The hospital was just coming to life, like a person waking up and getting ready for their day. Shift change and morning rounds were soon, so nurses and doctors were straggling into the building, steam from their coffee cups mingling with the muggy air. Metallic wrappers around breakfast tacos from the food truck that camps out around the corner glint in the sun. It was too early for visiting hours, but I could see a few family members taking advantage of the early rays of sun to take a breather.
Despite getting a phone call just after 6 AM that they needed me for a few hours this morning, I had a smile on my face as I greeted the security guard by the door and the other personnel that joined me on the elevator. My ward was a little livelier than the main part of the hospital—there was a patient getting transferred down for pre-op and nurses were moving around, getting ready for shift change as grumpy tweens and teens whined about being woken up.
Leah was coming out of a patient's room and narrowed her eyes at me as I made my way to the break room. "You're... perky," she commented with mild disgust, following behind me. When I stopped to put my stuff away, I could see her appraising everything from my shoes, to my scrubs, to my ponytail that was smooth instead of a sleepily thrown together mess. "You're on call and you got called in. At seven in the morning. Why are you in a good mood?"
"Would you prefer it if I was grouchy?" I countered and it only made her more suspicious.
"Did you get body swapped? Kidnapped? What drugs did they give you and can I have some?"
I rolled my eyes and opened my bag to pull out an extra breakfast taco that I'd grabbed when I'd stopped at the food truck. Leah pounced on it, snagging it from my hands and cradling it like it was the One Ring and she was Gollum. Shaking my head, I said, "Sometimes people just wake up in a good mood. Sometimes people wake up and they're bright, cheerful, and well rested."
Leah broke out laughing. "Yeah, some people. You're not some people. You're Joey, who never gets enough sleep and normally comes in here looking like a bear coming out of hibernation when you're on call. You're only well rested after you've—" Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh my god. You got laid, didn't you?"
I threw a pen at her head. "No, lizard brain. It's just a regular, run of the mill, good mood." I slept about the same as I always do, I'm just not the walking dead, today.
Undeterred, she went on. "Is it because you started dating? Is my sweet little Joey-girl in love?!" I glared at her and she squealed. "You have hot boyfriends and you're in love! I'm so proud of you."
A dented box of kleenex was the next item from my locker that was thrown directly at her and she dodged it. "I'm not in love. It's been like two days and we're not even actually dating yet."
Leah nodded sagely. "Yep. You're in love. You're normally not one to get all sappy and shit after you start dating somebody. Should we start planning the wedding? I have a really cute dress in mind for the bridesmaids—"
This time I threw one of my spare shoes at her and she didn't turn fast enough, groaning as it collided with her stomach because she was too busy protecting her breakfast taco. "Don't start that crap with me, I know you're just trying to pawn off your second choice of bridesmaid dresses on me." She'd been lamenting over having to choose for months now and hinting that the decision would be easier if she knew of another wedding she'd be in where the one she didn't pick could be worn. "Try with April, at least she's been dating Devin for a year now."
"Face it, cutie pie. You're just like us now. A kept woman."
I rolled my eyes, trying to hide how uncomfortable she was making me. Did they make me happy? Yes. But it felt like way too soon to be putting any weight on it at all. "I'm as committed to them as I was to Miranda, and you saw how that turned out."
She picked the kleenex box up off the floor and threw it back at me, although it started falling and hit me on the thigh instead of where she'd been aiming. "Shut up. Are they seeing anyone other than you?" I shook my head. "Congratulations, it's a massive improvement from your last situationship and about a million times more committed."
That was impossible to deny and when you factored in their enthusiasm, it was probably better than my last few attempts at companionship. The last person that had seemed as eager as me was Mr. I-Want-To-Get-Married. It was nice to be talking to people who didn't seem to just want to talk about themselves. They were genuinely interested in me and that was a high I hadn't been expecting.
So, yes. Maybe I was in a good mood even though I'd had my chance to sleep in a few hours stolen away, replaced by peddling meds and arguing with IT because the hospital computer system kept crashing. I was contemplating calling Freddie to hack in and figure it out himself when my phone buzzed. For a brief moment when I saw that it was Axel, I panicked thinking I'd forgotten to cancel plans but after skimming through my memory, I couldn't remember telling anyone I'd spend time with them.
Axel: Are you free this afternoon?
Ah. No plans, just hopes and dreams.
Joey: Sorry, probably not. 😢 I got called in this morning, so I'm going to have to do my yard work when I get home. This evening?
Axel: When do you get off? North and I can help.
Joey: You don't have to do that.
Axel: You can tell us or we can go camp out in front of your house until you get home. Your choice.
Stubborn, stubborn men.
"Uh oh," one of my coworkers said. "Joeys got that starry eyed look going on. Do you have another girlfriend already?"
Laughing, I sent a quick response to Axel telling him when I should be able to escape before I responded to her. "No. Just a guy I'm seeing that's being sweet." And stubborn. If he was being this bad, I didn't want to see what North would be like.
There was a chorus of 'ooohs!' but a patient call button cut it short. Of the nurses still hanging around, one of them started harassing another, wanting to know when she was going to find herself a man. While I'm not prone to embarrassment, I was glad they'd decided to leave me alone.
Hiding my relationships has never been a thing for me, but after the fiasco with Miranda, I'm not in the mood to share my personal life with my coworkers at the moment. Not when things are so up in the air and hard to explain. In the past, long distance and being vague has kept me from having to explain the whole polyamorous thing to the people at work, so we'd have to start from there and then add in the whole 'but we're not really dating, yet' part.
On top of that, I don't want to invite in too many opinions on how quickly I've jumped back on the horse, so to speak. I've been so mentally checked out from Miranda that it doesn't feel even remotely close to a rebound, but I know that's the conclusion some people are going to jump to. Since avoiding the rumor mill at work is my life's mission, I'm planning on skirting around it for as long as possible.
