Where We Found Our Home by Natasha Bishop

 

Ciara

What in the entire fuck am I thinking? “I’d love to sit with you guys while you watch”? Have I lost my mind?

A long time ago, yes.

I roll my eyes at myself. The correct thing to do would’ve been to say, “Yeah, your uncle’s right. I shouldn’t watch TV with a concussion, so I’ll just go to bed. I’m sorry. See you in the morning.” But no. The cuteness of a five-year-old and the damn queen downstairs that zeroed in on Lincoln’s fine ass had me opening my big mouth.

And the worst part is that I actually am tired and I do have a headache.

This is not what I’m supposed to be doing. I left my family behind to start fresh somewhere else in the hopes that if he found me again I’d be alone and my loved ones would be out of danger.

How did I go from casually making small talk with Sasha and her daughter to staying at her house after a near death accident? And why in the hell did her brother have to be so gorgeous?

When I first opened my eyes and saw him looking at me, I was convinced I was dreaming.

When I got a good look at him in the hospital, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I’m five feet seven and he stands a good seven inches taller than I do. His chocolate skin stood out against his white T-shirt that was molded to his bulging biceps. He has a full beard and mustache, but I could still make out the dimple on his left cheek. His eyes are a warm, deep brown, and I swear they can see through to my soul. Even his damn bushy eyebrows are sexy. He was wearing jeans that hugged his muscular thighs but weren’t too tight, and all I could think about was wrapping my legs around them while he fucked me senseless. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that my head injury didn’t cause my confusion during Dr. Lewis’s questions. I think I kept getting flustered by Lincoln’s presence.

That damn man.

It has been too long since I’ve been interested in a man. I’ve been too busy focused on my survival, but Lincoln wakes up every sexual yearning in me.

I can’t go there. I should just go to sleep, but I promised Nevaeh I would come back down. I just need to get through this movie, then I can escape to the guest room, and tomorrow morning I’m getting the hell out of this house.

When I get downstairs, I find Nevaeh cuddled up with Lincoln on the couch, and the sight makes my chest ache. He’s adorable with her.

He’s got to have a flaw somewhere. He’s a man. Find it and hold on to it. It’s the only way you’ll get out of this unscathed.

Right. Flaws. I can do that.

“Hey there.”

Lincoln and Nevaeh swivel around to look at me. “Hey there, we weren’t sure if you’d want salty or sweet, so we have popcorn and we have M&M’s,” Lincoln declares, holding out a bowl of popcorn and a bag of M&M’s.

I flop down next to Nevaeh. “Oh, the answer is always both. Have you ever mixed your M&M’s with your popcorn?”

Nevaeh gasps. “Ooh, that sounds yummy! Do it, Linky. Dump them!”

He laughs, showing those perfectly white teeth of his. “Yes, ma’am.” He throws a piece of popcorn at Nevaeh’s nose then dumps the bag of M&M’s in. He dives right in to try the mixture and moans as he chews. Lordt. Strike me down now. I push my thighs together and hope he doesn’t notice. “I think you’re onto something here.”

“This is really good! How come I’ve never had it like this?” Nevaeh ponders.

“I’m kind of the queen of snack combinations.” I shrug.

“What else do you mix together?” Nevaeh gives me her full attention, anticipating the discovery of new food combos, and fuck, this kid is going to be my undoing.

“Peanut butter and maple syrup sandwiches. Potato chips and chocolate sauce. Ice cream and french fries. I’m a big fan of salty and sweet together.”

Nevaeh wrinkles her nose. “Okay, okay. Tato chips and chocolate sounds nasty, but I trust you.” Lincoln’s shoulders shake with laughter. Nevaeh is five going on twenty-five.

“Well, I’m honored to have your trust. You’re gonna like it, I know it.”

“We can try it next time you come over.”

Shit.

There can’t be a next time. I have to keep all interactions to the coffee shop.

Deflect. “So did you guys decide on a movie to watch while I was gone? Or in my case, listen to?”

Nevaeh claps her hands in excitement. “I wanna watch Coco but Linky wants to watch Good Burger, so you get to be the tiebreaker.”

“Ooh, both excellent choices. How am I to decide?” I pause for dramatic effect. “I’m going to say Coco.”

“Ha! I win, Linky.”

“Alright, the better person won this go-round, I concede.” He winks at me, and I feel it in my core. This is going to be a long night.

He cues up the movie, and I do everything in my power to focus on it. At one point, Nevaeh lays her head on my shoulder, and my heart melts.

When it’s over, Nevaeh is dead asleep in my lap.

“I’ll take her up to bed and be right back.” Lincoln scoops Nevaeh up with ease and carries her up the stairs.

Now would be a perfect time to escape to my room, but I make no effort to get up. I shake my head at my foolishness and chuckle to myself.

“You okay?”

Damn, for a muscular man he has quiet footsteps.

Well, say something before he thinks you’re a crazy bitch.

I am literally having a conversation with myself in my head so…he may not be far off.

“Yeah, just thinking.” Lincoln takes a seat next to me on the couch, closer than he was before, and I lose all focus. He smells like sandalwood and something else that I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s intoxicating.

“So I’m sure this isn’t how you saw your Thursday night going.”

“Definitely not.”

“I’m really glad you’re okay.” I look at him and the sincerity I see in his eyes threatens to undo me.

“Me too. Thank you for being there.”

“No thanks necessary. I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t get to you in time to stop it.” He tries to brush that off as a casual statement, but I can hear the pain in his voice. “So, do you have any family in the area? I’m just wondering if there’s anybody we should’ve called for you.”

My hackles rise. I should’ve known the personal questions were coming. What’s crazy is that a part of me wants to share with him, and that should alarm me. I guess I can tell him a little about myself, but nothing about the past two years.

