Page 134 of Losers, Part I

As the fire died down, Jess yawned and stretched in Jason’s arms.

“I think that’s a sign, boys,” he said, helping Jess to her feet with an arm around her waist. “It’s probably time to tuck in.”

Manson nodded as he got out of his seat, pausing to stretch. Lucas buried the last smoldering coals, and Jess blinked up at me sleepily, her head resting against Jason’s chest.

“You’re sleeping right here with us tonight,” I said, leaning down to kiss her soft lips, then Jason’s. She looked so comfortable in his arms, stifling a yawn behind her hand. Manson came up alongside her, taking her hand as it lowered and kissing her knuckles. She smiled, humming a drunk little tune as she trudged up the back steps.

Then Lucas swooped up behind her, snatching her from between Manson and Jason and scooping her into his arms. She gasped, her eyes going wide as she looked up at him.

“I’m not going to watch you trip and fall flat on your face trying to get upstairs,” he said. “I’m carrying you to bed.”

“My bed is the biggest,” I called to Lucas as Manson opened the door for him to carry Jess inside. “Everybody can pile in.”

“I’m going to be sweating my ass off with all you fucks,” Jason said, but he was a sucker for cuddling and wouldn’t have it any other way.

It took a while for everyone to shower and get into bed in various states of undress. Jess was swaddled in one of my shirts, and figuring out where she fit into this cuddlefest took another ten minutes of shifting around and swearing at each other. Eventually we settled in, with Jess in between Manson and Jason, and Lucas and me on either side.

“You’d better not kick me in your sleep this time,” Lucas grumbled, even as he wrapped his arms around Manson’s chest and rested his head against his back. We shoved away the blankets, our combined body heat more than enough to keep uswarm. I’d always been a night owl and was used to staying up late, but even if I wasn’t tired, I still didn’t want to miss the opportunity to cuddle up in bed. I missed it too much on the nights I was gone.

Jason sighed against me, and I looked down to find him already drifting off to sleep. He was usually tossing and turning for hours. But Jess’s arm was thrown over his back, her long nails slowly scratching soothing circles on his skin.

Soon enough, I was the last one left awake. But part of me felt like it was worth staying awake just to see all of us so close.

After everything that had happened over these past few weeks, it was nice to feel at peace.

48

Jessica

When I first opened my eyes the next morning, blinking slowly in the golden light from the window, I immediately knew I wasn’t ready to get up yet. I was too cozy, too comfortable. My legs were tangled with Jason’s, my arm laid over his side and resting on Vincent’s chest. Manson was against my back, so I closed my eyes and snuggled into the pillows, dozing off again until the need to use the bathroom finally drove me to get up.

Quietly slipping out of bed, I noticed Lucas was already gone. I wasn’t sure whose oversized shirt I was wearing, so I pulled it over my nose and deeply inhaled — Vincent. Sour-sweet marijuana and citrusy brightness that left a smile on my face as I left the attic.

“Good morning, Jojo,” I greeted her at the base of the attic stairway, where she was sprawled across the floor. Her tail wagged lazily as I patted her side, giving a little sigh of sleepy contentment.

I finished up in the bathroom and felt a bit more awake with my face washed and some of the tangles worked out of my hair. The scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the house, beckoning me downstairs and into the kitchen.

Lucas was standing at the counter, pouring into his mug froma full pot. He was shirtless and barefoot, wearing only loose red sweatpants. God, he looked sexy. All his hours of work in the garage had honed his muscles and roughened his big hands. But his face looked softer in the morning, as if it hadn’t settled into his permanent scowl quite yet.

“Good morning,” I said, after leaning silently against the doorframe for several moments to admire him.

He glanced at me over his shoulder. “I was wondering when you’d say something. You’re not so sneaky, girl, I heard you come down the stairs. What were you doing back there anyway, staring at my ass?”

I snickered, coming to stand beside him. “Maybe. So what if I was? You have a nice ass.”

He raised his eyebrows at me before quickly turning his head back toward the cabinets. “Do you want some coffee?” he said, already pulling down a mug for me.

“With cream and sugar, please.”

My eyes roamed over his back as he prepared it. His elaborate back tattoo appeared to still be in progress; the outline was there but shading was absent. But the detail it already contained was stunning. A large tree was the main focus of the piece, the trunk following his spine, its branches sprawled across his shoulders.

“What inspired the back tattoo?” I said as he turned with both our mugs in his hands. He handed mine over, and I took a sip, the scent and rich taste instantly elevating my mood.

“Let’s go sit on the porch,” he said. “It’s not too hot out yet.”

The morning air was fresh and cool, but the clear blue sky told me it would be warming up swiftly. We sat in the shade of the porch; I took an old rocking chair that creaked slightly as I swayed, while Lucas sat on the bench seat beside me.

“Where I used to live, when I was kid, we had a big tree in the backyard,” he said, after several moments of silence. “It was a massive old thing. Huge limbs, and a lot of them were low to theground so it was easy to climb up. My brother and I used to make these shitty, hazardous forts in the branches. Like we’d literally take old scrap wood and sheet metal, and heap it all together with some rope and nails. Not much of a treehouse, but…I love those memories. They’re good. I’m trying to focus more on remembering what was good instead of everything else.” He sipped his coffee, nodding slowly. “So that was what inspired the tattoo. Good memories.”

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