After working half of a shift and getting to listen to the nurse manager chew out the nurse that called out for not having a good enough excuse for being so late, I rushed down to my car before they found a reason to keep me any longer. Good mood or not, I wanted out of here. If you stand around for too long looking like you don't have anything to do, or sometimes even if you do have something to do, they'll find some way to keep you longer. Some super-important-can't-be-delayed task that they somehow hadn't designated to someone else and when you're done there's the good ol' oh-can-you-please-help-me-with-this.
No. I'm not falling for it.
Sliding into my car, I turned the air conditioner and the music on full blast. It always amazes me how quickly cars turn into easy bake ovens in the heat of summer. The moment I pulled off hospital property, I rolled down my windows with We're Not Gonna Take it blaring from my speakers, like I wouldn't have to turn right around and go back to work if they called me again.
When I slowed down to turn into my driveway, a truck was already sitting there, pulled over to the side where my brothers usually park. Axel was the first one out when I stopped outside the garage, climbing from the driver's seat and shaking his head as I turned the engine off. "Your neighbors must love you."
It's the middle of the day. They'll live.
North pushed his door shut and headed towards me. He held his hand out for my bags and when he had my backpack over his shoulder, he helped me out of the car. "Well, at least you don't look like you're going to murder me this time," North joked as he wrapped me up in a hug. "How was work, baby?"
"Other than getting called in, it was pretty good," I replied. Axel hugged me next before taking my lunch box from North's hand. "Come on in while I get changed."
When I pushed open the back door, I was met with Mr. Darcy standing in the way and meowing furiously at me. Every move I made, he was glued to my legs like he'd rolled in superglue, his eyes up on me as he protested instead of watching where I was putting my feet. He was so busy trying to trip me that Axel and North were already in the house with the door closed before he realized they were there. He stopped where he stood, tail going straight up and fluffing out furiously as his back arched warily.
The moment Axel took a step towards him, Mr. Darcy darted into the living room as Echo came trotting downstairs, meowing her greetings. Being the one who seemed least likely to be a cat person, she beelined straight to North to start rubbing all over his legs. North looked somewhere between being confused and being resigned before his face twisted and he looked up at me. "Joey... is your cat drooling?"
There were tiny little spots on his shoes and a teensy little puddle on the floor. When I first got her, I'd been terrified she had a tooth problem but no, she was just weird. "Oh, yeah. She only does that when she's really excited. She must adore you, already." He looked so befuddled it was hard not to laugh. "Cats love whoever likes them the least. It's written into their DNA; they're designed to be contrary."
"I know a couple of people like that," Axel commented nonchalantly, earning a glare from North, who was standing stock still like he was afraid to move and accidentally step on Echo as she continued to purr and rub against his shoes and ankles.
Figuring he could handle it since it wasn't like Echo was a drug dealer pointing a gun at him, I darted up to my room to change after telling them to get whatever they wanted to drink or snack on. Axel was laughing when I came back downstairs in jeans and an old t-shirt. "It's just a cat, North."
"Yeah, but it's Joey's cat. If I step on her, she's going to break, and then Joey's going to string me up by my balls and parade the rest of you in front of me as an example of what she's capable of."
He looked like he'd moved maybe a foot towards the island, but I could guess that my cat took offense to that and stepped directly into his path. Echo was currently rolled on her back on top of his feet, paws raised in the air in a position that looked cute and inviting, like she wanted belly rubs, but was actually a death trap. A twisted combination of submission and pure threat.
Taking pity on him, I bent down and grabbed her, lofting her into the air as she gave a weak, pleading meow, begging me not to ruin her fun. "Be nice to North," I scolded her, holding her in front of my face, her already ridiculously long body dangling like a ferret as she looked at me resentfully. I set her down on the floor and she immediately went to hide behind Axel, meowing her own complaints.
Leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, Axel's muscles bulged against the sleeves of his shirt. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start drooling the same way Echo was, for much less innocent reasons. The glow in his eyes told me that Axel knew which direction my thoughts had gone, but he went to business instead. "What all do you need to get done?"
Ticking the list off on my fingers, I said, "I have limbs down in the backyard and the side of the house from that storm a few nights ago that need to be picked up. Trash got blown all over the yard and needs to be cleaned up. I've got a thorny ivy that's taken off on the back of the garage that I need to rip out. Flower beds need to be weeded. And, since you're here, I'd appreciate some help with the screen door. The handle's getting sticky and I have a new one, I just haven't put it on yet."
North was the first one out the door and when he rounded the back porch, I heard him let out a whistle. He was standing in front of a pile of smaller limbs scattered around a limb the size of a small tree that had smashed through them on its way to the ground. "That's a pretty big limb, Joey. I saw all of the little shit out front, but that's huge."
I shrugged. "It's not like I could stop it. It has to be cut up for trash pickup, anyway."
After a field trip to my garage to determine what tools they had available to them, North took possession of my hand saw and started cutting branches off the limb while Axel went to his truck to grab the chainsaw he'd brought as a precaution in the aftermath of the same storm at their property. I wandered to the front yard with my gloves and started gathering smaller sticks and branches, the sound of the chainsaw revving up in the backyard breaking through the sounds of the birds and the soft muffle of cars on the main road.
"Hey, Jo?" The unexpected nickname sent a shiver down my spine as I straightened up to look at Axel, who had come around the side of the house, sticks in each hand. When I made eye contact, he called out, "When's your trash pickup?"
"The city only picks up our yard trash on Thursday," I called back. It was already Saturday, so the debris was going to be sitting on the curb for a while.
He squinted at all of the other houses with small piles of trash in their front yards. "Do you want us to load it in my truck and take it back to the property? We can add it in with the rest of our stuff that needs to be burned."
I hadn't thought about the fact that living in the middle of nowhere the way they did, they could burn whenever they wanted. "Won't it fly out of the back of your truck on the highway?"
"I have a tarp." Of course, he did.
It was better than having to look at it for a week and have weeds growing up through it, so I nodded my permission and within a few minutes he was dragging branches to the truck. My own stick collection was almost complete before North started carrying out chunks of the limb in each hand and tossing them into the bed of the truck with the rest.
