When I don’t answer, Brant sighs and moves off in the other direction, looking for more kindling. I stare after him for a minute, not sure what to think about what he just said. I’m not even sure why I feel like I need to solve the problem that is Remi right now. We’ve known her for a few days days, and I don’t understand this hurried feeling I have when it comes to her. Maybe it’s an end of the world thing. Would I even be considering any of this if it weren’t for the collapse of life as we know it? Would I even think the word share when it came to the woman I wanted?

  My first thought is, no fucking way. There’s no way that we could ever share the same girl. But if I admit to myself that I do want her, what then? Because Theo and Brant obviously want her too. Do I let her break us apart? Let the jealousy fester and destroy the bond that we have? Or do we all decide to stay away from her? I snort at that thought. I already know that wouldn’t last long. Remi is...addicting. It would just be a matter of time before one of us got caught sneaking over to her place in town, and then we’re right back to square one, except mistrust would’ve been planted and watered. Why the fuck would that be the better option? Like Brant said, I didn’t completely hate seeing her with them. Maybe we could share.

  But guys don’t ever date the same chick. It feels against our nature. As I think that, the argument forms that Theo, Brant, and I aren’t just any old guys. We’re a unit. We’ve been through a lot of shit together, and we always have each other’s backs. But even if I could somehow get on board with this, how long would it be before someone caught wind of it and then tried to shit on it? It’s not like Endstone is a hotbed of open-mindedness and well-cultured people. I love the town and the residents, but it’s still a small, sheltered town. Then again, why the fuck should I let society dictate anything about my life? What has society done for me? I’m just one among the many wounded soldiers thanked for my service and then practically forgotten in the next breath.

  I stand in the middle of the woods, and really let Brant’s words dig into my head. Society and knee-jerk reaction aside, what if it did work? Are the three of us actually capable of sharing? Do we want to be capable of sharing? And what about Remington? Would she honestly be up for something like that? I know she thinks she is, but the three of us...we have baggage. I am fully aware that I’m not an easy man to be with, but maybe that might actually be a reason why this could work.

  Wasn’t she saying shit about that? That sometimes she needs the asshole, and sometimes she needs the romantic? So maybe when my asshole is front and center, instead of her being beat up about it, the other guys can fill in until I rein things in, because let’s face it, that’s sure to happen. That’s what always happens with chicks when I try to have more than just a hookup. Because I am an asshole, and they eventually get sick of it and bail. Not that I blame them. But maybe this could actually work, because Theo would be there to make her laugh, and Brant would be there to do all the fuzzy sweet shit, and we’d all be there to take care of each other exactly how we have been since the Rangers.

  I think back to the kiss in the woods. I’ve been trying to avoid focusing too much on it, but I have to admit, when Remington kissed me, I was shocked as fuck, but when her little tongue snaked out and demanded some attention, I knew right then that I wanted to have more than just my tongue in her mouth.

  My mind is spinning with the implications and the pros and cons of this kind of thing when I meander back into the clearing. Theo is setting an extra layer of rocks around the designated campsite fire pit, and Remington is gone, probably doing whatever scout bullshit she was so jazzed up about. I go through the motions of arranging the kindling and branches in a little wood teepee and getting a nice pile setup. Brant comes and goes, stacking more wood right beside the fire pit. I get the fire started in no time with the piece of flint, and then Brant gets Puddles settled with some food and water in retractable bowls he was smart enough to bring.

  I don’t notice that the other guys are watching me as I silently brood until Theo finally elbows me, snapping me out of my scattered thoughts. “Dude. What’s up?”

  I look over at them and realize that I’ve been stirring a can of beans for who knows how long, staring at the fire and not taking a bite. I look around to make sure we’re still alone before I ask, “You guys are seriously considering dating her? Together?”

  Brant and Theo exchange a look. They’ve always been more easygoing than me, and I wish I could be like that sometimes, too. But I have my doubts that they can actually be so chill about this.

  Theo shrugs. “Why not? If she’s up for it, and she’s into us—which she pretty much spelled out for us in the car—then I’m willing to give it a go. She’s hot as fuck, fun, and different. We could take real good care of her,” he finishes with a cocky grin.

  “But can she take care of us?” I ask seriously. Because come on, we’re three virile guys. If we managed to keep our jealous and competitive natures at bay, could she honestly keep up with all of us?

  “Don’t you worry, soldier,” I hear Remington say behind me, making me jump and spill beans down the side of my hand. “I can handle you three just fine.”

  I look over my shoulder, watching as she enters the campground. I clear my throat guiltily at being caught talking about her. When I notice her empty hands, I jump on it. “Did the hunting not work out for you, Scout?” I tease.

  She rolls her eyes at me and then pulls a bag I hadn’t noticed hanging from her thigh holster. She opens it, revealing a bunch of plants inside. “Found some wild onion, chickweed, and I even found some wild strawberries, which is crazy, because they aren’t even in season yet,” she says proudly.

  I look into the bag she holds out and see the smallest fucking strawberries I’ve ever seen in my life. They’re about the size of my fingernail, but she has a couple handfuls of them in the bag.

