BEAUTIFUL CRAZY

five. clouds were pretty

Wren smiled as she followed behind Kate and Javi, her duffle bag slung over her shoulder and her eyes took in everything around them.

People milled around almost every car, there was a small fire going and a few people sat around it with their guitars. Shw loved singing around a campfire.

“Hey, Cortez, Kate’s bailing. But you wanna hang out later?” Javi asked, turning towards her as Kate waved, making her way towards the stairs.

“Um… thanks, but I really think Kate and I should talk.”

He sighed, but nodded, “let me know how it goes.” He patted her shoulder a little before making his way towards his room and she followed after Kate, meeting her on the stairs.

“Since we’re bunkmates, maybe we can talk finally,” she adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Kate nodded, making Wren smile and just as they turned to make their way up the rest of the stairs they passed a big red truck.

“Wren.” Tyler smiled at the girl before looking over at Kate, his brows pinched. “City girl?

“Whoo!” Lily cheered, making Wren laugh as she leaned against the rail.

“Hey,” Dexter greeted.

“Hi, Wren!” Boone waved, a smile on his face as he stood on the roll cage around the bed of the truck.

“Hey, Boone,” she waved, smiling at him. He was like a little puppy, a puppy she had quickly grown fond of.

“The cells to the west will choke each other out, she said,” Tyler mused as he repaid something on the stop of the truck, Wren assumed it had been damaged earlier. “The one to the east will put on a show.”

“Well, didn’t throw you off the scent,” Kate smirked, leaning against the rail next to Wren.

“Hey, that’s what makes Tyler famous,” Boone bragged about his best friend.

“Is he now?” Wren hummed, smiling at the way Tyler seemed to blush.

“You mean on YouTube,” Kate quipped.

“Y-yeah.” Boone nodded, “We’re on the YouTube. We got what? ‘Bout a million subscribers now, huh?” He looked down at the rest of the crew, getting confirmation from Lily.

“Uh, Kate and Wren what?” Ben asked, getting their attention. “Your surnames just in case I include you in my piece.”

“Oh, um, just Kate’s fine,” she told him.

“No need to include me,” Wren shook her head. “I don’t chase. Just a bartender.”

“Just a bartender, my ass,” Lily muttered, shaking her head a little as she looked up at the girl. “Girl’s got pipes.”

Tyler grinned as Wren blushed before letting her head hand forward, her hair cascading around her face. It was a little messy, but she still looked amazing. “She’s a tricky one,” he mused -- meaning Kate -- and Wren looked up, meeting his eyes again and she softly bit into her bottom lip.

“Actually, y-you made a good call earlier,” Boone motioned to the blonde with his beer can. “The other cell, it looked stronger, but the cap never broke.”

“What’s a cap?” Ben asked, completely clueless.

“It’s a temperature inversion in the mid part of the lower atmosphere. It inhibits a storm from forming,” Dexter explained, getting a nod but Ben still seemed confused.

And Wren made a mental note to remember that.

“Where’d you guys all meet?” Kate asked, and Wren tilted her head to the side, her eyes watching as Tyler continued fixing what had broken -- she liked a man that was good with his hands. “Did you, uh… did you study meteorology at the U of A?”

Dexter, Lily and Dani chuckled, all shaking their heads, but it was Boone that spoke, “All right, Kate, me? You know, I just flow with the wind. You know what I’m saying?” He took a sip of his beer, “Yeah, I-I never went to, like, school or nothing.”

“Hey, me either.” Wren mused. “We're cut the same cloth, Booney.”

He smiled as he continued, “Tyler, he… he studied meteorology, though.”

“Really?” Wren hummed, her brows pinched a little.

“Him?” Kate raised an eyebrow, not believing it at all.

“Yeah! You know, he’s a cowboy scientist.”

“Cowboy scientist,” Wren repeated, a smile pulling at her lips as her eyes met Tyler's once again.

“You know, he’s got this natural instinct–”

“Okay, Boone,” Tyler muttered, and Wren enjoyed how he squirmed just a little under the praise.

But Boone kept going, “he taught me everything I know. So–”

“Boone,” he cut in a little more firmly, silencing his best friend as he looked up at the blonde. “You know, our crew’s not like your crew, Kate. We don’t need PhDs and fancy gadgets to do what we do. I guarantee you, these guys have seen more tornadoes than anyone else in this lot combined.”

She raised an eyebrow, a sarcastic smile tugging up the corner of her lips, “Is that right?” Wren took a breath, her eyes dropping to the ground for a moment, she had seen plenty but there was only one that truly left its mark on her – physically and emotionally.

“Do you think there’s a chance we’ll see one tomorrow?” Ben asked almost nervously.

Dani tossed him a beer can, but it hit his arm before hitting the ground, “oh, yeah.”

“Oh, yeah,” Boone nodded. “Outbreak, baby.”

“You know, if you two can keep up, we’ll put you in the episode.” Tyler told them, before raising his beer to his lips and Wren followed the movement, watching as his Adam's apple bobbed.

“Wow,” Kate mumbled sarcastically.

“Where you chasin’ tomorrow?” Lily asked, looking up at them.

“Oh, no. No, no, no,” Tyler cut in before Kate could answer. “Not falling for that again. Kate’s from New York. Can’t trust a thing she says.”

“Well, you can always trust a guy that puts his face on a t-shirt,” she shot back before making her way up the stairs and the all oohed, teasing him.

“I’ll, uh, be up in sec,” Wren called after her, getting a nod in return.

