When he did, he ran his thumb around my hole. “I love that you’ll be carrying me around with you all day.”
“Me too.” I didn’t want to move. I’d happily stay like this with him all day. But the sun was shifting higher in the sky, the heat bearing down on us. Rusty rarely walked outside without a shirt on, and he’d burn to a crisp if we stayed out much longer.
“Let’s get you up and fed.” He tugged my shorts up and helped me to my feet. My legs wobbled like I was a newborn foal, and Rusty smirked. “Little shaky?”
I pressed my thumb and forefinger close together but not quite touching. He chuckled and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips, then took the basket of berries, watermelon, and the few oranges I’d picked. Hand in hand, we walked back to the homestead.
nineteen
Rusty
Iwasfloating,notjustbecause of the spontaneous orgasm in the orchard, but because I was ridiculously happy. I was more in love with Jacques and Travis than I’d ever been before. They were attentive, doing little things for both Carina and me that made us all smile. Jacques left Post-its with sweet and spicy notes written on them for us, and Travis cut up mango and portioned it out in small containers for me so I didn’t have to glove up or risk an allergic reaction to the sap to eat one.
I’d missed Travis when I woke this morning, so I’d gone in search of him. By the time we’d come back, Jacques had coffee brewing for them and a green juice made for me on the table. There was fresh bread baking in the bread maker, and Carina was cooking a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Having breakfast together had quickly become our morning ritual—the four of us eating before Travis went to work. It wouldn’t always be like this—Jacques would be starting preseason training soon, and Travis was about to start his twenty-four-hour rotation again, so he’d already be at the station when we were waking up, but I was loving it while it lasted.
We’d spent the past few mornings laughing together, but we were doing lots of communicating too. Carina and I had promised to talk things through honestly with each other, and it was rubbing off on Jacques and Travis too. I’d wanted Carina to stick around because she made my guys happy, but I liked having her here too. The four of us together felt right.
Travis looked at the oversized clock on the wall and stood up. He pressed a kiss to Carina’s temple and said, “Thank you, darlin’. I’ve got to get ready for work.”
“I’ll clean up,” I volunteered.
“Have you got much on today, Rusty?” Jacques asked as I took the final sip of my juice.
I shook my head. “No, today’s an easy day.” I looked between him and Carina and added, “Did you want to do something together?”
“I would love to, but I can’t,” Jacques explained. “Hux is on his way over. We’re going to skate for a while—ease into preseason training.”
Carina made a face, her lips pursed as if she tasted something nasty. “I can’t imagine how sore you’d be after preseason training.”
“It’s hell. That’s why we’re going to go hard for a few hours every day—make sure we’re fit enough to get through it.”
Carina turned to me. “I’d love to do something.”
“Great. Is there anywhere you’d like to see?” I asked.
She hesitated and gave me a small smile. “Um....” She hitched her shoulder up. “I don’t really know.”
“What about a walk? There’s a small waterfall about thirty minutes away. We could take Zeus and do the trail. It’s only an hour’s hike on flat ground.”
“Peñasquitos Falls?” Jacques asked, and I nodded. “It’s an easy trail. Probably quiet today too.”
Her eyes widened comically, and she mock whispered in horror, “Easy for you or easy for me? There’s fit—” She motioned to herself, then pointed to us— “then there’s actually being fit.”
I chuckled and nudged her foot with mine. “It’ll be easy. I promise.”
She narrowed her eyes playfully and pointed her fork at me. “It’d better be. If I’m sore tomorrow—”
“Hey,” I held my hands up in self-defense and laughed. “Those two will make you sorer than I ever will.”
She giggled, and her cheeks turned a pretty pink. “Eh, when I let them.” Carina winked at me, and I snorted out a laugh. “Okay, you’re on. Let’s do it,” she agreed.
***
Carina and I were doing an easy stretch routine in the living room. She’d been joining me when I did yoga, trying some of the basics, and was enjoying it. It was usually something I did by myself—it was my time to recenter myself without any external interference—but having Carina here was somehow soothing. I liked her company. Today’s session wasn’t yoga, though. We were just loosening up before our walk.
The doorbell chimed, and I opened the door to Hux, who had his gear bag slung over his shoulder. Travis had only just left—they’d probably passed each other on the driveway.
“Come on in. Jacques is getting his gear on. You can head down to the basement if you like.” The rink wasn’t quite in a basement—it was more like an addition to the side of the homestead where the land fell away toward the valley. But we accessed it via a set of closed-in stairs, hence the nickname.
