Page 34 of Denim & Diamonds

Brock

It felt so damn good to have February back in Meadowbrook, particularly waking up next to her on this Saturday morning.

It had only been a week since I was in New York, so it was a treat to be with her again so soon.

February had booked a flight at the spur of the moment yesterday afternoon.

She’d left work early and arrived here in the evening.

She’d only be here until tomorrow, so we planned to make the most of the short weekend together.

Could it really be this damn easy? I guess time would tell.

While she gently snored, I looked up to meet the stare of the moose head on my wall, laughing to myself as it brought back memories of the first time February was in my bed.

What she must’ve thought looking up at that thing.

I remember how panicked she was. I never would’ve imagined the drunk woman from the bar would end up as my woman.

I’d had no idea what I was in for. Yet here we were. I was happier than I’d ever been .

Of course, at the same time, I felt a pit in my stomach, because when you’re feeling this high, typically there’s nowhere to go but down. But one thing I knew for certain: I was willing to get my heart broken and take the chance that this might actually be it for me.

February wasn’t the only one snoring. Oak also contributed to the sinus symphony in my bed right now.

My dog, AKA Oak the-bathtub-sleeper Hawkins, was lying at the base of my bed by our feet.

Last night, he’d climbed up onto the bed, rendering February and me speechless.

Oak hadn’t slept in the bed in years. Maybe somehow he’d remembered the night the three of us fell asleep on the couch in front of the fire, and he associated February with a feeling of safety.

I’d be interested to see whether he returned to the tub after she left.

Because the only two times he’d slept outside the bathroom in recent memory were nights that February had slept over.

Damn. I could get used to waking up next to them. The only bad thing about this new arrangement was that it would always involve having to separate from her again. There was no way around that.

February stirred and turned toward me. Her eyes slowly opened to find me watching her.

“Hey,” she said groggily. “How long have you been up?”

“A while.”

“You were watching me sleep?”

“I was.”

“What were you thinking about?” She smiled.

“I was remembering the first time you were in my bed, among other things.”

She laughed. “I try not to think about that. It was quite embarrassing.” She rubbed her hand along my leg. “We’ve come a long way, though, haven’t we? ”

“We’ve come a lot since last night. That’s for damn sure.”

“Well, that too.” She chuckled. “Probably my favorite part of being back here.”

I wrapped my arm around her. “Any idea what you’d like to do today?”

“Put me to work.”

My forehead wrinkled. “Excuse me?”

“Put me to work,” she repeated. “Before I told you I was coming this weekend, you mentioned that you had work to do at the smaller cabin. Then after I told you I was coming, you said it could wait. But why don’t we head over there?

You can do the work you originally planned to, and I can help. That way you don’t get too far behind.”

She was going to help? I stifled laughter. I didn’t want to insult her by admitting she’d probably be more hindrance than help. It was sweet that she wanted to come with me.

“I’m not sure you’ll enjoy yourself, sweetheart. We should probably do something fun while you’re here.”

“Isn’t that your idea of fun?” she challenged.

“Well, yeah. But you won’t enjoy it.”

“I will enjoy it. If me visiting is going to be a regular thing, you can’t afford to drop everything each time I come, like it’s some sort of vacation.

It’s not a vacation anymore. This is real life.

Same as when you come to New York. It won’t always be sightseeing.

Some weekends we’ll just be lying around decompressing from the week. ”

“As long as the lying around includes time inside of you, I’m good.” I winked .

“Well, of course.” She lowered her hand to my crotch, cupping my balls. “Sex with you has become my favorite way to decompress.”

My dick hardened, signaling the fact that if she touched me even one more time, we might never leave this bed today, let alone get over to the construction site.

I arched a brow. “You sure you want to come to work with me?”

She nodded eagerly. “It will be like take-your-girlfriend-to-work day. I want to experience a typical day in your life.”

One thing I knew? As long as February was around, nothing would ever be typical.

***

When we showed up at the cabin, Trevor and Axe were already working. I braced myself for the ball-busting I knew was to come.

Trevor put his tool down the moment he spotted us. “Hey, Fancy Pants. Brock didn’t tell me you were coming this weekend.” He turned to me. “And I thought you told me you wouldn’t be here today? To what do we owe the honor of your presence?”

“It was sort of a last-minute decision,” I said. “February’s idea, actually. She wanted to experience a day in the life…”

“Well, welcome back to Meadowbrook,” he said to her.