I've never been one to think that sweat was attractive. I never wanted to confuse any person I was dating into thinking that I was into sports beyond sitting in the stands nursing a beer and scarfing down nachos. But watching North swipe sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand had me reconsidering my stance.
Once I'd thrown away any trash from the front yard and thrown my sticks into the truck, I headed around to the back to see how Axel and North were doing. They were standing around, staring up at my tree and when I asked them what was wrong, they started talking about cutting off branches they thought might be hazards in any upcoming windstorms.
"Do you like finding more work to do?" I asked them but they ignored me. Glancing around my yard, branches littering my roof caught my eye. The front of my house doesn't have much in the way of trees and the roof is more simple, but the back has more places for things to get caught. The lazy part of me that has spent most of my day on my feet wants to leave it but memories of Phil lecturing me about home upkeep is louder than my whining.
Ignoring the overachievers and bemoaning my own hypocrisy, I wandered into the garage and came back out with my ladder. North, being a natural mother hen, couldn't ignore that and called out, "Joey, what the hell are you doing?"
Stopping so I could rest one leg of the ladder on the ground, I pointed upwards. "There's debris on my roof. I'm cleaning it off."
Stomping across the yard, he starts shaking his head emphatically. "No." I raise an eyebrow at him as my head jerks backwards and he quickly amends, "Axel and I can do it. You don't need to get on the damn roof."
Both of my eyebrows went straight up, and I could tell the moment he realized that I wasn't going to be giving him what he wanted. "You can hold the ladder for me if that makes you happy, but I'm the one going up."
I could see his frustration ramp up but he grumbled about safety and stubbornness, took the ladder from my hands, and stomped towards the side of the house. After spending a ridiculous amount of time making sure that it was level, at a good angle, and as stable as humanly possible, North finally indicates that I'm allowed to climb.
"Do you even have a bungee cord so you can tie it off?" he grumped the moment my hands settled on the rungs. "This is a two-story house."
Rolling my eyes, I replied, "It's a one-story house with a fancy attic. Besides, that's what you're here for." The look on his face implied that that wasn't the answer he was looking for, but I didn't give him time to complain before I started climbing.
Halfway up the ladder, I hear North grumble, "This would be a lot more enjoyable if you weren't trying to kill yourself."
Snorting, I replied, "Just enjoy the view, McBroody." I swear I could hear his jaw crack when I started transitioning from the ladder to the roof, the shingles rough against my hands. The woozy feeling when I straightened up once I was up on the shingles made me nearly regret my moment of feminist determination. What happened to Miss Independent you ask, Kelly Clarkson? She nearly fell off the roof.
I'm not scared of heights, per se. Once my footing is stable and I've adjusted to the fact that being upright now means being at an angle, I feel fine. I just have a healthy fear of potentially falling to my death. Or, more realistically from this height, to a broken leg and an expensive ambulance ride followed by having to explain myself to my disapproving father who happens to be a doctor.
Two sets of brown eyes follow my every move as I make quick work of throwing the branches off the roof and use one with green leaves still attached to it to brush off an area where a clump of still damp leaves have clumped together at the corner where the main roof met the roof on my patio.
I should have known that coming down the ladder was going to be more dramatic than going up it. When I grabbed the top rung and started to turn and find the right rung with my foot, I missed it slightly and North nearly had a stroke. "Be careful!" he bellowed out from below me, stress straining his voice.
"Yes," I snapped back, my heart having already dropped from the sense of nothingness a moment ago. My foot found the rung and I slowly started working my way back down. "Because yelling at the person doing something dangerous is the ideal way to control a situation. Not like it would startle anyone or anything."
Sass or not, I didn't fight it when an arm wrapped around me the moment he safely could and let him swing me away from the ladder. My legs were trembling, I just didn't want him thinking he could push me around.
Axel's grinning when I turn around. "I think you'll be ready to put roofs down on the work sites in no time."
I'm about to remind him that I'm a full-time nurse, thank you very much, and not one of his little Academy lackeys that's willing to throw themselves at any job made available to them but North's mulish expression has me grinning right back. "Sign me up!"
"I don't think Marc is ready for a repeat of that particular date," North said with forced casualness as he started moving the ladder away from the roof.
It was Axel's turn to scowl. There was obviously a story there, but North was being a turd. Poking him in the side, I said, "Don't bring up ex-girlfriend shit. That's low."
North sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up." Axel just shrugged, but the tension evaporated.
Was I dying of curiosity? Yes. But if the story was good enough, someone would tell me what it was eventually. The perks of dating guys who all date the same person—someone's gonna talk.
To make up for the heart attack I nearly gave him, I let North have the honor of ripping out the thorny vine that has claimed the back of my garage. I figured he'd be thrilled with the dubious honor. His natural instincts seem to be to protect others from harm and those thorns are demonic. It hadn't been that long since the last time they were out here helping me do yard work, but it doesn't take long in the south. You blink and a vine that's two inches off the ground is suddenly all the way up your wall and trying to spread.
With North headed off to battle the vines away from the brick, Axel decides to start on replacing the door handle while I make my way over to start weeding the flower beds. While I could, and was prepared to, do everything that needed to be done on my list, I was grateful for the help. Capable as I was, my favorite part was caring for my garden and being able to focus on just that was a gift.
Sweat dripped down the back of my neck as I tugged at a stubborn weed. I could hear the back screen door creaking as Axel worked and North occasionally swearing. I probably should have told him that the last time I had that vine in the yard, I ripped up the fingertips on a pair of gloves trying to pry it away from the brick.
It was a weird feeling, listening to them work. I've dated good people. Miranda would have never been caught dead helping with anything that resembled work, but there have been others who would have helped if I asked. That's the thing, though. I had to ask first, and they probably would have expected something in return for spending half their day toiling away in my yard doing manual labor.
