"We're just glad to have you back Genevieve." Dr Lea says, handing me three new bottles of my prescription. It's been two full weeks since our escape, and honestly... I've never felt better. "Please take it easy from now on though, the stress that you've been through hasn't done your body any good. You need to focus on relaxing and getting back to normal."
"Yes Doc." I say, jumping up from my chair and giving her a bright smile. Will things ever go back to normal? I don't think that she realises that this is my new normal. "I don't intend on running away again until next month. It's only fair that I let everyone recharge before I strike again."
"Well when you do, keep taking your drugs like you did this time." She rolls her eyes, dismissing my sarcasm.
"See you!" I muse, slipping through her office door with a wink.
In the past two weeks, everything has gone by pretty quickly. Junior year is coming to an end in the next few weeks and thankfully, none of us have to retake the year. Lorrie and the boys have slipped back into their usual routine, training and upholding the family business. But unlike a few weeks ago, they now seem to allocate time each week for family, to savour every moment with their loved ones, especially each other. Friday nights have now become the weekly Federico's night, so that all of us can spend time together and be teenagers, nothing more and nothing less. Seeing the boys act like boys is starting to melt my heart. At first I didn't realise how different the Shelley's and The Rose Street boys truly are. Sure, they all have their fancy guns, flashy vehicles, connections to higher authorities, safe houses and expensive technology, but what Rose Street has that the Shelley's were lacking is what makes Rose Street so undefeatable. Family. Talking about family... It's taken a lot of persuading and apologising to convince Mom to let me have my independence back. The first few days after I had returned home, I was kept on a strict house arrest, unable to go anywhere but the garden. After a while, Mom began to realise that this new lifestyle wasn't the healthiest, especially when my frequent visitors became increasingly adamant that I needed to get out and find my new normal again. The influx of Italian gangsters that kept mobbing the front door with flowers and chocolates became too much for her and eventually, she let me have my freedom, with the condition that I stay with Lorrie when I am out and return home by six o'clock at night. Slowly, but surely, she is becoming more lenient with me as I prove to her that I will never do something as reckless again. But it will take time, and I owe her that time. I owe her everything.
I make my way out of the clinic doors, taking in the humid gust of air that attacks me. It's weird to think that I used to live in Oklahoma, how long ago that feels. These days, I couldn't imagine living anywhere other than Phoenix. This is home. Glancing around the car park, I spot the black Chevy immediately and make my way over with a skip in my step.
"Still breathing?" Lorrie asks when I slide into the passenger seat.
"Only just." I reply, leaning over and giving him a peck on the cheek. Turning to face me, he suggestively lifts a sharp brow. "Don't look at me like that, we need to get home before everyone arrives."
"We can spare five minutes." He teases as his green eyes drift down to my lips.
"Lorrie." I protest, pointedly looking at the steering wheel. "Now is not the time to be angering my Mom."
"Hmm..." he seems to consider this for a moment, weighing up our punishment for being late. "No, you're right. You definitely get your scariness from your Mom."
With that, he starts up the engine and pulls out of the parking space, one hand resting on my thigh.
......
As soon as we pull up home, the Fletcher BBQ is already in full swing. Cars and trucks fill the drive way, boxed up against each other like sardines in a can. From outside, I can already see Mom and Maddie working away in Gran's kitchen, filling up jugs of juice and cutting cakes for the guests. The atmosphere is buzzing, diffusing into my body to make me extra excited. I release a little squeal, happy that I get to see everyone together.
I turn my head to see that Lorrie is already watching me, his eyes warming at my giddiness.
"I don't know what they put in them pills," he starts, opening his door, "but I'm pretty sure that they're making you slightly crazy."
"No dear, that's just you." I reply, getting out of the car and joining him at the front.
We make our way inside together, hand in hand, but before we can even get into Gran's kitchen, we're both smacked in the face with a wave of energy.
"Oh my gosh, Gen! Ren!" May squeals, running over to us in her little yellow sundress, similar to the one that I'm wearing. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? ESSIE HAS EATEN ALL OF THE PIZZA."
I give Lorrie an amused look, breaking off contact with him so that I can give her a hug.
"How about we stop stressing?" I chuckle, letting her grab my hand and drag me towards the garden. Lorrie makes to follow us but is cut off by Mom, carrying a tray full of plates loaded with crisps and salsa. Being the gentleman that he is, he takes them from her and goes to help her in the kitchen. My heart squeezes a little, I am one lucky girl.
Outside, the garden is swarming with neighbours, school friends, and Rose Street boys. The whole gang is here, much to my amusement, gathered in the pool. They seem to be playing a very intense game of volleyball with an invisible net, keeping every female in the garden entertained beyond measure. Morgan, who is sat with Julianne, Piper and Dalia, looks like her usual self, if not a little paler than she used to. But happy, nonetheless. I make my way over to her, ignoring the protests of the boys in the pool.
"Gen, don't you dare walk past us!" Valentino shouts, splashing in mock-fury and I ward him away with my hand. "I'll come get you myself if you don't come play."
"Don't make me splash you." Esidore teases, splashing over to the side of the pool nearest to me. I pick up my pace, avoiding his threats like the plague.
"Your Mom is seriously the coolest." Dalia says, squeezing up to Piper on the sunbed so that I can fit on. I take my place beside her, letting them all squish up to me in a group hug.
