I look back just as Deacon smiles and directs his attention to the ground. "Sounds like a good idea."
His mother is watching them from the top when I look up, and she gives me a soft, somewhat appreciative smile that I don't understand.
Deacon jogs up the steps ahead of us, kissing his mother on the top of her head, before he walks in.
She speaks just as we step in front of her.
"Care if I have a word with Lilah in private?" she asks Benson.
He looks to me for permission, and I shrug. I have no idea what she wants to say to me, but … I figure she may be worried for her son's health. My brothers did just throw pipe bombs at him.
Somehow I don't think telling her they weren't actually trying to kill him will mean very much to her.
"I'll go get out of my wet clothes," Benson says, looking at me again. "Hurry up and join me."
I flash a grin, then remember his mother probably isn't used to such insinuations. I forget how normal people behave and all that.
She's blushing when I look back at her, and Benson walks off, leaving us to speak.
"Fish fries are very casual. If you have jeans, I'd wear them. And a T-shirt. Boots are the best for any event around here. Bugs are vicious," I say, babbling.
It occurs to me that I've never spoken to a guy's mother. At least not a guy I was getting wild with.
Her gaze drops to my combat boots, and she smiles as she looks back up to me.
"Thank you."
My eyebrows go up.
"No problem," I say with a shrug. "Never dress up, and you'll fit in around here anywhere you go."
Her smile broadens. "I meant, thank you for what you did for my sons. Benson doesn't even question your loyalty to him. He let his brother come see you. Alone. Because even though he'd hurt you, he knew without a doubt you'd never cross that line just to hurt him back. Because of you, my sons are speaking-actually speaking with smiles on their faces-for the first time in nine years."
She takes a deep breath as I try to figure out what to say.
"So thank you," she says again.
"Deacon was legit trying to mend things between them and never tried anything when he came to talk to me. And besides, Benson knows I'd have shot him if he had tried anything," I say casually, then realize, once again, that's not a response for a normal person.
She laughs under her breath.
"With a BB," I amend, as though that makes it all better.
She sighs long and hard. "I complicated their lives by marrying John. I never had a clue it could go so wrong for them. And Sadie … " She lets the words trail off as she looks back at me. "It took one girl to tear them apart, and it took one woman to bring them back together."
She touches my shoulder, gently clasping it.
"Now, do you have some boots I can borrow?" She eyes my waist, and I eye her very elegant trousers. "And some jeans?"
To this, I laugh.
"Let's steal Benson's boat. I have an entire wardrobe. Pants might be short, but the boots will cover that. But hurry. Because Benson hates it when I steal his boat."
Her grin spreads so wide that it has to hurt.
"We'll make one quick stop by the Malones. I owe them for the paintballs, and I really, really want to try out that water cannon," I add.
Her laughter pours out as she quickly follows me down the steps.
I have to help her onto the boat, then I start willing the lift to work quicker as it slowly lowers us into the water.
Just as I get the boat pushed away from the dock and rev the motor, Benson comes running out, his eyes wide and horrified when he sees his mother in the boat with me.
I turn up the radio, blowing him a kiss, as the telling music plays.
I mean … the song couldn't have better timing.
"I love you, Benson Nolans!" I shout, which only gives him one minute of pause where his smile breaks across his face.
"Gotta break it loose, gonna keep it movin' wild, gonna keep it swinging, baby, I'm a real wild child."
The smile fades quickly as reality sinks back in and the song playing finally registers. He starts yelling, panicking, as I laugh manically and gas it across the lake. My brothers hear the song playing and race toward the end of my aunt's dock as I swing it sideways, getting just close enough. Absently I hear the squeal from Benson's mom as we rock hard in the water from the harsh turn.
They're just in their boxers, grinning hugely as they race toward us. "You boys want to shoot a water cannon?" I call out.
"Hell yeah!" they shout.
They leap into the boat, and poor Benson's mother's eyes widen when she sees how they're dressed.
"Hi, Mrs. Benson's Mom," Hale and Killian both say, working their way around the boat as I gas it again.
Benson is still yelling at us from across the lake as I crank the volume up louder. My brothers howl into the air like wolves as we take the bend, moving faster up the lake.
I love this boat. It's so much faster than mine.
I glance back, seeing his mother smiling now as she relaxes, and I return my attention ahead. The song starts over, and I smile bigger, realizing it really is fate. The town only plays this song on repeat when they think the Wild Ones have been too quiet.
The beaver flag is flying high in the distance, letting me know we're about to get exactly what I want. Malones love their fishing days.
"Mount up, boys! Payback time!" I yell over the sound of the loud motor and whirring wind.
Hale and Killian both man the water cannon, sharing in this moment, as I round the last corner. The Malones are all out on their dock, predictably fishing, completely unaware of what's coming, until suddenly they're being blasted.
Kylie screeches, diving away from her fishing pole, laughing uncontrollably when she sees it's me. She takes cover as her cousins and father start falling into the lake, and I loop around, coming back as more Malones start racing toward the dock, fully armed with their trusty paintball guns.
I'm laughing with my brothers as they swivel the cannon and make another pass, blasting them before those weak little things can make it to us.
I look back at Benson's Mom, realizing not all the paintballs missed us as I drive like a hellion back toward our corner. There's a yellow splatter on her shoulder, and her eyes are wide as she gawks at me, her hair whipping wildly in the wind.
She's clutching her arm underneath where she took the hit. No doubt that'll bruise. But battle wounds just mean you've seen the real town. And raised a little hell.
"Welcome to Tomahawk!" I shout, pausing for my brothers to howl again. "Home of the Wild Ones!"
Epilogue
Wild Ones Tip #3
You can't tame a Wild One. You just have to go wild.
One week later …
LILAH
Benson's body moves over mine as he pulls my leg up, getting a better angle as my back arches off the bed. He drives into me over and over, and I claw at his shoulders, panting for air as he picks up the rhythm.
I'm moaning when we hear the loud sirens howling in the distance. Benson doesn't stop, and I try to ignore the sound.
He comes down on top of me, his mouth sealing over mine, and the swirl of his hips is what does it to me in the end. I cry out, breaking the kiss, and Benson follows right behind me, shuddering as he groans into the crook of my neck.
Still on a high, I hear the sirens wailing relentlessly.
"We have to go," I say, almost breathless.
"What? Why?"
"Sirens."
He curses as he pulls out of me, and I rush to the bathroom to clean up. He's already stabbing his legs into his pants when I come back out.
"I've heard those sirens a total of twenty times since I've lived here and never had to go to one of those meetings before," he grumbles, and I grin as I quickly dress, pulling my hair up too.
"You were never with one of the four corners before. Something tells me this is about you."
"Me?" he asks, his face paling as he hurriedly pulls on a shirt. "Why me?"
"It was your boat that hit the Malones last week."
"You stole the boat! With my mother onboard! Now, despite the fact she was bruised and slightly terrified, she can't wait to come back. She's coming two more times this year. We may even do Christmas here, for fuck's sake, if they can get someone to chopper them in."
His mom totally thinks I'm awesome. I'd fist bump myself if it wouldn't be weird.
My smile only grows, and he follows me down the stairs, both of us rushing toward the dock. I hop down to the boat first, taking the helm.
He lifts me out of the driver's seat-expectedly-and deposits me to the seat next to him as he cranks the boat and gasses us toward town. I stand and move behind him, wrapping my arms around his neck as my lips trail up the soft beard that he keeps tamed.