Page 32 of Dyana (Love in the Apocalypse #3)

Chapter fourteen

Dyana

T hat wasn’t how I planned to tell Bryce I loved him.

Hell, if I were being honest, I absolutely hadn’t planned to tell him at all.

My stupid mouth doesn’t know how to shut the hell up.

But now that I had, I knew I had to tell the others.

I didn’t want their feelings to be hurt if they found out I’d said it to Bryce and not them.

I left Bryce happy as a clam in the greenhouse and went to find Evan or Jack.

Evan was easy enough to find. I stepped into the shed he had turned into his workshop, where he was tinkering with something.

Evan was always trying to improve something, even things that didn’t need improvement.

I had been worried at first that Isaac was going to tie him to a tree one of these days, but as it turned out, he didn’t care that much.

He enjoyed sharing the burden of making sure everything worked efficiently around here.

It gave him more time to spend with Johnny and Cora.

“There’s my favorite girl,” Evan said when he saw me. “Come ‘ere a sec.” I stood beside him, and he handed me a long PVC pipe wrapped in insulation.

“What’s this for?” I asked as he threaded a wire through the pipe.

“Hopefully a freeze-proof automatic waterer for the chickens,” Evan replied.

“While it might not feel like it now, winter will be here before we know it, and if there is a really bad storm, we don’t want to risk losing the chickens if we can’t get out to them.

I’m also making an automatic feeder we can fill for them. ”

I didn’t mention that if we were in a bad storm, then the chickens would have access to the snow to stay hydrated.

I’m sure Evan had already thought of that and figured out a reason why this was necessary.

And even if he hadn’t, the waterer would still be helpful to have.

I held the pipe for him, aware that he probably could have done this without my help, but in true Evan fashion, he was more than willing to share the load to include me in the project.

That was the beautiful thing about Evan: he didn’t care about getting credit for anything and often downplayed his involvement.

He was happy to help and took pride in his work. That was all he needed.

I watched him work until my feelings for him felt like they would explode if I didn’t say what I came to say. “Evan?”

He paused his work and looked at me, concern creasing his eyes. “Yeah?”

“I love you.” I smothered my laugh the best I could at the myriad of emotions that played across his face. Disbelief, shock, confusion, and eventually happiness. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he reopened them, my breath caught in my throat at the amount of heat I saw in them.

Evan ripped the pipe from my hands and threw it behind him as he lifted me onto the worktable and claimed my mouth in a searing kiss. The kiss left me breathless and desperate for him, and I reached for his pants at the same time he went for mine.

“I love you, too. So fucking much,” Evan rasped.

I had just reached my hand inside his pants and wrapped it around his cock when several things happened at once to remind us where we were.

Killer hopped onto the table and meowed before crawling into my lap, purring like a machine.

The chickens squawked, and Cora laughed somewhere nearby.

I bit my lip and looked at Evan. We laughed as we untangled ourselves.

“Right, maybe not here,” I said as I scratched Killer behind the ears.

“We could go home,” Evan suggested as he rebuttoned his pants.

I was contemplating his suggestion and about to agree to it when Cora arrived. “There you are! Dyana, do you think you could...” She trailed off as her eyes bounced between me and Evan. Her eyes twinkled as a knowing smile spread across her face. “Am I interrupting something?”

“No,” I said quickly.

“Yes,” Evan said at the same time.

“Evan!” I admonished as I slapped his arm.

“What?” he asked. “It’s true.”

“What do you need, Cora?”

“I was going to ask you if you could cut my hair. Between being pregnant and this heat, I’m over the long hair, but if you want, I can stand guard outside so you guys can... finish.”

“Not necessary,” I replied. I moved Killer off my lap and hopped off the table.

“Are you sure?” Cora laughed, gesturing to my pants.

I looked down and saw they were still undone. I groaned and quickly buttoned them again while Evan chuckled. “I’m sure. Get the scissors. Oh, have either of you seen Jack? I need to talk to him.”

“Not recently,” Evan said quickly.

“Didn’t he go into town?” Cora asked. Evan made a sound behind me. Cora’s eyes flicked to him. “I mean, I haven’t seen him either.”

My eyes narrowed, and I turned to Evan. “Why did Jack go into town?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s a surprise!” Evan said quickly when he saw me getting angry. “We’re allowed to keep things from you if it’s a surprise.”