Axel and North would have just shown up, though. I don't doubt that at all. We haven't known each other for long and they're already prepared to forgo fancy dates for just helping with what needs to be done in my daily life. I know a lot of it is because they're Academy boys and that's just how they are, but within only a few days they've taken my schedule into consideration more than any of my exes have.
They want to spend time with me, so they make it work.
I was just finishing up the front yard when Axel called out, "Hey, Joey? I have a question about the screen on your patio."
My eyebrows creased as I rounded the side of the house and through the open gate into the backyard. The screen door was shut, shiny new handle in place, but Axel wasn't there. I was about to call out for him when I saw him on the other side of the patio, gesturing to me through the screens.
I thought there was something wrong. That he'd found a tear or something in the mesh that I'd missed, or damage to the frame. He was standing at the corner where my patio met the house and since I'm rarely on that side of the house, it's easy for me to miss things. But when I opened my mouth to ask, he pulled me to him, his back resting against the brick as he held me close to him with his hands on my lower back, completely unbothered by how sweaty I was.
And I was sweaty. And covered in dirt and leaves. But Axel's eyes still glittered with smug pride as he looked at me like he'd won a prize.
Eyes bright as my heart thumped with an enthusiastic thrill, I stood on my tip toes and eagerly pressed my lips to his. Axel's smile against my mouth was slow and languorous, making me melt as his hands pressed into my back. He kissed me with a confidence that left me feeling like putty in his hands.
"I take it my patio is about to fall apart at any moment?" I joked after I pulled away, my hands still resting against his chest.
"It was very important," Axel confirmed as he tried to chase after my lips again. I tried to dodge halfheartedly, bursting out laughing when he thudded back against the brick wall, dragging me with him. Finally catching me, his kiss was a little more thorough this time around. When he was satisfied, he asked, "Do you have any plans tonight?"
I had already offered up my evening to spend with them, but it was nice that he didn't assume they were the only part of my agenda for the day. "Nope. Just me, my knitting needles, and the cats."
He settled against the wall a bit more, readjusting his hold on me. "Do you want to come by the property? This load of debris is going to top out our secondary burn pile and we don't like to have both of them too high at the same time. We could have a bonfire and grill for dinner."
As great as that sounded, I frowned. "I can't stay out late. I have work in the morning."
"We'll make sure you don't turn into a pumpkin," Axel teased, leaning down to kiss me again. "I can ask Nate and Owen to start on the burgers before we leave so we can eat when we get there. The fire can be set before the sun goes down and you can leave whenever you need to."
"That works."
Keeping one hand on my back, Axel reached into his pocket and held his phone up to his ear. "Hey, Owen. Are you up for grilling tonight? Yeah, she's coming over. Do we have everything we need for burgers? No, it's fine. I'll text Corey to see if they have any up at the main house and if we don't, Silas and Raven can pick some up on their way in from work. No, North and I are going to dump the debris from Joey's house over on the one by the guest house. No problem. Bye."
After a short conversation with Corey, where it was agreed that Corey would call Raven and ask him to pick up hamburger buns, lettuce, and tomatoes, Axel looked back down at me with a smile. "Now that that's settled, you need to get back to work so we're not late."
Scoffing, I thumped his chest. "You're the one that distracted me, sir!"
His grin turned cocky. "I'm not the one that's into being called 'sir,' Jo."
All I could do was blink for a moment while my brain grappled with that little piece of information. I knew exactly what he meant but it had come out of the blue. Factory reset, please hold. When all sections of my brain finally hit the same wavelength, I said, "It's Owen, isn't it?"
Very gently, he pressed a kiss to my forehead and started pushing me away. "You'll have to figure that one out on your own."
"You can't just say something like that and then not tell me who it is."
Hands on my hips, he turned me around and started gently pushing me. "Go finish weeding."
Turning my head over my shoulder, I asked, "And what are you going to do?"
"Help North."
Chicken. But then I perked up. "Oooh, North! He'll tell me!" I mean, not without some convincing but Academy teams tend to know way too many personal details about each other. If Axel knows, surely North does, too. All I have to do is wear one of them down.
"Whoever it is—"
"Oh, please. It has to be Owen. He's the one that was all 'call me Mr. Blackbourne.'"
"—will tell you when he's ready."
Groaning, I veered away from him and towards one of my flower beds in the back. "Fine. But make sure you tell whoever it is that I'm gonna need to have a talk to them before they start trying to spank me. I don't do punishments." As far as kinks go, that's definitely not one of mine. It's a sure-fire way to just piss me off.
"I'll bear that in mind," Axel chuckled before wandering off to see how North was doing. He was gone before it occurred to me that he made it sound like it may have been of some interest to him, as well.
---
Axel and North left while I was showering so they could dump the contents of Axel's truck bed before I made it over. Part of me had debated showering at all since I was going to end up with smoke in my hair between the grill and the bonfire, anyway, but I was so sweaty and covered in dirt, I couldn't imagine going over without cleaning up first.
There was something peaceful about the drive to the Toma-Blackbourne property. The gradual transition from the city to the quieter sections of Johns Island always gives me a sense of calm, one I know will only deepen when I pull onto their property and leave behind even the road noise.
When I stopped outside the gates, my window was barely rolled down before I heard Kota. "Hey, Joey."
"Hey, Kota. Which house do you want me at?"
"Main house," he replied. "Just come around the side of the garage. The gate's unlocked, most of us are in the back already."
Even without Kota's instructions, the smell of the grill would have drawn me back to them, anyway. I felt like a cartoon character being guided by their nose and the wafting aroma of food being prepared. Corey's head popped over the side of the railing on the patio, catching me with my nose in the air. We grinned at each other and he called out, "Hey, Joey. We'll get you fed soon. The burgers are just about to go on."
Most of them seem to be milling around on the patio, drinks in hand and eyes on me as I climb the stairs like I'm some sort of model instead of a girl currently wearing shorts and a t-shirt she doesn't mind smelling like smoke. Even Max is standing at the top of the stairs, tail wagging when he sees that it's me.
