My house is stuffed with people. The walls vibrate from all their energy. My brothers; Amanda and her family; Lucy’s mom and stepdad-to-be; the Perezes; Hanna and her brothers; a bunch of other local friends… it’s a bash.
Clark and Easton are manning the grills in the backyard, and the smell of charbroiled burgers, dogs, chicken breasts, and grilled vegetables wafts through the open back door, along with conversation and shouts of laughter. Kane and Amanda keep the salads replenished and make sure the drinks are flowing.
It’s the first party I’ve thrown… basically ever. And I’m having a blast, watching my mom gossip with Lucy’s mom and Nan, my brothers—well, Easton—hitting on the single women, and Lucy chatting with everyone like she was born to make new friends. Which really? I think she was.
The party was Lucy’s idea. She decided we should have a house re-warming party, since we finally finished decorating. The beautiful weaving she bought me from Five Rivers launched us on a campaign to fill the house with lots of things we love—new furniture, rugs, framed posters, throw pillows (Lucy), and objet d’art (also, obviously, Lucy, because I didn’t even know what that meant before she told me).
Lucy made the rules. She said both of us have to love whatever new thing we buy. It can’t just be there to look good on an Instagram post. Which means that some of our rooms are Frankenstein’s monsters. They don’t match perfectly, but we love being in our house. Together.
I’ve also slowly won Lucy over to the pleasures of being out of our house. She doesn’t exactly beg me to take her hiking and camping, but she’s a willing participant—and she’s slowly accumulating the gear. Boating is still off limits, and I get that. But I might see if I can convince her to try fly fishing. The scenery’s beautiful… and her being there would make the scenery that much more beautiful. Plus it takes a long hot shower to rinse all that river mud off.
I’m standing in the living room, and from my vantage point, I can see the front porch, where Rachel chats with Amanda. Rachel reappeared in town recently, and no one really seems to know why—although I suspect Amanda does and isn’t telling. Amanda and Rachel worked on the yearbook together in high school, and they’re obviously enjoying seeing each other again.
Brody appears—he must have come around the house from the backyard, where a lot of people are gathered—and says a few words to the women. Things between me and Brody aren’t great. It’s the only sore spot in my life. He’s been cooler than usual toward me since the night I rescued him from the fight at Oscar’s. Brody and I, we’ve always butted heads. He has issues with authority, and it’s tough taking orders from your big brother who’s not even two years older than you—I get it. I’ve always hated that there’s friction between us, but I’ve never known how to fix it. I want to—but I’m not sure he does.
Heath calls Amanda’s name from around the house, and she leaves Brody and Rachel alone together. Rachel’s head is tipped to one side, and Brody seems to be explaining something to her, looking as animated as Brody ever gets. Rachel’s eyebrows are scrunched together. But eventually, she nods a few times, and they shake hands.
Huh. It looks almost like some kind of business deal. Not exactly what I was expecting when Amanda left them alone together.
Now that I have Lucy in my life, I’ve turned into That Guy, the one who has to shut the fuck up or be an evangelist for love and monogamy. I want Brody—all my brothers, actually—to feel about someone the way I feel about Lucy. A year ago, I thought Zoë, Justin’s mom, might be that person, but it doesn’t seem like it. Zoë and Justin are with Len Dix now, which is what I assume the fight in Oscar’s was about that night. The confusing part to me is why Brody cares, since he walked away from his engagement to Zoë.
Anyway, I guess part of me now hopes Brody’s person could be Rachel.
I just want Brody to be happy, and not only so he’ll stop giving me the cold shoulder.
I can’t help it. I’m a fixer.
Lucy comes into the living room holding a big plate of barbecue. “You should get some before it’s all gone.”
“Not a chance of that. We bought enough for ten times this many people. We’re going to be eating leftovers for days.”
She smiles at me, then sets her plate on the coffee table—yes, we bought a coffee table—and steps into my arms for a hug. She has her hair in those big loose curls, but she doesn’t seem to mind that it’s getting flattened and mussed up. She is so soft and warm, and she smells unbelievably good, like the floral shampoo that has taken up permanent residence in my—our—shower. She did something super naughty with that shampoo the other day, and—
“Gabe,” she chides. But she doesn’t sound upset in the slightest. She wiggles a little, her hip bumping my erection.
“I can’t help it,” I whisper. “I was thinking about what you did in the shower with the…”
“Oh. Yeah. That was…”
I take her face in my hands and kiss her. It quickly escalates to not-safe-for-a-family-party, and I pull back. “Send all the people home.”
She laughs. “I love you, Gabriel Wilder.”
“I love you, Lucy Spiro.”
Amanda bounds into the living room and hisses, “Luuuucy! Holy shit! You have to hear this! Brody asked Rachel to do one of her mom’s parties on his boat!”
Needless to say, because Brody’s been so prickly lately, getting his part of Wilder Adventures squared away has been… tricky. He doesn’t want to take suggestions from me or Lucy, and some of his early efforts to win over the New Rush Creek clientele have… bombed. So this is good news.
Except Lucy and Amanda are giggling. A lot.
“Does he know what she’s selling?” Lucy demands.
Amanda shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Ohhhh.” A smile creeps across Lucy’s face. I recognize it. It’s a mischief smile.
My body doesn’t know whether to turn on fight-or-flight or rev up for fun. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” I growl.
Both women turn to look at me. Lucy tips her head to one side. She studies me.
“If it concerns the business, you need to tell me what’s going on,” I remind her.
She bites her lower lip, and her cheeks turn pink. Then she gets up on tiptoes and whispers in my ear, her breath teasing my body toward the fun side of the equation.
“Oh,” I say. “That should be very interesting.”
I can’t help the grin that spreads over my face at the thought of the surprise Brody is in for.
The next few weeks at Wilder (Romantic) Adventures should be very interesting indeed.
But wait, there’s more! Want more Gabe and Lucy? Download a bonus scene!
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Can’t wait to find out what Brody and Rachel are up to? Read on for an excerpt from their book, Walk on the Wilder Side.
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Need more Serena Bell goodness ASAP? Take your pick:
Steamy, small-town rom-com. Take a beach vacation with delicious enemies-to-lovers business shenanigans in my Tierney Bay series.
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Real, sexy, emotional romance. Laugh, cry, and hug your e-reader with these four soldiers as they find family, love, and meaning after war in my Returning Home series.
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