“I still don’t like it.”

Evan smiled and leaned down to kiss the tip of my nose. “Too bad. Go give Cora a haircut. We’ll finish this later.”

Cora grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the shed. “Come on. Jack is perfectly safe on his own, and you’ll find out what he’s up to soon enough.” Cora fetched the scissors and a comb, then sat on one of the log seats we had outside and handed them to me.

“How short do you want it?” I asked as I combed through her mid-back length blonde locks.

“Up to my shoulders. Those men are good for you,” she said as I got to work. “I like seeing you happy.”

“I love them,” I admitted. “I didn’t see them coming. I never thought I’d have what you have, but I’m glad they found me. They make me feel like a human instead of a monster.”

“You were never a monster, Dyana,” Cora replied softly. “I’m glad they were able to show you that.”

I didn’t attempt to remind her that I was a monster.

I wasn’t sure if it was because I knew I’d be wasting my breath or because I was starting to believe that maybe I wasn’t a monster after all.

I wasn’t proud of the things I’ve done, but I did what I had to do to survive, and if I was truly undeserving, why was I given a chance at a life full of love and family?

Good things didn’t happen to bad people, right?

I knew the logic was flawed, but that was the best explanation I had right now. I was calling that progress.

“Me, too. Where’s Johnny?” I didn’t want to talk about me anymore, and I knew changing the subject to her son would keep Cora distracted for hours if I let her.

“Trent and Remi took him down to the creek to splash in the water. Oh! Guess what he did this morning?”

“What?”

“He said, Mama!”

“He’s talking!”

“Yes!”

“I thought we agreed that he didn’t actually say that, Ghost Girl,” Derrick said from behind us.

“You agreed,” Cora argued, “I did not. I know what I heard.”

Derrick crouched in front of her, a teasing smile playing on his lips. “At best, he said, Muh, Cora.”

“I believe you, Cora,” I interjected. “His Daddies are just jealous because he didn’t say Dada first.”

Derrick rolled his eyes. “You’d take her side no matter what.”

“Your point?”

“No point, just an observation.” Derrick studied my progress on Cora’s hair.

“You know, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the short hair, but I like it.

You look hot.” The adoration in his eyes when he looked at Cora made me smile.

If I had hacked it all off, he still would have thought she was hot.

The chickens started raising hell, and Derrick immediately looked toward the coop to check on his precious babies.

“Dammit, Dyana! Your cat has a fucking death wish!”

I turned to see Killer climbing the chicken coop, looking for a way in. “Don’t you hurt him!” I yelled as Derrick took off to save the chickens.

“I wouldn’t worry,” Cora said, “Evan made sure that the coop is impenetrable. Killer isn’t getting in.

I watched as Derrick plucked Killer from the coop and then cradled him like a baby as he scolded him before I turned back to Cora to finish her hair. “How do you like it?” I asked when I was done.

Cora ran her fingers through her hair and grinned at me. “It’s perfect!” She smiled as she nodded toward something behind me. “Looks like you finished just in time, too.”

I turned to see Jack walking into the yard. “Where have you been?” I demanded.

His twinkling smirk told me he was up to something. “Come on a date with me tomorrow and I’ll show you.”

“A date?” I asked dumbly.

“Yeah, a date. You do remember how those work, right? Two people who are attracted to each other, perhaps even romantically involved, go out with the express purpose of spending time together. It usually involves some sort of activity and a meal.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I know what a date is.”

“Then why did you ask?”

I huffed in exasperation. “Remind me why I love you again.”

Jack grinned at my declaration like he had never doubted my love for him. He slid his finger into my belt loop and tugged me into his arms. “Because I’m impossibly charming, I was your first, and you can’t imagine life without me.”

“That last one might be a bit exaggerated,” I teased.

“Was that a yes?”

“Yes, I’ll go out on a date with you.”

“Good. Cause you were going either way.” Jack nipped my neck, so I pushed him away from me and started back toward Cora. I heard the sound of baby babble coming through the trees and smiled as Trent appeared with Johnny in his arms. My smile fell when I saw Trent’s face.

“A small group found us. Remi is fighting them off!”

“Where?” I asked as I started running toward the trees, knives drawn.

“Straight through about ten yards or so,” he replied as Cora scooped Johnny from his arms and ran inside.