs as she calls back to him, “You better not tell Logan, or I’ll blame it all on you.”

He snorts from behind us, “I haven’t been scared of my big brothers in a long time, but no worries. Your secret is safe with me.”

It takes us less than an hour to get dressed and make our way over to the club. The one I take them to is my recently favored one, thanks to a sexy salsa dancing football player. Surprise, surprise the place doesn’t even come close to having the same appeal as last time, though. It takes me a little while to let go, but I eventually start to enjoy the time I have with two of my best friends.

---