Owen's manning the grill, looking like a bizarrely domestic classical Greek statue with a metal spatula in his hand and somehow managing to make a polo shirt and fancy shorts look insanely attractive. 8th grade Joey would be scoffing about preps and blasting what she thought was edgy punk rock music to get the taste out of her mouth, but adult Joey recognizes art when she sees it.
Owen's butt in those shorts wasn't the only piece of art. Their outdoor kitchen set up was drool worthy. The grill was massive with a side double burner, they had an outdoor refrigerator, a sink, and a pizza oven that had me already plotting future dinner plans. The view of the river made me feel like I could sit out here for hours, just drinking my coffee and enjoying nature in a way I can't in town.
The only guys I don't see as I'm pulled into hugs and cheek kisses are Axel, North, Silas, Raven, and Victor. When I asked about them, Corey responded, "Axel and North are here, they're just in the shower. Victor's on an assignment but he should be back in the next hour or so. And Raven and Silas should only be a few minutes behind you."
Sure enough, a few minutes later while I'm trying to weasel my way into helping Owen, the gate clangs from below us, accompanied by Raven's greeting. "Oh, malishka (baby)! I have the buns that you want!"
You'll never convince me that he doesn't know exactly what he's implying. That devilish grin that greets me when I lean over the railing does nothing to dissuade my conclusion. Instead of going to Kota and Nathan, who are waiting to take the bags so they can start prepping the toppings, Raven goes straight to me and wraps me up in a hug. He does relinquish the bags when they tug on them, though.
Reaching up, I pinched his cheek teasingly. "Such a good boy," I simper jokingly but something sparks in his eyes that's replicated in the way he unapologetically plants his lips on mine, not caring that we're surrounded by most of his brothers.
When he passes me off to Silas so he can go maul Corey's face, Silas lifts my feet off the ground as I bury my face in his shoulder. "Hello, Glikia mou (my sweet)," my gentle Greek greets me softly. "North told me that you tried to get yourself killed this afternoon."
"If he's not careful, I'm going to climb up on this roof," I responded. Over three stories high, North would probably explode at the very idea. "Were you actually working today or was it an assignment?"
"Actual work," he replied, setting me back on my feet. "We needed to get ahead on the plumbing at a job before the rain hits next week. You had to work this morning, too?"
I nodded. "I got called in. Technically, I could get called back in at any point between now and 7 PM so we're just going to pretend I didn't leave the approved radius around the hospital." Technically, their property alone is about ten minutes outside the maximum drive time between a call and walking into the hospital. And with me all the way at the back, there was another five minutes tacked onto that.
Silas laughed. "Don't worry, Raven drives like a bat out of hell, as Axel says. He'd get you there in no time."
North grunted, coming up behind us. "The hospital needs her alive, Si." He ran a hand down my arm in greeting. "And so do we. No getting in cars with Raven."
Head tilted to the side, I asked, "Have you learned nothing about telling me what to do?"
North's jaw ticked. "Baby, he learned to drive in Russia and didn't bother to drop the habits when he moved here." When I just stared at him blankly, he said, "Think Grand Theft Auto."
He couldn't be that bad.
Owen, as it turned out, makes the best burgers I've ever eaten outside of a restaurant. Sean explained that it came from having to feed seven teenage boys. He got a lot of practice. Between the long table and the lounge area, there were plenty of places for me to sit but I had this conversation with Sean while sitting perched on Silas's lap, eating my food while he talked to North beside him in Greek and ran his fingers over my thigh.
A lazy atmosphere had settled over the porch as we ate. The low hum of chatter combining with the dull whirl of the fans overhead, the humid dusk air sitting heavy on our skin as Max lay panting a few feet away, his head turned towards the river. Bursts of laughter mixed with the clatter of melting ice cubes shifting in glasses. The body heat rolling off of Silas was almost too much, but the chills over my skin chased away any thoughts of discomfort.
The combination was like a drug and if I didn't find an excuse—and the strength—to get off his lap, I was going to climb him like a tree, audience or no audience. Once there was a long enough lull in conversation, I asked, "Is it alright if I go down to the river?"
I half expected it to turn into a family field trip but only Marc stood up as Silas tapped my thigh affectionately and shifted around so it would be easier for me to stand up. Marc held out a hand that I took and didn't let go of as we made our way down the steps. Our only shadow was Max, loping leisurely at my side, and the warm intimacy of the group we were leaving behind clinging to us like a second skin. It was like a bubble had swallowed the property whole and nothing else existed.
We were halfway across the yard, headed towards the back gate, when Marc asked, "Are you having a good time? You can tell us to back off if we're being too much."
After months of being touch starved and given barely enough affection to keep me craving more, there was no way I was going to tell them to leave me alone. I just needed a breather before I did something desperate. "What girl doesn't love being doted on by over a dozen men?" I countered, keeping my voice light.
Marc chuckled. "At least you're honest."
I had to stop and wait while Marc unlocked the padlock, but I wasn't much more than through the gate when I let out a screech that made Marc wince and heads turn on the patio. "Turtles!"
There were two of them sunning on the stones that make up the sloping retaining wall, water slapping gently a foot below them. Instead of running straight up to them and scaring them off, I bolted to the dock, half hanging off the railing to look at them. Max had run after me and was now sitting at my side with his tongue lolling out of his mouth, completely unbothered by my enthusiasm although he didn't seem to share it.
Marc, however, was laughing as he headed towards me at a slower pace, texting on his phone. "Sorry, I'm calling off the protection services. They thought there was a man in a hockey mask with a machete that they weren't seeing or something."
I glanced up at him, squinting against the sun's descent. "I like turtles."
He leaned against the railing next to me, elbows planting on the wood. "From my understanding, you just like animals." He pointed to a spot farther down the shoreline. "We have a few spots farther up the property where we don't have the retaining wall that look like they might be turtle nests. The eggs should be hatching in the next month or so, according to Axel."
I perked up. The only thing better than turtles was baby turtles.
