“What are we having for dinner?” he asked as soon as he stepped inside. “I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” I pointed out.
“I can’t help it. I have a fast metabolism. Now, feed me before I waste away into nothing,” he teased.
“I was thinking about ordering something for delivery. Is that an asshole thing to do when it’s storming?”
“It might be if you ordered during the height of the storm, but it’s not even raining yet. Where are we ordering from?”
Before I could toss out some suggestions for us to debate, my phone rang. I smiled when I saw Grant’s name on the screen. “Hello?”
“Hey. You busy?”
“No. Landon and I are trying to decide what to order for dinner. Would you like to join us?”
“Well, I was calling to see if you wanted to come with me to the clubhouse for the night. We’re supposed to have some bad storms tonight with possible tornadoes. The clubhouse has a basement, and we also have generators if we lose power. Landon is welcome to come too,” he said.
I moved the phone away from my mouth to ask Landon, but he was already nodding his head yes. “Yes, we’ll come with you.”
“Great. I’m leaving my house now. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes to pick you guys up.”
I ended the call and hurried to my room to pack a bag. Then, I rushed around the house gathering everything Kalen would need.
“We’re still going to get food, right?” Landon asked while he entertained Kalen.
I laughed. Sometimes, he had a one-track mind. “Yes. We can either stop and pick up something on the way to the clubhouse or order something when we get there.”
When Grant arrived, we transferred the car seat base to his truck and loaded our bags. I opted to ride in the back seat with Kalen. The storms hadn’t started yet, but judging by the dark clouds rolling in, it wouldn’t be long before they did. And the less I could see, the better.
“Does he know about you and storms?” Landon asked once we were on our way.
“Not yet. An opportunity hadn’t presented itself until now,” I said and directed my next words to Grant. “I don’t like storms. At all. I’m usually okay as long as I’m inside, and I prefer to be as far away from windows as possible.”
“Then the clubhouse will be the perfect place for you. My room doesn’t have any windows and neither does the basement,” he said.
I was surprised by his response. Except for my grandparents, Landon was the only person who didn’t make a big deal about it, until Grant. Usually, when I shared my fear of storms with people, they either wanted to know why or they would tell me the chances of being struck by lightning were slim to none. To be honest, I didn’t understand why more people weren’t bothered by storms. For me, it felt like Mother Nature was forcing me to play Russian roulette with bolts of electricity.
Landon clapped his hands together and changed the subject. “Let’s talk about food. What are we doing for dinner?”
“Copper’s having pizzas delivered,” Grant said.
“See, Blakely, you’re not the only asshole in town,” Landon joked.
“You said I wasn’t being an asshole!”
“What are y’all talking about?” Grant asked.
“Before you called, we were going to have something delivered. I asked Landon if ordering food for delivery during a storm was an asshole thing to do and he said no,” I explained.
Grant smiled. “You really are the most considerate person I’ve ever met.”
“Thank you,” I beamed. “I try to treat others how I’d want to be treated.”
Lightning flashed and caused me to flinch. I quickly closed my eyes and ducked my head while I waited for the impending rumble of thunder. A notification dinged on my phone. I knew it was the weather app telling me a lightning strike was within ten miles of my location, but I didn’t want to open my eyes to check and see how close it actually was. Thankfully, Landon didn’t have the same problem. “It’s okay, B. It was eight miles away.”
“How far are we from the clubhouse?” I asked.
“About two minutes,” Grant answered. “The parking lot will likely be packed, so I’ll pull up to the front doors and let you guys out.”
