I swallowed hard and forced a smile. “Hell yeah. I wanted to be Michaelangelo. You wanted to be Donatello. Branch always wanted to be Leonardo so he could be in charge.”
Dylan laughed. “Not much has changed then I guess.”
When the man in question slid out of his truck, my eyes ate him up like I was starved. Yeah, not much had changed. Especially this soul deep yearning I had whenever I saw him. I’d put it down to teenage hormones, but that wasn’t it. It was like my body knew that he was a piece of my puzzle.
Frankie grabbed my bag from the back of the truck and flung it over his shoulder. I was already sick of living out of a suitcase. I was desperate to unpack my clothes. Have some stuff. But Frankie and I were modern day gypsies, and everything we had that was even remotely sentimental and couldn’t be transported was in a secure storage locker in Tucson. For the last few years, we’d lived close to Frankie’s family in Tucson in the off season, with Frankie working for his uncle's construction business and I picked up ranch hand work where I could, or waitressing work when I couldn’t. I had no other skills except riding bulls. It was all I ever wanted to do, despite my brief dream of being a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
This year, I thought I might go to school during the break. Maybe find some kind of Plan B career because I knew more than anyone that shit could change in a heartbeat. You lost people you loved, dreams turned to ash. You needed something to fall back on.
Other than throwing their bags in their own room, Beau and Branch ended up in our room almost immediately. Beau wrapped me in his arms, and I snuggled into his chest, appreciating the smell that was uniquely Beau. “You hungry, Nugget? Want to go out or order pizza?”
I looked at the double bed and the single pushed against the wall. “Let’s stay in and eat pizza. Drink some beers. I...” I didn’t know how to explain that I didn’t want to be in large groups of strangers right now without sounding like I was losing it and was in desperate need of therapy. But Beau, my beautiful perceptive Beau, knew. He knew me.
“Sounds good. We passed a liquor store a block or so up, I’ll make a run now. Anyone want anything?”
Everyone seemed to agree on the same beer, which made it easy for Beau and difficult for me. How did I pick one of these guys without breaking my own heart, let alone theirs. I got lost in my own head as I unpacked my bag, hanging up my civilian clothes and my shirts. Frankie worked alongside me and it was a routine we’d done so many times that we moved around each other with innate ease.
Dylan chuckled as he hung his shirts beside mine. “You two are adorably domestic,” he teased, but there was a hint of something else under there. Maybe a touch of jealousy or envy or something. I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Frankie and I have been together for a long time. After the sixtieth time stepping on his toes, he’s learned to dodge quicker.”
Frankie snorted. “She’s not wrong. I can’t feel my little toe anymore because she crushed it so often in her boots.”
I looked over at Branch, who was lying on my bed, his ankles crossed and his eyes on his phone. His t-shirt had crept up a little, showing a long strip of tanned stomach. I wanted to trace my tongue down that strip. And then lower. As if he could feel my gaze, Branch’s eyes shot to mine and he smirked.
That arrogant asshole knew the effect he had on me. He always had which was why he knew what buttons to press. Dylan looked where I was staring, shaking his head. “I feel like I’m already on the back foot. These guys have such history with you, either in the past or in the present. I want something like that with you.” He frowned. “Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me, Tessa May Everett?”
Oh shit. Dylan Montaigne is asking me on a date. Tessa May of a year ago would be losing her ever-loving shit. Tessa May of today had butterflies in her stomach and a bad case of the feels. “Of course, Mr. Montaigne. What do you want to do?”
He waved me away, winking. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Beau arrived back with the beer and we each got a bottle. Someone turned on the television, but we all ignored it, just talking about everything and anything. About rides and stacks. About sponsors and the medical team. Which one of them had an alcohol problem, who was medically unfit to practice. We all had war stories about ornery bulls, or even ornerier Chute Bosses.
No one mentioned Junior.
No one mentioned our little arrangement.
We were just friends, shooting the breeze, eating pizza. The only real difference was that I surfed from lap to lap, but no one seemed upset when I was sitting with someone else, and the conversation didn’t even stop. I settled between Branch’s strong thighs and rested my head back against his shoulder, enjoying the low rumble of his voice against my cheek as he spoke about new protective gear and the governing body making head protection compulsory. I was all for it, but I could see the hesitation in Dylan’s eyes.
But he had bought a new helmet, and he was practicing with it, just like he promised he would. Dylan looked like the kind of guy who kept his promises. I yawned, the beer making me sleepy, and Branch’s arm tightened around me.
This casual intimacy had been another surprising feature of the night. Sexual tension between me and Branch was normally pulled tighter than a piano string, but tonight we both just seemed happy to exist in each other's space. His fingers had traced small lines up and down my thighs, but it was an off-hand movement. All of them had touched or stroked me at some point during the night like they just couldn’t resist.
The result was that I was now relaxed and horny as hell. I was a paradox.
“We should go back to our room and let you sleep,” Branch whispered against my hair, but it wasn’t a question.
I sighed and nodded, pulling away from his chest. He looked down at me, his sparkling blue eyes searching my face. “Why do you look sad?”
I bit my lip, looking around at the rest of the guys in the room. Beau and Dylan were chatting about something, I wasn’t sure what, but Frankie’s eyes were on me, like he could feel the shift in my emotions. “This was just really nice. I’m just sad that it’ll have to end.”
Branch frowned. “Why would it end?”
I let out a sad laugh. “Because I’m going to have to pick one of you eventually. This can’t go on forever. Then I will probably lose the rest of you.”
Branch’s arms squeezed me back to his chest. “Hmm.”
That was it. That was all he said. What the hell did ‘hmm’ mean anyway?
He kissed my temple then removed his arms from my waist. I wanted to pout at the loss of heat from his body but instead I climbed stiffly to my feet. Beau chugged the rest of his beer before coming over to me and wrapping me in his arms.
“Thanks for dinner and the good company, Nugget.” He gave me a big, wet kiss on my cheek and I scrunched up my nose, leaning forward to rub it back on his shirt. He grinned, tilted my head back and kissed my lips instead. It was a soft, tender thing that didn’t demand anything in return. “Sweet dreams, though with the way Dylan is eyeing you like you’re prime rib, I don’t think you’ll get much sleep anytime soon.”
I shook my head. “Doesn’t that bother you? That he and I might… you know?”
“Fuck? No, why would it bother me? Am I a little jealous it isn’t me?” He leaned forward until his lips were beside my ear. “Hell yes. But you aren’t a cow, Tessa May. I don’t have to brand you as mine. I want you to be happy, and if he’s bringing you pleasure, then why would I be bothered by that? I’ll probably be next door with my hand on my dick just imagining what they’re doing to you in here.” I gasped softly and that made him chuckle. “Besides, I know I’ll get a turn at tasting your body again soon enough.” He nipped my earlobe and I shuddered.