Marc tempered my eagerness a bit. "There's also a snapping turtle that thinks that area of the property is his. It's too late in the day to be tromping around down there." I shivered at the thought. I know that they say that alligator snapping turtles don't live in this state, but they're always the first thing I picture when I hear 'snapping turtle'. Marc made up for it, though. "Do you want to move down to the end? The water's murky, but you should be able to see some fish. Possibly some alligators, too."
Actual alligators are fine as long as they stay in the water and aren't also intrigued by Owen's burgers.
The long walkway between the shore and the end of the dock seemed to sway beneath our feet, but I found the sound of the water slapping against the deck and the boat at the end comforting. "Do you guys ever fish off of here?" For a private dock, it's pretty spacious.
Max weighed the pros and cons of joining us before standing up and trudging down to the end with us. He was settling next to me, Marc shaking his head at him before answering my question. "Axel, North, Nathan, and Silas do, yeah. Brandon and Owen occasionally. Sometimes a few of us will join whoever is out here. Do you fish?"
I nodded. "Dad had to keep us quiet, somehow," I replied. "Haven't had a fishing license in years, though. My brothers aren't exactly the outdoorsy type, and I don't like going by myself. I camp by myself every year, but always in other states." There's not much point in getting a license for a four to five day trip.
"Where do you go camping?" he asked as I leaned over the railing again to watch the water move by. I know technically this is one of the channels off the river, but it's still surprising how gentle the current is.
"I've got tickets to fly to Colorado for a few days in September. Last year I was in Washington, and the year before that I was in Arizona."
"Tent or cabin type of girl?"
I laughed. "It depends on where I'm going. I've got a cabin in the Estes Park area this year, but I'll still probably spend a night out on a hike. I like backpacking, that's what I did in Washington." Pointing towards the boat, I asked, "Is that a family boat or does it belong to someone in particular?"
Marc shrugged. "It's technically Axel's. He started doing personal research into brackish water fish a few years ago while he worked on trying to get funding or something official. He bought it back then but pretty much any of us can use it if we want to. Are you into boating, too?"
"I'm not against it but I'm not about to ask to take it for a spin, either."
"Silas will be devastated."
A bird flew overhead, attention completely on the water below us. I watched its path and shivered despite the heat. "If Silas can promise that I'll be warm and won't be rained on the entire time, he's more than welcome to take me out on a boat." I've done my time shivering and freezing in the early November morning drizzle waiting for ducks to fly over. I have zero intentions of ever recreating the experience.
Marc shrugged. "Si's more likely to want to get you out in a sailboat than in this thing, but he loves boats."
Leaning my shoulder against his as I looked up at him, I asked, "And do you have any hobbies other than making the best coffee in the world?"
Barking out a laugh, Marc gave me a blinding smile that made my heart flutter. "I've got a couple, yeah. Really love rock climbing, though. Mostly in gyms, obviously. Not a whole lot of options around here."
"Have you done it in... you know... nature?" I asked, not really sure what to call it but I grinned when Marc laughed at me again.
"Yeah. A couple of times when I've been on trips. I don't do free solo since Axel and Sean would skin me alive if I went without gear, and I won't do bouldering because I've always had this fear of rolling down the side of a cliff roadrunner and coyote style, but I've done top rope, traditional, and sport climbing. It's fun, I enjoy it, but I wouldn't want to do it that way all the time."
I had no idea what any of those were, although I could piece together what bouldering was, but I still got the mental image of Marc trying to scale a 70 foot cliff or something. Ropes or no ropes, it didn't sound like my sort of thing. "I think I'll stick to those kiddy walls they put up in the middle of the mall sometimes."
Marc's eyes were shining. "So, you've done indoor climbing before?"
I swear, I could still smell all of the dirty socks. "Yeah, a few times. Those ones in the mall as a bet and then Jett had his 17th birthday party at a rock climbing gym. He was trying to be cute and ended up smashing his nose against a foothold. Blood everywhere."
He took longer than most to leave the phase where he thought he could be the second coming of Spider-Man. He got a little cocky and was trying to show off to the group of teenage girls down the wall from us. His foot slipped and the next thing he knew they were shrieking, and he spent the rest of his birthday with tissues dangling out of his nostrils. It didn't cure his ego but at least I got a good laugh out of it.
"God, I don't miss being a teenager," Marc chuckled. "We did some stupid shit just so girls would look at us."
"Some might argue that you still haven't reached the magical age where that stops," I reminded him cheerfully. "I've worked in the regular ER; I've seen what men can do in the name of testosterone."
Snorting, Marc confirmed my suspicions. "These guys can definitely be dumbasses, so at least you're realistic."
We stayed down at the dock for a while, talking about my schedule and some of the organizational nightmares that their team had to juggle over the next week. I knew large families were chaotic, but the Toma-Blackbourne team took it to a whole new level. Kota was apparently the scheduling extraordinaire, according to Marc. If I wanted to know a general overview of where everybody was going to be on any given day, Kota was my best bet.
After a while, we made our way back up to the house, Max sighing heavily before faithfully standing up to follow behind us. Marc's hand found my lower back and stayed there until we made it up the stairs. His hands both made it to my hips to steer me towards Victor, who was sitting with a burger in his hands and a small smile on his face when he realized I was looking at him. With a kiss to the side of my head, Marc left me to go help some of the others clean up as Victor held out an arm to hug me to his side.
Leaning forward, one arm still around his shoulder, I snagged a pickle off his plate. "Please, help yourself," Victor teased. So, I stole a chip, making him laugh, his amber eyes alight as I looked straight at him and popped it in my mouth. "Did they starve you while I was gone or something?"
I nodded mournfully, leaning more into him. "Neglect in its worst form," I confirmed as I took another chip. "Imagine what would have happened if you hadn't come home?"
Gabe snorted. "Joey, you stole a tomato off my plate."
"You weren't eating it."
He gave me a look and I shrugged lightly. A hand touched my shoulder and I twisted around to a bag of pita chips in my face. "You can take them with you," North informed me as I gleefully took the bag from him. "You want to go ahead and head down?"
