Page 12 of One Wild Night
‘Just Dylan?’ Taz checks.
‘Are you jealous?’ Dylan asks him with a snort.
‘There were posters with you all on,’ I reassure Taz. ‘But Dylan was definitely the focus, and he shouldn’t be impressed, he should be scared.’
‘I can be both, I guess,’ Dylan points out with a laugh.
One day he’ll take something seriously.
‘How the mighty have fallen since yesterday,’ Taz says with a sigh. ‘We rocked up to that venue, they had everything on our rider, we didn’t have to lift a finger until we went out on that stage.’
‘It will do you good,’ I point out. ‘It might humble you.’
I’m half joking.
‘I didn’t hear you complaining, when you were digging into our Monster Munch,’ Mikey points out.
‘Probably because her mouth was full of crisps,’ Dylan jokes as he shovels. He pauses for a moment, rubbing his cold nose onthe back of his hand. ‘This is actually sort of fun – in a weird, one-off kind of way.’
My eyebrows shoot up.
‘Seriously?’ I reply.
‘Yeah,’ he says, and I actually believe he really means it. ‘It feels oddly satisfying, to do something for once. We spend too much time sitting on our arses.’
‘You do,’ Mikey claps back.
‘I’m going to go and check around the back,’ I tell them. ‘See if any other doors need clearing.’
‘Yeah, more like you’re slacking off,’ Dylan calls after me.
‘It had to be my turn eventually,’ I call back.
I push my way through the snow, which has piled up a little higher against the side of the barn, as I make my way around the building. I know I said that I didn’t want to know what was inside here, but I can’t help but wonder. Could he be keeping or doing something in there that he doesn’t want us to know about? Something illegal perhaps? I’d wonder if had a cannabis farm in there but, let’s be real, Dylan would have sniffed that out by now. I suppose there is a chance that it is just full of dangerous machinery and Pat doesn’t want a bunch of rockstars messing around with it. The simplest answer is usually the correct one, right? Well, in my experience, it rarely ever is.
‘Erm, hello?’ a man’s voice snaps me from my thoughts.
I jump out of my skin, not even because he seems especially scary, but I suppose I’ve got creepy stuff on my mind.
‘Sorry,’ he quickly adds. ‘I didn’t mean to make startle you.’
‘No, no, it’s okay,’ I reply. ‘I’m just being silly.’
‘I'm Kent,’ he introduces himself, throwing his shovel down before brushing a stray lock of dark brown hair from his forehead. ‘Are you working for Pat? I live here, at the farm next door. The fence must have blown down so I’m just digging it out of the snow.’
Kent somehow combines a rugged look with a friendly approachable demeanour. He’s quite handsome really. Tall and broad with dark brown hair and brooding eyes. He looks like the kind of guy who would growl as he threw you over his shoulder with ease, to take you to the bedroom, but then also like the kind of guy who would make you a cup of tea afterwards. Not that I’ve given it much thought.
‘I’m Nicole,’ I introduce myself, offering him my hand to shake – not that I can feel my hand right now. ‘I don’t work here, not exactly. My friends and I broke down just outside the village. Pat said we could stay here, so we’re just helping out, shovelling the snow from around the barn.’
‘Well, that’s very kind of you,’ Kent points out.
I just smile, rather than telling him that Pat hasn’t given us much choice. Although maybe if I did tell him then he might take pity on me and offer to let me stay with him instead. What? He’s just as much a stranger to me as Kitty is, and I know who I would rather take my chances sharing a bed with.
‘How about I give you a hand for a bit?’ I suggest, keen to get a break from the boys for a bit, never mind Kitty and her family.
‘That’s even more kind of you,’ he replies. ‘Truthfully, I would appreciate the company. I live here with my old dad, and he’s not much fun. I tried to get him to build a snowman with me today and he was having none of it. He said there was no time for having fun, not when there were fences to repair snow to shovel.’
‘I couldn’t tell you the last time I made a snowman,’ I say with a smile.
