More Than Forever Page 77


I must have unconsciously suspected what was about to happen because my arms are tight around her stomach. "Let me go, Cam! Let me go!"

I grip her tighter.

"Holy shit," Ethan chuckles.

"LET ME GO!"

I sigh, defeated, and then jerk my head at Lucas. "You got five seconds."

I wait until he's on his feet before releasing her. He runs. Fast. So he should. He laughs as she chases him around the yard until he's cornered. "I hope your dick gets whore poisoning and shrivels to its death! And then I hope all the girls see it and laugh at you! And then I hope it falls off! You can stare down at it and cry like a little bitch, just like you did when your pet hamster died!"

His laughter stops instantly. He straightens up, eyes narrowed, body rigid. "Don't talk about Princess Leia like that."

"Yeah?" she says, crossing her arms and cocking her hip. "Well, when your dick falls off we can bury it next to her." And then she pounces. She doesn't do much damage. He's six-two, built like their dad. She's tiny, and twenty pounds soaking wet. She's also weak as shit.

"Are you fucking biting me?" he shouts.

That gets laughs.

We all sit in silence and watch it play out. Her, somehow attached to his back, her arm around his neck and his forearm in her mouth.

"Fuck," he screams. "Cameron! A little help!"

I take my time getting up and lazily walk over to them. She tries to take me out, too, but I'm too fast and duck her hits. Awkwardly, I peel her off him. "Come on little stealth ninja, time to settle down."

By the time we sit back down, she's calm enough that I don't have to be on alert for any impromptu attacks. She's still upset, though. I can tell because her arms are crossed and she's pouting. "I hope she chokes on cock," she mumbles.

That gets more laughs.

"Whore," Amanda chimes.

Logan shakes his head at her. "Don't encourage it, baby."

Then Micky adds, "Dumbass."

"Yeah!" Lucy agrees. "I bet she's dumb. Really dumb! I bet the smartest thing that's ever come out of her mouth is cock. The fucking whore."

More laughs, even from me.

"Don't laugh," she clips.

I stop.

She growls. "I wish I could punch her in her ham wallet."

"Or..." Micky starts, her face lighting up with a smile.

"Or what?" Lucy asks her.

"Remember prom night... and James's truck?"

"Holy shit," Logan mutters. "Operation Mayhem?"

"What?" Ethan almost shouts. "You guys did that to James's truck?"

Micky covers her mouth to stop from laughing.

"He bitched about that shit for a month. I can't believe it was you guys."

"He kind of deserved it," Amanda says.

Logan sits up, resting his knees on his elbows. "It's not the same without Dylan."

And on cue, we silently bow our heads.

Lucas looks around before asking, "Why is—"

"Shut your whore loving mouth, Lucas," Lucy interrupts.

Then Jake leans forward. "We need a plan."

"We need supplies," Logan responds.

"We need a car," Micky adds.

Lucas clears his throat. "I have the minivan."

***

Operation Mayhem, which Lucy has not so subtly renamed Ho-peration Whore-hem, somehow consists of the following:

A tube of Superglue.

8 rolls of aluminum foil.

A can of spray paint.

A roll of duct tape.

16 cans of tuna.

A kiddy pool.

36 tubs of Jell-O.

12 tubs of chocolate pudding.

A concrete statue of the ugliest gargoyle Lucy could find.

6 bike locks.

And...

A mannequin.

That last one was the hardest. It took some heavy flirting on Logan's behalf. Luckily, Amanda was fine with it. She even encouraged it.

Lucas drives us to where he just got laid. Thankfully, it's a side street so no one will see, and even if they do, we hope they're drunk enough to find it as funny as we do.

He doesn't seem upset about what we're doing. If anything, he kind of seems giddy. I guess Lucy's excitement has worn off on all of us.

I lift her by her ass until she's on top of the car and able to climb in through the open sunroof. She unlocks the doors as Lucas opens the back of the minivan.

With everyone working, it only takes ten minutes.

We stick the open cans of tuna under the seats and hide them in the air vents. Lucas sits the mannequin in the driver's seat and superglues the seatbelt in place while Ethan blows up the kiddy pool and sets it on the roof, the statue being the centerpiece. The girls fill it with Jell-O and pudding, and whatever's left of the pudding is smeared into the car seats. I think Lucy enjoys that part the most. When we've completed the inside, Jake and Logan lock the statue and kiddy pool in place with the bike locks. And when they're done with that, Lucas and I cover the entire car, statue and all, with the aluminum foil.

We all struggle not to cackle with laughter, but it's so damn hard.

Standing back, we all take in the masterpiece. "This is our best one yet," Jake announces.

"Dylan would be proud," Logan muses.

We bow our heads for a moment of silence. And then we erupt with laughter.

"Why—" Lucas starts, but Lucy cuts in, "Shut it, slutslave."

"Fuck this is good times," Logan says. "I miss this shit!"

Jake pats Lucas on the back. "Leave your car here." He hands him a beer. "Crash at our place and get it in the morning. It's too late to drive home."

We take one more look at what was Roxy's car, laugh some more, and then start the walk back to Jake and Micky's.

Lucy holds my hand. "I love you, baby." She reaches up and kisses my cheek. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For letting me have this—closure."

***

I walk with my hands in my pockets, watching Lucas and Lucy in front of me with her hand on the crook of his elbow.

"Lachy got suspended from school today," he tells her.

"Again?"

"Yeah. You know that song from Frozen, Let it Go?"

"Yeah?"

"He kept singing it to his teacher."

"Well that's cute, right?"

"Yeah, only he changed the words. He keeps singing, 'Let it gooo, filthy hoooo," he sings.

Her head throws back in laughter. "That's all Little Logan."

"I know," he agrees. "Sometimes I wonder what Mom would think if she knew."

She shrugs. "She'd probably tell him to stop, but laugh about it when she was alone. She didn't care much for punishment."

"That's true," he says. "We're lucky to have you around to remind us of her. You're getting more and more like her."

"No." She shakes her head. "Mom was beautiful."

I want to cut in—tell her she's beautiful, too, but Lucas says it for me.

She leans up and kisses his cheek. "She had fire too. Remember that time Dad got the new kitchen and he measured it wrong? Everything was higher than it was supposed to be. She had to use a step ladder to open the top cupboards."

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