I nodded and that somehow resulted in me, North, Luke, Gabe, and Nathan cramming our way into North's jeep while I munched on pita chips. "Are we all driving down there?" I asked, feeling a little ridiculous. Someone had mentioned earlier that they were burning down the wood pile by North's garage. It was about midway through the property, but there was a clear path to it, and it wasn't like it was that far.
"Nah," North replied easily. "I've just got the chairs and shit in the back of the jeep and Axel's truck is already down there. Someone will probably drive down the drinks." He jabbed a thumb towards the trio of mayhem in the back bickering over who had to sit in the middle. "They're just lazy fucks."
A chorus of "heys!" immediately came out together, complete with looks of offense. Gabe gestured at the back of the car. "We're obviously here to help your ungrateful ass unload these chairs."
Luke sniffed imperiously, "And we had to transfer the supplies for the s'mores."
North damn near growled as he twisted around to glare at his brother. "We don't need fucking s'mores. We just had dinner."
This didn't deter Luke in the least. I tried to help with the chairs but North just directed me towards Axel's truck. Hefting myself up onto the tailgate, I let my legs swing as I watched them start to unload. While North was distracted by having to go drag the water hose from his shop to the burn pile, Luke snuck over and gave me the collection of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. "Don't let North take them," he instructed me firmly, eyes bright with mischief.
Pretending to weigh my options, I said, "I dunno. What's in it for me?"
Luke lips turned up wickedly. "Kisses."
Holding up the sleeve of chocolate, I hummed. "These look like Hershey's bars to me."
Planting his hands on my knees Luke leaned forward and brushed a kiss across my lips that sent a shiver down my spine. "See?" he whispered before doing it again. "Kisses." The next time his mouth met mine, his tongue ran across my lips, as velvety as melting chocolate. I moaned as he delved deeper, his hands tightening on my knees.
"Luke!" North bellowed around the same time my legs slid apart and Luke shifted in between them, tilting my head back as his hands slid up my thighs. Luke was perfectly happy to ignore him, and I was perfectly happy to oblige. "Quit fucking around, you can make out once we've got these chairs set up, you little shit."
"He's going to take the stuff for the s'mores away from both of us if I keep distracting you," I murmured and Luke let out a dejected sigh.
"Fine. I'll be back."
He was as good as his word, although, this time he just joined me on the tailgate as the others finally made it to the clearing. Marc had driven down to the clearing with Victor in his truck and they opened the tailgate to reveal two chests full of drinks and ice that came from their own industrial ice maker. Because of course they had an ice maker. Apparently, it had been kicked to life when they were informed we were having a bonfire earlier this afternoon so it would have time to make enough ice for two chests—one with water and sodas, the other with beer.
Everyone else had walked and as they finally lit the pile of branches, they scattered around the fire. Max had come with Kota and he made his way over to me and he nosed my calf before dropping down under my feet, panting happily. It was still light out, but the atmosphere was amazing. They moved around, talking and laughing, taking turns to come over and chat with me and Luke. I watched hungrily as Sean stole a kiss from Owen and Owen dragged him back to do it properly. Raven and Corey were on the back of Marc's truck, Raven blatantly flirting with Corey in Russian as he drank a beer, North finally having to move away so he wouldn't have to listen.
Victor was the only one who didn't come over, his eyes occasionally flitting across the fire towards Luke before quickly returning to the conversation he was having with Kota and Axel. Leaning over, I bumped Luke's shoulder with mine. "I think Victor wants you to go over and talk to him."
Luke's attention immediately shifted to Victor, his eyes lighting up before a shield went down and he shrugged. "I told him hi when he got back."
But Luke hadn't been at the table when Marc and I came back from the dock. "Did you spend time with him? Ask him about his day?"
"He can't talk about his day," Luke laughed. "We're not really supposed to share details of our assignments, sugar, and today's assignment was extra cloak and dagger-y."
Rolling my eyes, I said, "I'm perfectly familiar with multiple kinds of confidentiality, Lucian. You can talk about your day without spilling every detail of what you were doing. You guys do it with me all the time."
Luke's face twisted. "We're not dating. It's not like that."
Give me a fucking break. "So, you're telling me that friends don't talk to each other about their day? Complain about traffic or whatever?" Luke shrugged. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him, but I was too busy having to tamp down on my natural instinct to overshare and blurt out that I'm pretty sure they both want more than what they have. I didn't want to meddle... too much. "He keeps looking over here."
Luke reached up and brushed at the edge of my forehead. "That's because you have cute little frizzy curls starting up. They're his favorite. He's looking at you."
He had his own little blond curls sprouting up due to the combination of humidity and the heat from the fire. "I'm pretty sure he's looking at you. Friends talk to each other, especially friends on the same Academy team. You should go butt in."
Frowning, Luke shook his head, dislodging the hair from behind one of his ears. "Vic's not really looking for intimacy with what we've got going on. If I push too hard, he's going to freak out. His interest in me is purely carnal, Joey."
"Being nice isn't pushing too hard," I argued. When he still didn't show any signs of getting off the tailgate, I rolled my eyes again. "If you just ignore each other all the time, it turns whatever you have from friends with benefits to pure fuck buddies."
Luke winced at that, his attention turning to Victor again. This time their eyes clashed and I could see Victor swallow hard before turning his attention to his feet. Luke groaned, looking back at me. "It's complicated, Joey. Some days it's okay and then other days it's not."
Resting my head against his shoulder, I said, "I don't really have any business trying to dissect your relationship, but I think in a setting like this, where there's other people around and you can also fall into conversations with the others, he might not be as defensive." It hurt my heart to think of their friendship suffering over this. I'd already gone through this on the sidelines to a different degree with Oli and Ramon.
Luke let out a breath and kissed the top of my head. "Alright. I'll go talk to him." He snagged the s'mores supplies and went over to Kota, acting like he wanted to know if the family lead thought it was a good idea to start roasting the marshmallows now. I watched as he shifted to look at Victor as he and Kota started opening the bag to put marshmallows on the ends of skewers. Victor smiled at him before saying something in response and I let out a happy sigh.
