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Until I was sittingbehind the wheel, flying down the highway with the wind whipping through my hair, I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed simply driving around. Once I was on the highway, I pushed the vehicle’s speed, unable to stop a wide smile from taking over my face.
“Yes! Finally!” I cried, slapping my palm against the wheel in my excitement. “God, it’s good to be driving again.”
Manson snickered at that. I took the next exit, pulling off the highway so I could make a U-turn and drive back in the opposite direction, back toward the house.
“I’ll admit it, though,” I said. “I’m going to miss you guys giving me rides everywhere.”
“We’ll still give you rides any time,” he said. “You just call, we’ll come. Personally, I’m not giving up on our daily coffee runs.”
Despite my excitement, a strange feeling of melancholy had set in. “So, this is the end of my debt, huh? I’m all paid off?”
While I was trying to watch the road, Manson was watching me. I didn’t think he’d taken his eyes off me even once since we’d gotten in the car. “You’ll get a receipt and everything. Will I have to go back to challenging you to dirty games to get you to fuck me?”
I laughed, reaching over and shoving his arm. “You know I’ll never turn down a challenge.” We were almost back to the house now, as I pulled off the highway and drove down Route 15. “But you know we don’t need a game. Or a dare. Or a debt.”
“We’re really past all that, aren’t we?” he said as I pulled onto the dirt road back toward the house.
I stopped at the gate, grabbing his hand before he got out to open it. “Manson, I love you. I love all of you. We’re past the games. I don’t know yet how we’ll make it all work...For the future, I mean. I don’t know what to do when we all eventually move away from each other...”
A smile tugged at his mouth. “Move away from each other? Now, why the hell would we do that?”
I blinked at him rapidly. “Well...I mean...we’re moving, all of us. You guys have your plans, I have mine...”
It wasn’t that simple — God, at least Ihopedit wasn’t. When Vincent mentioned going to New York that day in his old bedroom, I’d clung to that hope. I’d hidden it in my heart, not daring to bring it up. Who wanted to move to a whole new state for a girl anyway? Especially when I’d realistically only been tolerable to them for the last few weeks.
It was simply too good to be true. I tried to be an optimist, but some things were too far-fetched to believe.
Manson kissed my hand before he got out of the car, pushing open the gate and walking toward the garage as I drove into the yard.
But I brought the car to an abrupt halt when I noticed the boys, all standing inside the garage as they waited for me.
They were carrying bouquets. Their various choices in flowers were almost laughably different, but in the sweetest way I could have ever imagined. Lucas was holding two: a big bunch of red roses which he handed to Manson, while he kept the bouquet of blue cornflowers and pink wild roses. Jason held a bunch of daisies; Vincent held sunflowers.
It was impossible to move from my seat. Tears streamed down my cheeks, my breath shuddering as I tried to keep it together.
Vincent opened my door, offering me his hand. “Come here, baby. It’s okay. Don’t cry.” He wrapped his arms around me, but that made the tears worse. Damn it, I was making my face so puffy and red, but all I felt was joy. I wasn’t sure what was happening, only that seeing them all waiting for me had filled my heart to the brim.
When I lifted my head from his chest, they were all gathered around me. Jason smiled at me, cupping his hand around my neck as he kissed me.
“What is all this?” I sniffled as I stepped back from Vincent’s arms. “The flowers...”
“You paid off your invoice,” Lucas said, clearing his throat roughly. He was having a hard time looking at me, his eyes kept darting everywhere else as he shuffled his feet. “You don’t owe us anything, Jess. Not a damn thing. But we...we don’t want this to be it. Probably pretty damn obvious by this point, all things considered, but um...shit...” He rubbed his hand over the back of his head. “Someone a hell of a lot more eloquent than me better speak up.”
Vincent chuckled softly, and Manson stepped closer. “Jess, you know how we feel. We’ve all had the chance to talk to you as individuals, but not together.”
“We love you,” Jason said, causing my breath to catch again on a fresh sob.
“We’re honestly a little obsessed with you,” Vincent said.
“Little would be an understatement, Vince,” Jason added, giving me a wink that made me laugh through the tears.
“We want you to know exactly what this is,” Manson said. “No debt, no dare, no games. Just us, with you.”
“That’s all we want,” Lucas said. “And we know you’re moving, but we’re not worried about that. Hell, we figured we’d probably just move up that way too.”
It felt like a dream, probably because Ihaddreamed of this multiple times. It was all for real.
