by Adam Kunz
It’s okay, Laney. You’re okay, I tell myself.
A loud sound resonates from the upper level, drawing my attention to Jared standing next to the opened window. “You’ll be out in a second, okay? Don’t worry,” he says with a smile, making me feel a little better.
He grabs hold of the hay bale attached to the rope and pulley system by the hatch and shoves it through the opening to the outside. I watch through the slats in the barn door as it hits the ground with a thud, sending dirt, hay, and dust particles flying up into the air.
“Be right down,” he calls out.
“Okay.”
“Laaaaney.”
I hear the male’s voice behind me, making me twirl around.
The back of the barn is completely dark. As I study the area more closely, a black mass moves from behind a grouping of hay bales. I can’t really make out what it is, but its presence is enough to alarm me. A tiny gasp leaks out through my teeth when the shrouded figure begins moving in my direction. It seems to take a step forward every time I take one back.
I hear Jared fiddling with the barn door. I want to turn around and start pounding on it, but I’m frozen, staring down the shadowy figure before me. A hand grabs my shoulder and I scream, releasing all the tension I was holding in my body.
“Whoa, Laney, it’s just me,” Jared says when I face him. I peer back over my shoulder, but I don’t see any sign of the shadow figure.
Massaging my temples, I try to calm myself. My heart is beating out of control and my nerves are shot all to hell. Jared rubs his hand up and down my arm, a look of worry on his face.
“Sorry I startled you,” he says in a low voice.
“It’s okay. I sort of scared myself before you did,” I reply after releasing a deep breath.
Jared reaches down to collect the wood he left on the ground while I wait for him just outside the barn. I’m finding it hard to calm myself, and can’t get over how real that last hallucination felt.
I’ve never heard voices before ... maybe they’re getting more intense.
“Ready to head back?” Jared asks, joining me outside.
“Yeah. I officially don’t like this barn, just as an FYI,” I joke, but it sounds hollow to my ears.
“That would make two of us,” he replies while shutting the barn door with some assistance from his knee before latching down the piece of wood with his elbow.
When we reach the front door to the house, I tap it with my foot to let everyone know we’re standing outside and ready to be let in.
“Who is it?” Noah asks with a heavy slur, clearly having had more drinks while we’ve been gone.
“Really? Who do you think it is?” I reply with a laugh.
He opens the door and the first thing I notice is that his eyes are bloodshot red. “You got wood!” Noah shouts upon seeing us.
“Let us in, you drunk bastard,” Jared jokes from over my shoulder.
“You guys so need to get on this level. Nia had everyone do Fireball whiskey shots. I’m beginning to think maybe it was a bad idea,” he laughs while lazily leaning up against the edge of the door.
“Did you lock us in the barn just now?” Jared asks.
Noah stares at him with a drunken expression while trying to focus on his face. “Nope. Been here the whole time gettin’ sloshed.”
“Yeah, sure you were.” Jared’s words drip with sarcasm.
“All right, which one of you locked us in the barn?” I ask to the whole group as we enter the living room. I’m met with raised eyebrows and confused looks, but no one fesses up. As my eyes scan the space, I notice someone’s missing-Brent.
“Where’s Brent?”
“He left. Colton was trying to take advantage of him while you guys were out,” Noah jokes from behind us. Colton sends him a withering stare and Noah just blows him a kiss. He catches it and then pretends to throw it to the floor. “Harsh one, bro.”
Colton rolls his eyes and then looks to Emma. “You know your boyfriend’s a two-beer queer ... or in this case, a two-shot queer.”
“Yeah, I know,” she sighs while pulling on Noah’s hand to make him sit down next to her.
“Don’t listen to Drunky McDrunkerson over there,” Nia chimes in. “Brent left pretty much right after you guys did. He said something about needing to take care of something ... or something,” she continues, clearly a little inebriated herself.
Maybe it was him out there by the barn. I wonder why he didn’t answer me when I asked if someone was there.
After setting the wood in my arms next to the fireplace, I sit back down in my spot in the circle. Jared does the same.
“Well, I guess the game’s dead now since it kind of left in the middle of it,” Tee comments in reference to Brent leaving.
Emma giggles as Noah nibbles at her neck. She swats him away, trying to focus on us instead of dealing with her drunken boyfriend. She tries to say something, but is interrupted by Noah planting a huge kiss on her mouth, silencing her.
“Oh, my. I guess another game is about to begin,” Nia giggles.
“You two realize you have a room, right?” Colton asks, tapping Noah on the arm, trying to get his attention.
“Good ... idea,” Noah gets out between lip locks with Emma.
“Perhaps we should all call it night. It doesn’t look like we’re going to get much more accomplished down here,” Tee laughs while wrapping his arm around Nia’s shoulder.
“I second that motion,” Noah says as he pulls Emma to her feet and begins corralling her toward the stairs.
“Goodnight all,” she snickers as Noah continues to place kisses all over her neck.
In a surprising move, Jared rises from the floor and excuses himself before heading up to his room as well. With a nonchalant goodnight, he leaves the circle.
“So, why did we go and get firewood exactly?”
“Beats me. I do believe it started out as a drunken request by Noah, was it not?” Tee answers.