  “You can’t live off that,” I tell her seriously. “Here,” I thrust my can of beans at her. “It’s warm. I stirred it.”

  “A lot,” Theo says under his breath with a laugh.

  I ignore him and watch Remington reach behind her and unclip something from the belt loop. “Thanks, but I’m good.” She brings it around and it’s a small gray and brown bird that’s clearly dead. Remi sits down on the ground next to us and I stare at the small catch as she unties the string from its feet. “I set all my traps, so I should have more fresh meat by morning,” she says confidently as she waves a dismissive hand at the can I’m still holding out to her.

  I pull my hand in and watch her work as she pulls out a knife. Her moves are smooth and sure, and there’s a grace to it that I find myself somewhat hypnotized by. That abruptly ends when out of nowhere, she snaps the bird’s neck and in an impressive move, strips the skin and feathers off in one pull. She guts it and cleans it and before I know it, the bird is on a stick and she’s holding it above the flames to cook. Remi is focused on her meal, and the rest of us are focused on her, the only noises around us from insects and the crackle of the fire as it consumes the logs.

  “Are you seriously going to eat a malnourished wild bird, some weeds, and strawberry runts?” I ask, not sure how I feel about that. I know she said she can hunt and fend for herself, but this looks like a sad meal to me, and it sets my protective nature off. She really would be better off eating some of the canned food we were smart enough to haul.

  “Trust me. This Mountain Quail, strawberries, and onions will taste a hell of alot better than your can of mush, but thanks for the offer.”

  I huff, doubting that statement, and she raises an eyebrow in challenge at me. “Don’t knock it until you try it, Mady,” she teases, and I get the impression that we’re not just talking about her Bear Grylls’s style meal anymore.

  Remi pulls a few strawberries out of her bag and reaches out to deposit them in each of our palms. She does the same with a few onions and I stare at the puny haul in my hand. I don’t really want to eat the weird weeds, but I do, because apparently I’m a sucker, and she looks so damn excited and proud of herself. I shove it in my mouth, prepared to swallow quickly, but surprisingly, the shit doesn’t taste half bad. The strawberries, although small, taste better than any of that bland grocery store shit.

  “Well?” she asks, but I’m too busy watching her lips close around a strawberry of her own. I’m suddenly thinking about what she must taste like right now as she chews the sweet fruit...and I’m hard again. Fucking hell.

  “It was really good, actually,” Brant tells her, clearly impressed by the mad skills she’s been claiming she has.

  “And it’s healthy,” she says with a nod. “There’s nothing better than mother nature. She has everything we need.”

  “Yeah she does,” Theo says under his breath, still staring at her mouth.

  He’s sure as shit not talking about nature.

  14

  Remi

  “Go fucking fish,” I say triumphantly, as I slap the pile of cards for Theo.

  He laughs and shakes his head at me, but draws a card before Madix takes his turn. “Brant, you got any twos?” Madix asks.

  Brant swears and hands two cards over, and I chuckle at his expense as Madix makes another book. Brant’s eyes flash to me. “You think that’s funny?”

  I nod, unable to contain my grin. “Sure do. Your pile’s looking a little...little,” I finish with a laugh.

  To my surprise, he leans in close to my ear, and my body instantly becomes very excited at the close proximity. His breath on my neck sends little pings of electricity from my chest, past my stomach, and lights up everything at the apex of my thighs.“There’s nothing little about my...pile,” he tells me, his voice low and gravelly.

  Before I can even attempt to reply, he pulls back and winks, and I’m this close to throwing the rest of my cards down and launching myself at him. I swear, ever since these boys showed up, my libido has been revved up and ready to go. I’ve sampled the tasting menu, and now I’m ready for the eleven course meal that is their hot, muscular bodies.

  Just that thought sends my blood pumping hard throughout my whole body, and with what I overheard, I’m starting to think that maybe my fantasy isn’t so out of reach. When I heard them talking about me on my way back to the campsite, I felt a little guilty at first, but then I just felt shocked as hell. I never thought that these three macho dudes would actually consider getting with me for more than a one night stand, but from the sounds of it, they were actually talking about more than just the hot sex I’ve been aiming for, and were trying to work out the logistics of an actual relationship. I’ve always been comfortable with my body and my sexuality; I go for what I want and move on if I don’t get it. My views and proclivities are outside of the box, but that’s never bothered me.

  As far as living outside of the norm, well, I never saw much point in coloring inside the lines when I can draw my own damn picture. But I haven’t found anyone willing to do that, not long-term at least, and I was coming to terms with the fact that I probably never would. I date casually, one-night stands and some threesomes here and there, but it gets old. Awesome sex is, well... awesome, but just sex starts to feel unfulfilling. Orgasms are great and a favorite part of my day, but like a mermaid once said, I want more. I want intimacy and orgasms, and I’ve discovered that is a very difficult combo to find.

  But this? The three of them? It’s a golden unicorn of a perfect scenario. It’s a bit surreal sitting here with them around a campfire, playing Go Fish, while the world ends. I feel like a giddy kid on Christmas morning, but at the same time, I don’t want to get my hopes up just to find out that my golden unicorn is really a donkey with a toilet paper roll tied to its head. If this actually turns into more than one night of hot sex, then I will have officially found the holy fucking grail. I run my gaze slowly over each of them and bite my cheek to keep the audible sounds of appreciation from sneaking out of my mouth.