“No, no family here. I moved here from Baltimore. I should call them and let them know, but it can wait until tomorrow. I don’t need them worrying tonight.”

“What made you move here?”

A deranged asshole.

Hush.“I needed a change. To be honest, I chose this city at random. I made a top five list of cities I wanted to visit and picked one out of a bowl.”

“Really? That’s kind of awesome. What cities did we beat out?”

“Memphis, Houston, Portland, and San Francisco.”

“Well, I happen to think Austin is the best of those options, but I’m biased. I’m happy our city won out.”

“Yeah. I am too, so far.”

But if I let you get too close, I may be going to one of those other cities anyway.

Do you have an off button?

I shake off my thoughts and immediately ask another question. “So were you guys born and raised in Austin?”

“Yeah. My dad is from here. My mom was raised in California but came here for college. She met my dad, and they never left.”

“That’s sweet. So tell me about your other siblings.” Ugh, what is wrong with me? Asking Lincoln questions only opens myself up for him to return the favor. But I want to know more about him.

He smiles and runs his hands down his beard. “Well, you know Sasha already. She gets under your skin in the best way and just stays there. She’s a firecracker. My oldest sister, Regina, she’s tough. She has the biggest heart but she will also cut anyone down who tries to fuck with her. My younger brother, Isaiah, is a fool but so damn lovable. My sisters won’t even ask him to babysit because he acts like a big kid himself half the time. He’s always been like that, but a few years ago he moved to Arizona for awhile, and when he came back he was a little bit lost. Since then he’s amped up the big kid routine.”

“What happened in Arizona?”

“He doesn’t talk about it.” I nod. I understand that better than anyone. He rolls right into another question. “What about you? Any siblings? I know your mom said never to let your kids outnumber you so I’m willing to bet you’re either an only child or only one sibling.”

I chuckle even though I cringed when I told him that earlier because I couldn’t believe I let a personal anecdote fly out my mouth so easily. “Only child here. My dad wasn’t in our lives so she was a one and done.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be. I didn’t miss anything.” He smiles at that.

We go back and forth asking each other questions, and I give him more information than I’d given anyone in a long time. He makes me feel comfortable, safe. I know that’s a problem, but I can’t stop spilling my guts.

“Wait, what? You’re a firefighter, like that’s been what you wanted to be since you were a kid. So you’ve always wanted to run into burning buildings and save lives and yet you’re afraid of…zombies?”

“Hey! I am not afraid of zombies per se, just the idea of a zombie apocalypse. That shit is scary! Haven’t you ever seen The Walking Dead? No, fuck that. The people are bigger monsters than the zombies on that show. Haven’t you ever seen 28 Days Later? Those fuckers were not only undead, they were fast! Terrified the ever loving fuck out of me. I used to beg my parents to let me make a bug-out bag.”

“Like with med-kits, weapons, and food?”

“Yeah, I wanted to have it packed so if anything happened I could take off. I told them we should each have one, but they said no.”

Oh my God, is this a flaw? No. Dammit, it’s adorable.

“Wait, wait. I’m sorry. Let’s back up. I thought we were talking about you as a kid.”

“We were.”

“But 28 Days Later came out in like 2007. How old were you then?”

He rolls his eyes. “Seventeen.” I burst out laughing. I did the best I could to hold it in, but I can’t take it anymore. “You laugh, but that shit is no joke. I was always afraid of them. The bug-out bag phase was when I was a kid, but when I saw 28 Days Later that just made me feel justified in my fear. I’d like to see you not be scared if one of those fuckers came at you.”

“No…you’re…so right. I’m sorry…” I croak out in between laughs.

“Yuck it up, Ci. If a zombie apocalypse were to happen now I’d be so ready. I’d make Rick Grimes look like a pussy, so you better be nice to me if you want me to allow you to travel in my group.”

“Oh, well excuuuuse me. And by the way, I was and will forever be #TeamShane.”

“Oh shit. A woman after my own heart.”

A moment of comfortable silence passes before I check the time on my phone.

“Wow, it’s late. I should probably head up to bed.”

“Yeah, you’re supposed to be resting, and I’m monopolizing your time.”

“Exactly, you monster.”

“As punishment, I banish myself to this lumpy couch while you go enjoy the plush bed in the guest room.”

“Hey, I earned that plush bed today. What’d you do today? Put out some fires, save some lives? Psh, child’s play.” I wink. A surprised laugh bursts out of him, and I want to hear more of it.

“I bow down to you.” He feigns a bowing motion.

“As you should.” I get up from the couch, and Lincoln rises as well. “Well, good night.”

“Good night, Ciara, sleep well. I set some alarms on my phone so I can wake up every few hours and come in to check on you.”

The thought of Lincoln coming to my room—to my bedside—tonight has me clenching my thighs again. “You know it’s funny, doctors tell you to rest for a concussion but also make sure you get no rest at all the first twenty-four hours.” He looks at me in confusion so I continue. “It’s just that I’m such a light sleeper so there’s no way I’ll sleep through you coming in to check on me.” I’m not really that much of a light sleeper, but that sounds better than “the thought of your fine ass being that close to me when I’m in bed is gonna keep me up all night so I’ll be up when you come in anyway.”

“You got a point there. It’s a conspiracy.”

“Definitely, we should make a subReddit about this.”

“Way ahead of you.”

“Goodnight, Linc.”

“Goodnight.”

I walk over to the steps then turn around again. “Hey, Linc?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

His lips turn up in a grin. “You’re welcome.”

As I close the bedroom door behind me and slide under the covers, I wonder how the hell I’m going to shake my attraction to this man.