“True,” I say with a laugh. “This actually shouldn’t surprise me.”
“I guess there’s no use staying up waiting for a call or text that’s never going to come,” Colton states while moving toward the stairs. “I’m going to get some shuteye. ‘Night, guys.”
Nia turns to Tee and pats his leg. “Hey, love. Could you give Laney and me a sec to chat real quick? I’ll be up soon, promise,” she says before kissing him on his cheek.
He reciprocates the kiss. “Of course.” Tee turns to me. “Goodnight, Laney.”
“Goodnight.”
Nia waits for him to be out of earshot and then focuses all of her attention on me. “How you holding up? I feel like we haven’t really had a chance to talk about much since we got here.”
“I’m okay, I guess. The whole Brent and Jared thing is kind of ... interesting. I just don’t get my luck sometimes. I was on a guy drought for more than a year, but now all of a sudden, there are two at once.”
She laughs. “When it rains, it pours. Have you at least been enjoying yourself? I feel bad because none of us have to deal with what you’re going through. I just want to hear from you that this wasn’t a mistake, and you’re at least getting something out of it,” she says, putting her hand on my knee and rubbing back and forth.
“No, I’m glad we did this. It’s far better than me sitting in our dorm room moping around and driving myself nuts. At least here, I’m being kind of social,” I joke, trying to bring the conversation into lighter territory.
She sends me a half-smile. “Good. Because the last thing I want is for you to have to deal with more issues than you already have. Speaking of, is Jared a no-go?”
“Oh, it was a go, but I pumped the brakes on it,” I reply somberly.
“Because of Hottie McTottie Brent?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. But I also don’t think I’m in a good place mentally to deal with relationship drama along with everything else going on, and I told Jared that in the barn.”
&nbs
p; “At least you were honest with him. So, are you going to talk to Brent about your feelings? Or did you already do that earlier? And what’s with you two exactly? I sense there’s something up there,” Nia asks with an eyebrow raised.
“Remember when I said it was a long story?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I was babysitting his brother when I was attacked. A lot of stuff went down between us after that and I couldn’t forgive him, even though it wasn’t his fault. There was a point in my life I thought I loved him. I was a teenager, but I still felt it was real. I guess some of those feelings are still there.”
“I think the best thing you can do right now is focus on you. Like you said, you’ve got a ton on your plate without adding in a guy ... no matter how gorgeous he is.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Now, let’s hug this out, bitch. Enough of this emotional feelings stuff,” she jokes with a big grin.
“You always have a way with words, Nia,” I say into her shoulder as we embrace.
“I’m not a journalism major for nothing,” she quips, pulling back so that she can look at me. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some business of my own to attend to, if you know what I mean.” Her wink makes me roll my eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’d tell me if you weren’t, right?”
“Yes, to both questions,” I reply while standing up with her.
“Oh, and don’t hurt me, but I may have given Brent your cell phone number. He asked, and I kind of just blurted it out. Having lots of alcohol in your system and a memory like a steel trap are not a good mix.”
“It’s fine. I’m glad you did. It’ll be nice to be able to talk with him after this weekend’s over.”
As we walk together toward the stairs, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to have a friend like Nia. This whole weekend was her idea, and it seriously couldn’t have come at a better time. Even after everything that’s happened tonight, I feel like I’m ending it on a good note because of her.
After Nia and I say goodnight, I enter my room and close the door. I kick off my shoes before flopping down onto the bed face-first. My eyes rise to the nightstand to see my cell sitting there, and I realize I haven’t had it on me this whole time. It’s been up here charging.
Swiping the phone from the stand, I bring it in front of me and notice the LED notification light flashing blue. I unlock the phone and see two texts from a number I don’t have saved in my contacts. Opening the message icon reveals a thread with both texts in it. They read:
This is Brent. Nia gave me your number, and now you have mine. Sorry I didn’t say goodbye. That’s why I’m texting you.
We should stay in touch ... I miss talking to you. Maybe I’ll get to see you tomorrow.
While reading the messages, I’m interrupted by a light rhythmic moan coming from the room behind me. The moan turns into a full-on howl of satisfaction followed by a constant thud against the wall.
Great, Emma and Noah are going at it. I’ll never get to sleep with that mess happening next door.
I groan and resume looking at my cell. I begin to type out a response to Brent, but then stop. The thud, which I’m almost positive is the headboard hitting the wall, grows louder and makes it hard for me to focus on anything other than that noise. A heavy muffled yell sounds from the other room, followed by silence. I listen for any further sex sounds, but there are none. It appears they’ve finished.
Returning my gaze back to the phone in my hands, I continue tapping out the message to Brent. As the words show up on the screen one by one, I start to second-guess myself. Instead of hitting send, I delete the whole text before setting the phone back onto the nightstand.
What am I doing? Maybe I should just be happy that I bumped into him again and leave it at that. I don’t need to drag anyone into my crazy life. It’s already complicated enough as it is.