"Yeh," I reply, glancing back towards the house where Gran sits with George and Fran, chatting about goodness knows what. "They all are."
"You know what else is the coolest?" Piper chips in, leaning forwards to look at the pool of fitness freaks. "The evening's entertainment."
"Hottest." May corrects, fanning herself dramatically with her small hand. "I have no will-power."
"Guys." I moan, laughing as they all bat me away.
Suddenly, a loud splash sounds from the pool, gathering our little group's attention. To my despair, Esidore launches himself up out of the water and starts to jog towards our sunbed, oblivious to the dozens of glazed eyes that follow him and his rack of muscles.
"Please come play." He pleads like a child, focussing on us. The other girls focus on his exposed, dripping midsection. If he notices, which is pretty impossible not to, then he doesn't react. I glance around him at the other boys in the pool, who all grin devilishly and coax us to them with their hands.
"Hell yeah." May says automatically, pushing herself up from the sunbed. This causes a chain reaction from the other girls. Do we really have no will-power when it comes to them? What a silly question.
"Oh for goodness sakes Essie." I mutter, trying to contain my grin.
......
A few hours later, all six of us are kitted up in our bikinis, split up between the boys. Most of the guests have migrated inside of the house now, as the evening begins to transform the blue sky to navy. I'm in a team with Valentino, Gianni, Essie, Piper and Morgan, but we're losing horrendously. It doesn't help that Essie keeps diving into the other team players 'by accident' and deducting points from our side. Again, he successfully tackles Pierro under the water, just before he can dive for the ball.
"Essie!" Pierro growls, wrestling him back with some struggle. "Don't make me drown you amico."
Essie fakes heart break, letting him go and clutching his chest with his hands.
"You wouldn't dare." He says, trying not to laugh. As they start fighting again, I turn around to see Lorrie making his way towards the pool, a smirk playing at his lips. The poor boy has been slaving for Mom all night in my place, but strangely, I don't think that he minds one bit. The attention that he receives from Mom and Gran is enough to fill an aeroplane.
"You guys really are an embarrassment." He comments, breaking up the fight with his authority.
"Let's take a ten minute break." Gianni says from the steps of the pool. "Let them two bromance it out."
Essie flattens him with a wave of water in response.
"Good idea." Julianne comments, jumping up onto Morgan's back in the shallow end. "I need food anyways."
Everyone splits off into smaller groups and makes the most of their break, heading off to the bathroom and towards the food table. I, however, remain exactly where I am and turn to meet Lorrie's intense eyes. It still surprises me, the feeling that I get when his eyes meet mine. The only way to describe it is like a bolt of electricity running free through every single one of my cells, setting my whole body on fire.
"Get in." I say, coaxing him with my finger. A devilish look flashes through his green eyes as he examines me, starting with my wet hair, rolling down to my half-submerged body and finishing at my bare legs beneath the water. I have to refrain from covering my bikini-clad chest with my arms; that would only provoke him further. Unlike normal, his eyes stop exploring quickly.
"You don't need to tell me twice." He replies, cutting his inspection short so that he can roll his T-shirt over his head to expose his unbelievable figure and slide his jeans off to reveal his black boxer shorts. Don't stare, don't faint, don't explode. I laugh to myself as he quite literally bombs in, only sparing a few inches between us.
"Lorrieeeeeeeee!" I squeal as a wave of water engulfs me, making me look like a drowning cat. Getting into the pool with six Rose Street boys and five leggy supermodels, in my bikini, made me feel like a muffin. Now, stood here drenched, still looking like a muffin, makes me chuckle to myself.
He emerges quickly and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer into him. Our bodies automatically respond to each other, moulding together like two complementary pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
"Yes, my dear?" he replies chivalrously, whipping his dripping black hair from his eyes with a flick of his head.
"You drive me crazy." I say, glancing around the pool at the amused remaining members of the group. The blue pool lights drown his face, colouring the pair of us in blue tones that ripple across our skin like the lights of Times Square. Man, I love this boy.
"You knew exactly what you were getting yourself into Bumblebee." Letting go of my waist with one hand, he pushes my drenched mop of hair from my eyes, gently caressing my face with his hand as he does so.
"That, I did." I whisper, triggering a dazzling grin from him. Wrapping my arms around his wet neck and closing the little distance between us, I watch as his beautiful eyes scour my face with a heated tenderness that still manages to melt my heart. "And I wouldn't change a damn thing."
Author's note:
(( This chapter is dedicated to @LayaG0, thank you for your support girl! It means the world to me <3 ))
As for all of my other readers and general supporters, thank you, thank you, thank you for reading my book. Even if you read a single chapter. I can't get over how much you guys have connected with this book, through Lorrie and Gen, through the boys, through the plot, even through my style of writing. It honestly melts my heart. It's fair to say that I've fallen in love with this book as I've written it. I didn't start with a detailed, in depth plan of how the plot was going to develop or a guide to how I should write my story, even though many people advised me to. Instead, I put pen to paper and used my heart to guide it. I really hope that it has worked. Don't get me wrong, there have been a lot of drafts, deleted chapters and angry laptop shutdowns during this process. Doing this wasn't easy, but it has definitely been worth it. I hope that you're happy with the ending of this first book...
That's right. First book.
I'm so excited to announce that I am already planning and drafting the beginning of the next book in The Rose Street Boys series: Run For Me. You won't have long to wait...
Once more, a huge thank you and an even huger hug.
-Emily