"Criiicket!" Sean called out and I glanced over to where he was sitting by the fire, Owen walking away to go speak to Silas, Corey, and Raven. Sean's head was bent backwards, looking at me upside down with blood curls dangling in the air. "Come here, I'm lonely!"
Jumping off the end of the truck and carefully avoiding a now snoozing Max, I made my way towards him, the heat of the fire warmer against my skin. Even so, I didn't argue when he tugged me down into his lap, arms wrapping around me as his eyes glowed victoriously. "You've been alone for like ten seconds," I said, settling in, anyway.
Sean pouted. "Ten seconds too long." Looking towards Victor and Luke, he asked, "Are you meddling?"
"No!"
He raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged meekly. "I mean... maybe. I think Luke might have just been having confidence issues tonight." I'd been around when he and Victor sat next to each other before. I'd seen them talk and get along normally before. Yeah, sometimes Victor was stiff, but that had gone away completely since I'd figured out they were screwing in their free time. "It's pretty normal. Victor seems to be reinforcing what I was saying."
I was under no misguided belief that I could push them towards a more emotional relationship like Corey and Raven or Sean and Owen. If all they ever wanted was friends with benefits—even if I don't believe that—that would be fine and totally their business. I just didn't want them fracturing the 'friend' part of the benefits.
Is it a crack? Yeah. But I also don't doubt that they're solid. It's confusing. Which is why I should stay out of it unless it starts affecting their relationship with me.
But will I? According to my brother, I'm incapable.
Sean drew my attention back to him. "You would have had a heyday with me and Owen back when we were figuring things out. We were fumbling all over the place and Owen did a spectacular rendition of a suffering lordling. So much pining. It was ridiculous and I think everyone was relieved when the tension went away."
While I wouldn't describe what was happening with Victor and Luke as having tension, at least not the palpable kind that made a pinky brush seem like a pornographic scene, I could see where he was coming from. And having been in friend groups where people were pining after someone else in the group, I can also imagine that the others just wanted them to kiss and get it over with already.
Or maybe that's just me.
"Maybe I should have made you pine after me for a while. You know, make you work for it," I mused, running my fingers along the back of his neck right under his hairline and delighting in the way he shivered.
"Don't tell Owen that, he'll take it as a challenge. You're already looking at him going full Pride and Prejudice on you."
"Ha! No way. He's already touched my arm; we'd practically be off to the altar already to avoid the scandal if we were Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. Besides, I already have a Mr. Darcy in my life and he's demanding enough."
"Believe me, his human clone is no less demanding."
I sat up, looking at him almost maniacally. If any of them knew what Owen's preferences are, it'd be Sean. But he booped me on the nose and said, "Don't even try, Cricket. Axel already warned me and you're going to get to learn that one that good old fashion way."
"The two of you do realize that by being so cagey about it, you're already telling me that there's something going on there, right?"
Luke was walking around with marshmallows on skewers and Sean snagged one from him and shoved it into my hand. "Shush. Go toast your snack."
I would have argued but I really did want one. Or two. When I was done and had wiped off my fingers with the wet wipes Kota had brought along, I found my way back to Sean's lap as the sun settled behind the trees, casting the area in a rapidly darkening shade of purple. The crackling fire, the laughter from all of the guys, and the music that Gabe was currently hooking up to the speakers drowned out the sounds of a summer's night and the frogs' lament.
It was like a warm embrace, the kind of feeling that left your heart feeling light. Like an extension of the bubble from the patio back at the main house, the feeling of the world stopping around us had followed us down here. Owen coming back over and talking to us without blinking an eye or commenting on the fact his fiancé currently had their possible future girlfriend on his lap gave me a name for the way I was feeling.
For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was truly being myself. There weren't any lies to them or to myself. I was just Joey embracing her identity and it felt good. With them, it felt...
Natural.
A/N:
Long time no see 😬
I originally thought this was going to be a short chapter because 1) the bonfire wasn't originally on the calendar and 2) I didn't think I could expand on the yardwork section, but that went out the window. Weirdly enough, most of this chapter has been written since the about a week into March. (It's the 27th as I'm writing this.) I went through about a month where all thoughts of writing this fic slipped away like water through my fingers. It wasn't really writer's block, because I knew what I wanted to write but in the battle of wills between my brain and my ADHD, the ADHD won.
I consider ADHD to be a double edged sword when I'm writing. Hyperfocusing is typically what leads to me writing several thousand words in a day but I can't control what I hyperfocus on, so it's not always writing, haha. And then on other days, if my brain decides we're not interested, it's like nails on a chalkboard trying to write.
I honestly didn't think the editing part of this was going to take this long. But we ended up with last minute guests, including my brother, his fiancée, and their dog coming in to meet a rescue halfway to pick up their new puppy. It took approximately 2 minutes after the puppy came into my living room for me to realize that my puppy proofing skills are out of practice. 😂 I had forgotten there was a bag of M&Ms in my knitting project bag and he went straight for it. He's a very smart, surprisingly calm boy, but his nose works perfectly fine and the call of the chocolate was just too much, haha. He did not eat any but my heart nearly stopped when I realized why he was so interested in that bag.
By the way, that drool thing with Echo is so. fucking. real. Echo is based off my current cat, who came to us as a stray a few years ago. Sweetest little baby who scared the crap out of me when he started drooling when I gave him attention or when he saw food. I really thought he had a broken tooth or an infection. I'd never heard of a cat drooling. He's a Siamese mix of some variety and my parents had a Siamese show up at their house back in November who also drools when he's happy, so I'm starting to think it's a breed thing, lmao.
Anyway, I'm about halfway through the next chapter of Carolina Wren. It's one I've been waiting to write for forever and, to be fair, part of the difficult conversations were written about a year ago. It's from Owen's POV and features Dylan pretty heavily in the first half and while the rest of the chapter is pretty heavy, I adore Owen interacting with him.