I sigh as I switch off the lamp by the bed. The light from the barn shines through the sliver between the curtains again, beaming right into my eyes, so I decide to eliminate the gap. Peering out the window before I close the curtain I see movement near the barn that catches my attention. One side of the barn door is wide open, swaying back and forth in the wind. I can hear the subtle sound of it hitting the side of the barn even from this far away. Thinking back to when Jared and I were getting the firewood, I try to remember if we latched the door closed.
Odd. I could’ve sworn Jared locked that door from the outside before we left.
I put the thought out of my mind and jump back into bed. Pulling the covers up to my chin in an attempt to warm up, I close my eyes and try to get some sleep. The sound of moaning and the headboard hitting the wall returns.
Really!? Again!? And here I am, the only one standing in my way of hooking up with Jared next door.
“It’s for the best,” I try to convince myself as I cover my face and ears with one of the three pillows resting behind me.
I draw in a large breath, grasping for air as I lunge forward out of sleep. The nightmare begins replaying in my head while I rub my throat, trying to ease the feeling of Robbie’s death grip. I’m getting tired of waking up at this part of the dream. It’s really starting to get old.
My eyes move over to the nightstand, where I see a pill bottle sitting there next to a red Solo cup.
I really hope there’s water in that cup.
It occurs to me that I didn’t take out my pills and set them there, nor did I bring a cup of water up here with me. My gaze lands on something passed the foot of the bed and a startled gasp squeaks out.
Jared’s sitting in the lounge chair nestled in the corner of the room. He’s sleeping soundly in only his pajama bottoms again. The contours of his rippling muscles and chest are clearly visible even in the dark. He stirs in the chair, but still doesn’t wake up.
“Psst, Jared,” I whisper, trying not to startle him.
He opens his eyes while tilting his head to look at me. A tired smile shows on his mouth before a yawn takes over. He stretches his arms above his head and arches his back, showcasing the most perfect set of abs I’ve ever seen.
“I’m glad to see you’re doing better.”
“What? Why are you in here?”
“You don’t remember?” he inquires, sounding perplexed.
I shake my head and hope his explanation isn’t going to embarrass me.
“I heard you screaming and rushed in here to see what was wrong. You woke up and asked for some water and the bottle of pills from your bag. I was only going to wait for you to fall asleep and then go back to bed myself, but, as you can see, that didn’t really work out,” he explains in a tired voice. “You seriously don’t remember any of that?”
“Not at all,” I answer and start to feel self-conscious because I’ve never done anything like this in my sleep before-that I can remember anyway. Then I smile like a fool, realizing how sweet it was of him to come to my rescue. He didn’t have to do anything, but the fact that he waited for me to fall asleep makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.
“You going to be all right?” he asks, lifting himself up from the chair, his muscles flexing with the motion.
“I think so,” I say in a haze. I’m mesmerized by the bulge showing through his tight pajama pants.
He throws his hands over it, concealing his major hard-on. “Sorry, thing’s got a mind of its own.”
I laugh. “I can see that.”
“Well, I’m going to head back to my room now. Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he asks, his concern evident. I nod.
As he goes to open the door, I say, “Hey, Jared?”
“Yeah?” he answers, peering back at me.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Anytime,” he says, and then leaves the room, a soft grin now present on his face.
The sound of the door closing sends me slumping back onto the bed. My body feels like it’s overheating after the dazzling display that was Jared North. I think it’s official now, thou
gh. If I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to jump him again this time, I don’t think I will be anytime soon.
Damn you, life. Why do you torture me so?
The next morning, a familiar melody rings in my head before I fully wake up. The more aware I become that I’m no longer dreaming, the louder the song seems to play in my ears. Shooting up in bed, my eyes bounce around the room when I hear “Santa Baby” filling the area.
“Where the hell is that coming from?” I ask, my heartbeat quickening as the tune triggers some seriously terrible memories.
Looking to the nightstand, I see the alarm light on the clock flashing and it’s tuned to the radio.
Did I set the alarm last night? I guess I’ve done weirder things on my meds before.
I hit the power button at the top of the radio and relax back against the headboard.
“I highly despise that song,” I whisper to myself while rubbing my temples in order to ease the medication- induced headache that’s currently trying to work its way in.
A knock on my bedroom door is followed by Nia’s voice. “Sleepyhead, you decent?” she asks, opening the door. I send her a playful scowl the moment she steps in without me having a chance to respond. “Hey, at least I knocked.”
I laugh. “True.”
Nia closes the door quickly behind her and then rushes over to sit next to me on the bed. Her face looks like she has something urgent to tell me. Her intent stare plus the fact she’s biting her lip solidifies my hunch.
“Yes?” I ask when she doesn’t start talking.
“Okay ... so, you know how last night I said you should just focus on yourself, and not complicate things with guys right now?”
“Yeah, I thought we both came to that conclusion.”
“Well, Brent’s outside showing the guys the snowmobiles in the barn. They’re talking about taking them out for a spin today. Annnnd he asked about you,” she says and then begins biting her lip again.
“Is that all?”
“Is that all? Personally, I think that’s monumental. You two clearly have things to discuss, and maybe it’s about time you did. It could be beneficial,” she replies, putting emphasis on the word beneficial. “Plus, how long has it been since you’ve introduced a Prince William to your Kate Middleton?”