“Wanna join us?” Boone asked, looking up at her.

“I actually have to talk to Kate, but, uh…” she glanced at Tyler, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Boone, can you do me a favor?”

“What is it?” He nodded, leaning towards her, his hand locked around the roll cage to hold himself up.

She leaned over the railing, her feet dangling a little as she bent at the hips, getting closer to him as she lowered her voice, “can you get his hat for me? Sure it’s around here somewhere.”

“You got, darlin’,” he grinned before jumping down and making his way towards the cab of the truck.

“What are you up to?” Tyler asked, eyeing her as a smirk rested on his lips.

“Nothin’,” she shrugged, her own smirk on her lips. “So, those fireworks today… that was something else.”

“Yeah?” he tilted his head to the side, “that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“We’ll see,” she hummed, and he smiled.

“Got it!” Boone shouted, holding Tyler’s cowboy hat in the air, making the others laugh as he made his way towards the staircase.

“Boone, no, Boone-” Tyler tried to stop him, but he tossed the hat up and Wren quickly snatched it out of the air. “Really?” He huffed a little, but the smile never left his face, even when Dani and Lily started teasing him.

Wren grinned as she placed it on her head, her eyes never leaving his, “Thanks, Boone,” she hummed then she peeled her eyes from Tyler and turned. “I’ll see ya later, cowboy. You can get your hat back then.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he hummed, his eyes following her as she made her way up the stairs but she stopped.

She turned back around, digging in her pocket. “Also, here’s a twenty. Read about you guys online last week, it's for a good cause.” she squatted down and stuck her arm through the bars, Lily reached up and took the cash. “Y’all have a good night.” She pushed herself up, tipping the hat down a little as she finally walked away. Tyler couldn’t peel his eyes off of her until she disappeared into the room she shared with Kate.

“Hey, I- you’re wearing his hat.”

“Apparently scientist cowboy is my type, who knew?” She shrugged, dropping her bag onto the floor before sitting on the foot of the bed. “Look, if you're still up for it, I’d really like to have that talk now.”

Kate smiled, nodding her head as she patted the spot next to her, Wren smiled and moved to sit next to her, “but you have to take that ridiculous hat off.” Wren laughed, moving it from her head and sitting on the foot of the bed. “So, how do we…”

Wren shrugged, not really knowing where to start, “I know I’ve said it before, but I’m sorry. Maybe if I hadn’t been there, or if you just left me-”

“Hey, there was no way any of us were gonna leave you out there,” Kate reached over, placing her hand over the girl’s fidgeting fingers. “And it wasn’t your fault.”

Wren swallowed hard, “But if I hadn’t been there, you guys woulda gotten to the overpass faster. You could’ve helped Addy, not me, maybe she would be… and if I wasn't there then Jeb could've held on better. It-”

“Wren, it wasn’t your fault,” she squeezed the girl’s hands a little. “Even… even if you hadn’t been there, there’s no guarantee any of them would’ve made it.”

Wren just nodded, taking a deep breath as she blinked back her tears. She had heard it all before from Javi, from Savannah, from a therapist her doctor had appointed, hell even from Kate's mom. But hearing it from Kate was like this huge weight lifting off her shoulders, she could breathe a little easier. “I’m still-”

“You’ve been apologizing for five years,” Kate stopped her, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. “But you don’t have to. Nothing that happened that day was your fault.” Wren leaned into her, sobbing with the relief she felt. She didn’t realize that Kate was shouldering just as much guilt, if not more than she had been. “I’m sorry I pushed you away, I just…”

“I was this random girl that wouldn't go away after a really  bad day. Annoying as hell, I bet.”

Kate chuckled, “a little. But when you stopped coming ‘round it was like something was missin’. Like I’d gotten used to you being around without even realizing it. Today was good, having you around was good. And you’re a hell of a chaser,”

They both laughed at the sarcastic comment, “all I did was sit in the back seat, muttering fuck, like, thirty times,” she mumbled. “I’m no good at that stuff, the numbers, the big words…” she shook her head.

“Maybe not, but you knew the west was the better storm.”

She shrugged a little, still leaning against the blonde, “clouds were pretty.” Kate laughed, a loud sound that had Wren joining her as they leaned back against the headboard.

“I can teach you, if you want,” she offered before her eyes landed on the cowboy hat at the foot of the bed. “Unless you want to learn from the cowboy scientist,” she teased.

“Don’t make fun,” Wren elbowed her a little before she leaned forward and grabbed the hat, sitting in her lap. A wide smile pulled at her lips as she looked over at the blonde again, “how mad do you think Javi would be if he found I had a massive crush on Tyler?”

“Um… yeah, good luck with that.” Kate patted her shoulder before pushing herself up. “I’m gonna get ready for bed.”

“Okay,” she hummed toying with the hat. “Hey, Kate, don’t wait up for me.” Kate chuckled before disappearing into the bathroom. Wren quickly pushed herself up and made her way towards her bag, she smiled as she pulled out a tight crop top and a pair of cut-offs. Then she stripped, looking down at her underwear, before opting to grab the matching lace set she had tucked into the side of her bag.

“Kate, I’m headed out!” She called out once she was dressed.

“Have fun!” Kate called back, making the girl laugh as she placed Tyler’s hat on her head before opening the door and leaving the room.

NOVA SPEAKS

love love love this book!

it's good to be writing again, for a while there it was a struggle and i'm not entirely sure why but i'm happy to say that now my writer's block is gone!

also, i don't write smut - not any good at it - but this man has been wantin' to do things i've never done before lol