  There would be zero chance of me getting bored with these three. And it’s not just because they’re hot, but yeah, not gonna lie, that’s a nice little perk. I mean, they’ve got muscles on muscles, with a side of muscles. There are so many strong and bendy things that would be possible with these three.

  Plus, they’re all so different yet complementary to each other, and the real golden unicorn prancing around this group, is that they’re actually genuinely good guys. I suspected as much when I drew my gun on them on my porch and heard why they were there. But after watching them interact with each other and worry about the welfare of a complete stranger, their good guy status is officially confirmed.

  “Remington,” Madix says, drawing me out of my thoughts with his deep, husky voice. The sound of my name on his lips immediately sends goosebumps traveling over my skin.

  He leans towards me, and I’m suddenly aware of the heat and closeness of Brant on my left, while Madix’s movement on my right is setting up a delicious Remi sandwich.

  God, I love sandwiches. Please let them be footlongs.

  Madix’s dark eyes smolder as he flicks his gaze over my body before meeting my eyes. This is it, I think to myself. The macho alpha is finally gonna give in to the intense sexual chemistry we have. Adrenaline courses through my body, and I clench my thighs in delectable anticipation.

  “Yeah, soldier?” I reply, because I know it drives him wild. I see the way his eyes dilate every time I do it.

  He raises a finger, and my lips part and my breath hitches, waiting to see where he’s going to touch me. He makes a straight line for my breasts, and I unconsciously jut my chest out because hell yeah! But right at the last second, his finger drops, and instead, he taps the top of the cards that I completely forgot I was even holding.

  “You got any aces?” he asks with a smirk.

  I blink several times, totally caught off-guard. “Huh?”

  “You were the one that wanted to play Go Fish,” he says, his lips tilting upward. Did he just do that on purpose? Did GI Asshole just read my building need like a book, and then play me? I take in the smirk on his face, and a resounding yes chimes in my head. This alpha dick knows exactly how much I’m dying to play with his .44 Magnum, and judging by the look on his face, teasing me and making my body respond to him is exactly what he’s trying to do.

  My eyes flick down to my cards and I groan. “You motherfucker.”

  He laughs, and it’s the first time I’ve heard him do it. I swear, the noise makes my clit put on a skimpy dress and go clubbing, pulsing with the beat and begging to be grinded on. I puff out my cheeks and then blow out a breath as I pass him over all three of my aces, feeling both sexually frustrated and competitively frustrated, because now I’m losing, dammit.

  Madix asks Theo for threes, and then sets the last remaining cards in his hands on the ground and declares himself the winner. Gah, he’s even hot when he’s smug.

  We all groan in protest, and Brant starts to collect the cards and reshuffle them. Theo repositions himself on the log that Brant dragged over, but I can tell he’s uncomfortable. I’m pretty sure it’s his leg, since he keeps rubbing at his left thigh, and I want to ask if he’s okay, but I don’t want to be a prick and shove my nose in business that he clearly doesn’t want to share, or embarrass him in any way.

  Brant and Madix both give him a concerned once-over, but their lips stay sealed, and it’s obvious that they’re feeling exactly like I am. Once again, Theo’s hand snakes down, and he rubs at his thigh. Fuck it. I was never one for pussy footing around anything.

  “Is your leg bothering you?” I ask, and Theo’s eyes shoot up to my face.

  He looks at me for a minute, and then narrows his eyes at Madix and then Brant. I shake my head at his assumption. “They didn’t tell me anything. I put two and two together when your tracks in the mud weren’t the same depth, which meant the weight distribution was slightly different. And at home, Coon tried to give your leg a proper humping under the table, and you didn't feel it.”

  Theo chuckles nervously, shooting a glare at the pet carrier that’s sitting on the other side of the fire. He rubs the back of his neck with his palm, and I can feel the debate going on inside of him. “Oh, what the hell,” he announces, and then pulls up the leg of his pants. I watch as he presses a button on the side of the prosthetic, and it disconnects from a strap that looks like it’s still attached to his leg. I’ve never seen a prosthetic before, and I’m curious about how it works, but I don’t know if it will make him feel more awkward if I ask questions. My curiosity must be written all over my face, because Theo starts to explain things.

  “This is the socket. It’s where my residual limb or stump connects.” He pulls off a white covering on his leg. “This is a sock that adds volume to my leg, so that the socket fits better. And this is a liner that has a strip glued to it that attaches to the socket and kind of keeps it all together so that it doesn’t come off.” Theo slides the liner down his leg, and it rolls off until it’s inside out. He sets everything on the tarp, and I run my gaze over his injury. He has about four or five inches of leg below his knee, and a lot of scarring at the stump, as well as on his knee and the part of his thigh that I can see.

  The sight sends a twinge of sympathy through me. I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to go through whatever caused his injury, and then have to recover from it. Theo catches my inspection, and his eyes run over my face, looking for something.

  “Shrapnel shredded my leg. They couldn’t save the bottom part.”

 

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