Page 83 of Shake the Spirit

“Yes, and we wiped down the kitchen table really well after we were done.”

Throwing his head back, Otto lets out a loud chuckle. Oana looks at him and smiles in the wonderful way she does when someone clicks right for her.

That night, the homestead is electric as if our earlier unused rage transforms into a need to party. Oana sticks close to me after dinner. I know she was excited to meet Otto and Betty. She also liked how protective my ma and sister were toward her.

But at the end of the day, she had to go through a physical exam to prove she wasn’t a child. Her mother called her a whore and tried hitting her. Plus, she knows her sister is set to marry the same piece of shit that Oana escaped.

“I want you to show me more fighting moves,” she says as the sun sets and the moonshine starts to flow.

Over the homestead’s sound system, Aerosmith is followed by The All-American Rejects. I can barely hear some of the lyrics over the wailing cicadas driven crazy by the evening heat.

My clothes stick to my sweaty skin as I walk with Oana away from the party so we can enjoy a little privacy near Stache Lake. In my hand is a bottle of moonshine. In my other, I hold my woman’s delicate fingers. As the booze makes my brain agreeable, I hear her still asking to learn to punch.

“I want to be able to fight back and not just block.”

I settle into the grass and gesture for Oana to sit on my lap. She’s also damp from the late summer heat. Between her sweet scent and the overpowering smell of moist grass, my head spins. Rather than plan attack moves, I nuzzle her throat until her tension eases.

“How pissed do you think your ma was over you blocking her slap?” I murmur and kiss her jaw.

As Oana smiles, I feel her detaching from those bad memories and really connecting with the party atmosphere around us.

“This here,” I explain as I hand her a red solo cup filled with moonshine, “is the same flavor I had the night I met you.”

Oana looks at the drink and exhales in a horny way. “I’ve never tried alcohol before. What if I throw up?”

“I’ll hold your hair and say you’re beautiful.”

Sipping the drink, she hands it to me to try some. I gulp half the cup and give it back. Soon, we’ve finished our first shared moonshine. I see the exact moment when the booze clouds her common sense.

Oana bounces off my lap and starts running around the yard like an excited dog. All while yelling, “Sinning!”

Val and West stop shoving each other and chuckle at my woman’s antics. I get up from my lazy spot and wander back toward the party so I can enjoy Oana’s wild energy.

“Little brother,” West tells Val while trying to sit on him, “maybe you ought to get lushed up on moonshine and wander in the woods. You might meet your dream girl and leave the nest.”

“No dice, rooster-fucker,” Val says and shoves off West.

Alexis yells out from the yard, “Hey, I’m not a rooster!”

Val gives her a thumbs-up before dodging West’s attempted tackle. “I already met my chick, and she’s a big no-go. That means I’m going to live the rest of my life as a celibate sex god.”

“I don’t think you know what ‘celibate’ means,” Uncle Emmett mutters as he passes his rowdy sons before grinning at Oana doing a funky hip dance in the yard. He glances at me and asks, “Moonshine, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Well, don’t wander too far off this time. Donovan’s tense after today. The last thing he needs is to track you two down in the morning.”

“Wait, is no one going to razz Val for his broken heart thing?” West asks as they topple off the deck in their attempt to pin each other. “He’s weak and sad. Let’s pick on him.”

Shoving West’s face in the grass, Val replies casually, “I have accepted that my dream girl has bad taste. Unlike you, I refuse to pine like a cup full of dick tears.”

West frowns at his brother who uses that moment to pin him to the grass.

“Hey, Rooster!” Val calls out to Alexis currently doing cartwheels with Oana and Tuesday in the yard. “I’ve humiliated your man!”

The redhead comes running at her brother-in-law while spinning her fist in pre-punch. Stopping short, she drops to the ground and shrugs. Soon, Alexis and West are making out in a nearly pornographic display of their newlywed love.

After Val claims they’re doing it wrong, he wanders off to find someone else to play with for the night.

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