Page 48 of Find Me

Now that he mentioned it…

Keelan shook his head, snickering. “I think she just realized they weren’t here.”

Just after he said that, we all heard the front door open. The twins walked into the kitchen with grocery bags in hand.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Colt greeted as he set his bags on the island and Creed followed suit.

Eyeing the bags, I said, “Better. Where’d you guys go?”

Creed smirked and started unpacking what was in the bags. He pulled out container after container of different ice cream flavors, followed by different toppings like sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and caramel. I couldn’t hold back my huge happy grin. When Colt pulled the very last item from the last bag, I laughed. Popcorn. “We didn’t know what flavor you liked,” he said, explaining the five different flavors of ice cream. “You said you wanted ice cream.”

My smile dropped. “I’m sorry. You guys wanted to go out…”

They both shrugged at the same time. “We can go out another time. We’ll stay in and watch a movie tonight,” Creed said and started stuffing the ice cream into the freezer.

My smile returned. “Okay. What are we going to watch?”

“What about something scary?” Creed suggested as he finished putting the last of the ice cream away while the rest of the guys started carting plates and dishes of food to the table.

“No!” I blurted loudly. Everyone froze and my cheeks burned. “Nothing scary, please,” I said in a normal volume. I couldn’t handle the suspense. Especially when it came to slasher or home invasion horror movies. They triggered episodes of PTSD.

Everyone slowly recovered from my outburst and they finished setting the table for dinner. Creed walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Okay, Shi. Nothing scary.”

We debated over movie choices all through dinner and ended up going with the TV showGame of Thronesinstead. None of us had seen it and we’d all heard it was awesome.

I went home to shower and change into my own clothes really quick. The pain medicine Keelan had given me and the hot shower had done wonders for my achy legs. I put on my Wonder Woman pajama set. The shorts were cobalt blue with white stars and the tank was red with a gold Wonder Woman logo. I tossed my hair back up in a messy bun and slid into flip-flops before heading back over. All the guys smiled at my pajamas, even Knox.

“Popcorn or ice cream, baby girl?” Keelan asked.

“That’s a difficult question to answer,” I replied, making them all laugh.

Keelan tossed the box of popcorn at Colt. “Both it is,” he said and started pulling out all the ice cream from the freezer. While the popcorn popped in the microwave, we all made our own sundaes.

After the sundaes were assembled, we took our ice cream and the popcorn to the living room. Colt and Creed made me sit between them on one end of the couch and Knox and Keelan lounged out on the other end. Knox started the first episode and all of us were instantly engrossed. The opening scene of the show was quiet and of men on horseback. Then ominous music started playing and my back went a little stiff.

Colt put his hand on my thigh and leaned close. “You alright?” he whispered in my ear. I nodded and put my hand onto his. Knowing what I wanted, he flipped his over and laced our fingers together. He held my hand until the suspenseful scene ended. It hadn’t been that bad, but it was nice to have the support nonetheless.

After the first episode ended, we had to watch the next one and the one after that. Six episodes later, it was one in the morning and I was tired.

“Just stay over,” Creed pleaded as he fought to keep his eyes open. Halfway through the last episode he’d stretched out on the couch and laid his head in my lap. I had run my fingers through his hair, loving the way the silky strands had felt slipping between my fingers.

“I can’t,” I said, wishing I could. They had dealt with enough of my drama today. The last thing I wanted to do was freak them all out with my nightmares.

“I’ll walk you home,” Colt said, standing from the couch.

Creed let out an exaggerated sigh and sat up. “Alright, I’m coming, too.”

“You’ll have to come over tomorrow night so we can binge some more episodes. I don’t think I can wait long to find out what happens,” Keelan said.

I smiled at him. “I’ll be here.” Before I left, I said goodnight to him and Knox.

Colt and Creed walked me to my house. They stayed with me as I unlocked my door and turned off the alarm. The house was dark. “I should have left a light on,” I mumbled, hating that I felt scared.

Colt stepped inside and disappeared into my dark living room. A few seconds later he flicked on the lamp next to the couch. Creed came inside, too. He shut and locked the front door behind him. I didn’t question why he had done that. I was happy they were willing to stay for a while.

Colt walked ahead of us to my bedroom and turned on my bedroom light. I sat on my bed with a tired sigh. Looking equally as tired, Creed walked around to the opposite side of the bed, pulled the covers back, and climbed into my bed. Colt and I watched as he adjusted a pillow before lying down and closing his eyes.

I chuckled. “What are you doing?”