The Ruckus

“No,” I answered before he finished. “I mean, I do want to spend some more time with my mom, but I also want to check on my friends. And God, poor Chrissy—I can’t imagine what she’s going to do about her wedding now.”

“Jesus, I forgot we were even supposed to be going to a wedding,” Axel racked a hand back through his hair. “It feels like that rehearsal dinner was weeks ago.”

“Or months,” Micah nodded. “Or years.” He smiled at me. “Let us know when you’re ready to go back into town, and we’ll take you. That is... if you want us to take you.”

I blinked.

Of course I did. But was I being selfish? It hadn’t even occurred to me that they might have had other things planned for the weekend besides rescuing me over and over again.

“If y’all don’t have anything else going on,” I began, looking from Micah to Axel, “I’d love to ride with you back into Covington. But if you have other plans or—”

“We don’t,” Axel answered.

“Our only plans are to stay with you for as long as you want us around,” Micah added.

I smiled and gave each of them a kiss. “Let me check with my mom first before we get out of here for a while.”

Mom waved me off as soon as I walked inside the house. “You don’t need to stay here and look after me,” she said with a wink. “But it was really good to see you again, sweetie. I hope you’ll come back more often.”

“I will,” I promised, walking over to give her a tight, long hug. “Thanks for everything, Mom. Really. I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you, too,” she said quietly, then cleared her throat. “Now go ahead and go before we both start crying.”

“Love you, Mom.”

“Love you, too, sweetie.”

I turned to see my guys waiting for me at the door with nearly identical, adorable smiles.

“Okay.” I walked back to the door and took each of their hands. “Let’s go check on Muriel and Poppy.”

***

It seemed like the whole town was downtown in the makeshift shelter, but I didn’t have any trouble finding Poppy and her guys among the crowd.

A gorgeous model and two actual cowboys? Yeah, they’d kind of stand out no matter where they were.

“Jas, I’m so glad you’re here!” Poppy said as soon as she tackled-hugged me. “And all in one piece, thank God.”

“Thank God and Axel and Micah,” I smiled, looking back over my shoulder at my guys. “I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if they hadn’t been... everywhere I needed them to be.”

Poppy cocked her head to the side and gave me a curious look, then mirrored my smile. “Yeah, I think I can relate to that. Minus the kidnapping part, of course.”

“Yeah, I don’t recommend it. All the other stuff is... pretty nice, though. Really nice.”

“Girl,” Poppy laughed. “You’re going to have to spill so many details as soon as we get more than five seconds alone, right?”

I joined in her laughter as we hugged again. It was good to be back with my friends, except... “Where’s Muriel?” I broke away from the hug to look around the crowded space. “Did she wander off with her guys?”

“Not exactly,” Poppy frowned as she told me about how Cameron was taken to a hospital in Atlanta. “He’s doing well enough now, so Muriel and Hugh are there with him.”

My hand flew to my mouth. “Oh my God, that’s... I feel so bad for all of them.”

Both of my guys subtly placed their hands on me, and I knew they were thinking the same thing as me—how close we’d all come to being in the hospital, or worse, ourselves. And how unimaginably awful that would have been for all three of us.

I shook my head and pushed those thoughts aside. We were okay. We were still there together. That was the important part. We had to hope and pray that Cameron would be okay, too.

“What about you and Nolan and Cooper?” I asked. “Are you going to stay here for a while?”

Poppy nodded. “Yeah, I think so. It’s crowded, but my family is here, too, and there isn’t anywhere else for us to go until the flooding eases up.”

“I’d invite everyone over to my apartment,” Axel offered. “But, uh... given the size of it, you’ll find any more than three people would make it more crowded there than here.”

Poppy grinned and shook her head. “That’s sweet, but I’m sure the three of you wouldn’t mind having a little time alone.”

I blushed, but I didn’t deny it. The only thing I wanted was to be alone with my guys for a little while longer. If the past couple of days had proved anything, it was that nothing in life was guaranteed. I wanted to make the most of each minute, each second I had with the friends and loved ones I’d chosen to surround myself with.