Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(77)

“Well, she asked us once in the library about multiple partners and if we’d ever really considered it,” Cam admitted. “When we asked her why, she lied saying there was no reason. She’s asked if Nik and I would ever consider being with her together.” My eyebrow raised thinking of our Lucie with them and found myself getting hard as steel in my tuxedo pants. Nik looked surprised, a small smile crept onto his face.

“Really?” His gravelly voice was hopeful.

“Yeah, tonight when we were dancing. She knows we all care about her, I told her so. I don’t think she would have an issue with being with us,” Cam admitted.

“But what if…” I swallowed hard, worry settling in my stomach, “what if I fucked all this up because of the last few weeks?” I voiced my ultimate fear after learning about what had happened.

“Pretty sure she would have thrown you out of the room if she didn’t want to talk to you. Dude, she even told you she missed you, I think you’re fine,” Dante rolled his eyes at me.

“Such a way with words,” I shot telepathically to him, he burst out laughing. A smile crept onto my face.

“We can talk to her about it when she’s a bit more healed, I don’t want to overwhelm her after tonight,” Logan offered from his chair at the foot of her bed. His fist was curled in front of his mouth, elbow propped on the arm of the chair as he watched her sleep. A round of agreements went up as we slid into other conversations waiting for our Lucie to wake up. Our Lucie is going to be okay. With that thought, I drifted off to sleep in my chair next to the bed, my hand still holding hers.





Epilogue





October 31st

Wednesday Night

Lucienne





My chest had been sore for the last few days since the dance, making it difficult to move or twist. Thankfully, Alex gave me, Sadie, Benji, and my guys Monday and Tuesday off extending our weekend through the Samhain holiday. Sadie and Benji were out grabbing lunch for everyone while I was laying between Hudson and Dante on the mattresses we had piled in our dorm living room. The twins were lounging in their usual spots on the couch, Cam was situated in an armchair, and Nik was sitting behind me running his fingers through my hair as he leaned against the bottom of Cam’s chair. We had continued our Marvel marathon through the rest of the weekend, only leaving in shifts to get food. The guys had refused to leave my side since I was released from the infirmary late Sunday evening.

Something felt right being around them all again. I didn’t realize how a piece of me had broken that night of the party but being snuggled up to Hudson’s side, my head laying on his chest while Dante curled behind me soothed me. Dante’s cheek rested against my back, and with Nik playing with my hair, listening to the rest of my guys' talk and joke, my broken heart healed.

I’m home, I realized. I love my mom and Char, but that place hadn’t felt like home since Noah had ripped my life away from me. I found that missing piece between these oddballs who formed their own misfit family. I knew, deep within my gut that it was going to get worse. I knew without a doubt that Noah would be coming, but I also knew as long as I had them and Sadie, Benji, and Alex, I wouldn’t be alone. I will have that fire within me, Jonathon’s story echoing through my mind. I was too comfortable to move when my phone dinged with a notification. It wasn’t until I went to change into pajamas that I saw the text.

Unknown Number: “hello Lucie baby.”