Silly me, I thought the First Annual Naked Noodle Challenge, as it’s been dubbed, was an anomaly, but I’m starting to realize it was just the tip of the iceberg that is the Brash Brothers.
They scattered as soon as we got in here, Micah only staying with me until I was settled in a wheelchair. He ordered the salesman to get me anything I need. Then he saw something shiny and took off.
Oh, he’s checking on me, always looking over to make sure I’m ok. Checking on me while he and Colt lay on the adjustable bed, traveling up, then down, over and over. Or during a wheelchair race with Declan. Or sitting in the safety bath while Jonas studied the sealing mechanism. Thank God there’s no one else in here for them to run over. They’re completely unfiltered and uncontrollable, goofing around like children.
I really want to play too.
Play’s never really been a part of my life. Not when I was a child, and definitely not while I was at college. Between schoolwork and working at the cafe, I barely had time to sleep. It was exhausting.
That’s probably why I fell for Brent's lies. I was so tired of being alone. I let the dream of having a TV perfect husband and marriage convince me Brent was exactly who he said he was. That he fell madly in love with me when he saw me. I ignored the red flags, and I just…let him take over. Take me over.
“Oh, there they are. That’s exactly the knee scooter I was mentioning to you!” The salesman is pointing as Jonas scoots by, his knee resting on a padded spot on the odd-looking scooter, his leg sticking out behind him, using the other leg to push himself around the store. He stops in front of us.
“Holly,” Jonas says, completely ignoring the salesman. “This is a much better option than crutches. I did some research, and crutches can be very dangerous. You could slip, or strain your shoulders, causing further injury. This would be a much safer choice for you. It’s very easy to operate. Would you like to try it?”
He’s so earnest. So serious. And he researched for me? I smile up at him, still a long way up even though he’s one of the smaller brothers. These men are massive. “I’d love to try it.”
Jonas slaps at the salesman’s hands, moving to help me out of the wheelchair himself. He asks for permission before wrapping an arm firmly around my waist, letting me use his other arm to balance as we take a few steps to the scooter. As I’m trying it out, Declan, Colt and Micah go tearing by on knee scooters too. I laugh in disbelief, my wide eyes meeting Jonas’s.
“We’re children,” he says calmly.
“It’s a little unexpected.”
He hums, nodding in agreement. “We weren’t always like this…well this bad.”
“What do you mean?”
“When your childhood gets cut short the way ours were, there’s no time for play. We were too busy surviving. When we were all together, we’d goof around some, but mainly, we were focused on building something that couldn’t be taken away from us. Something that was just ours. We’ve done that.”
“And then some,” I say with feeling.
“And then some,” he echoes with a small smile. “Now, we play. A lot. None of us have to work, but we do because we enjoy it. But now, we play too.”
“Most guys as rich as you all are would be racing cars and flying around the world, not racing around on knee scooters.”
“We’ve done some of that,” he says, distaste coloring his voice. “It got boring fast. Having fun together, playing the way we would have if we’d all lived different lives…well I’m sure psychologists could write a large book about our dysfunction, but…” He shrugs his shoulders, unconcerned with what anyone thinks.
I watch the guys zooming around the store as I sift through flashbacks of my life. All the times I wasn’t allowed to be a child either. “I get it.” I say softly. “My life has felt like an exercise in survival. When I got away from Brent, I finally had a chance to do some of the things I’d always wanted to.”
“Like what?” he asks. He doesn’t meet my eyes, but his focus is now completely on me, seemingly tuning out the yells and laughter behind him.
“Little things really.” I say, embarrassed. “I started crocheting again. I’m not very good, but I always enjoyed it. Brent hated it. Thought I was being lazy. I made a blanket.” I smile up at him, remembering how proud I was to lay it on my cheap couch. My smile fades. “It’s gone now.”
“I am very sorry that you lost your home, Holly.” His words are so formal, but I can feel their sincerity.
I blink back tears. “Thank you, Jonas.”
Colt, Declan and Micah pull up in front of us. Micah dismounts, crouching in front of me and my knee scooter. “How’s this working for you? Want to take it for a spin?”
I laugh, nodding. “Why not?”
Jonas disappears, reappearing with another scooter, and the guys escort me around the store, or ‘the track’ as they call it, weaving around displays of compressions socks and toilet risers.
And I laugh.
More than I think I’ve ever laughed in my life.
We come to a stop in front of the salesman, all grinning like loons.
