Uriel stepped toward me, smiling at me like I was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. “If you try and suck out anyone’s soul, I’ll bash your teeth in. I got you, kid. We all do.”
With a sniffle, I swallowed around the emotion clogging my throat. “Thank you.”
Gideon squeezed the back of my neck, and I smiled wetly up at him. Obie took Uriel’s hand in his. Jael leaned into Isaac as he hooked an arm around their shoulders. Deborah’s lips tipped in the minutest of smiles, and Jai pecked Noel’s temple.
“I feel like we need to hug this out,” Isaac said seriously.
Everyone balked at that. I shook my head, but Isaac ran at me anyway. I screeched as he tackled me, his enthusiasm taking me by surprise. I lost my balance, falling back into the mud. Someone—Jai, I thought—shouted “Dog pile!” and I was soon crushed under the weight of way too many bodies.
Barely able to breathe, I laughed until I was crying. Isaac, Jael, Noel, Jai, and even Obie joined me in the mud. Our weird group hug turned into a mud fight, and soon, even Uriel, Gideon, and Deborah got roped in. By the time it was over, we were all covered head to toe in muck.
A misty rain sprinkled over us as we lay in the mire, and I stared into the sky with a smile. “I’m gonna do my best, I promise,” I said, and the voices around me quieted. “I want to be who you need me to be. I’m not always in control, but I’m gonna try really hard. And I’m gonna fight with all I have. It will be an honor to fight beside all of you.”
“Stop being cute!” Jael lobbed a chunk of mud at me. “You’re gonna make us feel all gooey.”
“Yeah, and we’re badasses. We don’t get gooey,” Isaac said.
Obie lifted his mud-covered hand. “I feel gooey.”
I nuzzled Jai’s messy cheek and laughed.
When we trudged into our house later that evening, mud had crusted in places mud should never be. Gideon’s hair stuck up on one side. Noel had grit between his teeth. Jai’s beard was caked in muck. I swore I had flakes of dried mud tugging on my pubic hair. We were a mess.
“Don’t you dare track mud through this house,” Gideon grumbled as we all stopped in the entry to remove our shoes.
Gideon shucked off his boots first, then sent me a mischievous grin. “Dibs on the first shower!” he bellowed before sprinting to the stairs and taking them three at a time, moving faster than anyone his size should have been able to.
Jai, Noel, and I watched him go, flabbergasted at his playful laugh echoing behind him. Then we eyed each other for a moment before scrambling toward my ensuite bathroom. Noel started stripping in the hall, tossing his soggy shirt to the floor. Jai tripped me on purpose, shoving Noel against the wall to take the lead.
Leaping to my feet, I chased after a screeching, half-naked Noel and a laughing Jai. Noel tackled Jai on the threshold of my bedroom, and I climbed over them, my heels digging into Jai’s shoulder and Noel’s spine.
Jai snagged my ankle as I soared over them, and I crashed to the carpet with a yelp. As Noel struggled to peel his pants off, he tripped over his own feet, his underwear caught around his thighs. Laughing so hard I was crying, I wrapped my limbs around Jai like a koala, and he dragged me with him as he stumbled into the bathroom.
When he tickled me, I dropped to the tile floor with a squeal. Clothes and all, Jai jumped into the shower and slid the glass door shut.
“No fair!” Noel groused as he sauntered naked into the bathroom. “You didn’t even take off your clothes.”
“You never set rules,” Jai said, opening the door enough to chuck his drenched clothes at Noel’s face.
“Asshole,” Noel mumbled under his breath as he dropped the wet clothes into the hamper.
As the steam billowed out of the shower, I wriggled out of my muddy clothes. Noel watched with rapt attention, and I rolled my eyes, fighting a blush.
“Enjoying the view?”
He grinned. “Very much.”
Shaking my head, I approached the foggy shower door and rapped my knuckles against the glass. Jai’s hand squeaked as it rubbed away the condensation. His face appeared, a smile stretching his lips. Then the door slid open a crack.
“Password?” He peered at me through the crevice, entertainment dancing in the one eye I could see.
I crossed my arms over my chest as Noel snorted behind me. “You’re an asshole?” he said.
With a chuckle, Jai shook his head. “Wrong password.”
“Um… I love you?” I tried.
“I love you too. But that’s not the password either.” Jai waggled his pierced tongue, and Noel grumbled under his breath about being cold. “I’ll give you a hint. The password starts with a p and rhymes with wenis.”
Both Noel and I burst into laughter.
“So mature,” Noel drawled.
“Password?” Jai barked.
“Erm, penis,” I mumbled around my chuckles, and he winked.
“Password accepted.”
As he slid the door open, steam washed over me, and I flinched as droplets from the showerhead ricocheted off Jai’s shoulder and peppered my face. He stepped back so I could enter the shower, but Noel shoved past me, jumping under the warm water before I could.
“Dick,” Jai said as he reached for me and drew me into the shower.
It wasn’t a small showering space, but with three of us, it was snug. Jai was mostly clean, suds sticking to his dark hair and beard. Noel hummed happily under the spray, tracking my every move as I stepped into Jai’s warm, wet body.
I sent Noel a reassuring smile before turning to Jai. I didn’t want to get him dirty again, but he didn’t seem to care as he tugged me close. His skin was wet and warm, mine muddy and chilled. I shivered as I kissed his sternum, then his collarbone. When our groins met, I hardened with a groan.
“This okay?” Jai whispered in my ear, and I nodded. “Good.”
Then he kissed me within an inch of my life. My erection throbbed with every heartbeat, and I moaned into Jai’s mouth as he tugged me flush against him. Our erections slid together, his longer and thicker than mine. His tongue plunged into my mouth as his hand grabbed my butt, squeezing.
“You’re all dirty,” Jai said between kisses.
“We’ll get you cleaned up,” Noel said, guiding me back until the water washed down my back.
Jai’s kisses didn’t falter, and I clung to his biceps as Noel ran soapy hands over my shoulders, back, and chest. The water was near scalding. Everything was slick and hot. Noel washed my hair, lips marking my shoulder as Jai sucked on my tongue, fingers cleaning every crevice of my groin.
“He’s so hard,” Noel said.
“Yeah, he is. You got him?” Jai asked, lips moving against mine as he spoke. Noel’s hands lowered to my waist as he made a noise of assent. Jai grinned against my mouth, then dropped to his knees.
“Oh my God!” I leaned against Noel as Jai replaced his hand on my erection with his mouth. I grabbed his wet hair and tugged as he sucked me.
Noel hummed. “That’s so hot.”
As Jai went down on me, Noel tilted my head back, rinsing the shampoo from my hair. Once I was clean, he kissed me. There was too much water, and we parted on a laugh.
“Jai, I’m close,” I warned him, and he pulled off me.