“Thank you. It’s good to be back.”

“I have to say, I wasn’t sure I’d see you around these parts again. I think Brock has been holding back a bit. ”

She looked at me. “Brock and I are trying out the long-distance thing, actually.”

“Well, looks like we have a lot to catch up on, brother…” Axe looked at me and smirked. “I’m always the last to know anything around here. Comes with being the youngest.” He nodded. “Anyway, good to see you, February.”

“Thank you. Meadowbrook is much more interesting in the daytime. I want you guys to put me to work.” She smiled proudly. “I want to help.”

She was adorable, but this was going to be a disaster.

Trevor’s eyes widened. “Uh…okay. You serious?”

I flashed him a warning look, hoping he wouldn’t taunt her.

I ended up assigning February a few simple tasks, like transporting logs from point A to point B, figuring that was harmless enough.

“When did you get in?” Trevor asked February as she carried one of the logs over to him.

“Just last night. I called Brock in the afternoon when I booked my flight so he could pick me up from the airport.”

“No wonder Brock left the worksite early yesterday,” Axe teased. “He had a special delivery.”

“He was all friendly toward the latter half of the day, too, remember?” Trevor added. “Now it makes sense.”

My brothers were making me out to be a lovesick sap, even if all of that was true.

“It’s none of your business anyway, you boneheads. I don’t have to tell you my every move.”

“Brock doesn’t like to talk about you because he thinks we’ll tease him, but in all honesty, we’re happy for you guys,” Axe said .

“You see, February, Brock actually has a very good reason to be cautious with information pertaining to his personal life,” Trevor explained. “He was traumatized as a child when his feelings were outed in front of his entire class.”

February frowned as she looked over at me. “What do you mean?”

I rolled my eyes and braced for the embarrassment.

“Brock tried to pass a letter to his childhood crush in grade school,” Trevor continued. “The teacher caught him and read the letter to the entire class. Ever since then, he’s kept his romantic interests to himself for the most part. That’s why we always have to dig for information.”

She covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “Oh no.”

I had a feeling this wasn’t the last of the embarrassing stories they planned to share today.

Unfortunately, February encouraged it. “I would love to hear more stories from Brock’s childhood.”

“Brock’s childhood was before my time, sadly,” Axe said. “But, Trevor, you must have more stories to share.”

“I have plenty…” Trevor chuckled. “Like the time Brock decided to cut his own bangs. He looked like Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber .”

February cackled.

“It was a dare,” I explained. “But it didn’t go as smoothly as I’d hoped.”

Trevor looked over at me, amused. “Our mom ended up shaving his whole damn head.”

“Damn.” Axe laughed. “I wish I could remember that.”

“I don’t even think you were born yet, Axe. We have photos of it somewhere, though. I’ll have to find them. ”

I held out my hand. “No need to dredge those up, please.”

February walked over to where I was working and ran her fingers through my hair. “I can’t picture you without this thick mane.”

“Let’s see…what else?” Trevor scratched his chin. “Oh! Speaking of his mane, Brock went through a phase in high school where he frosted the tips of his hair with bleach. Looked like a boy-band member. It was great.”

February laughed. “Okay, now I really need photos.”

“That can be arranged, too.” Trevor winked.

“That I do remember,” Axe chimed in. “I remember begging him to do it to mine so I could look like my big brother.”

I needed to put a stop to this. “All right. Enough of this reminiscing, if you want to call it that. We should get back to work.”

After about a half-hour of my brothers and me working together while February “helped,” she let out a screech.

“Ow!”

I ran to her. “Are you okay?”

“I dropped this damn log on my foot. Not sure how it slipped out of my hands.”

My brothers surrounded her.

She sat on the ground, holding her left foot as she looked up at us, her cheeks turning red. “This is mortifying. At least I wasn’t wearing open-toe shoes.”

I removed her shoe and sock and examined her foot, wiggling each of her toes gently. “How’s this feel?”

She sighed. “Good. I think I’m gonna live.”

I smiled. “Maybe you should rest for a bit.”

“Okay,” she said as she put her shoe back on.

This wasn’t her thing. Which was fine. She didn’t need to have beauty, business smarts, and be a freaking lumberjack.

Just when I thought she was safe, the pile of wood she’d been leaning against collapsed, nearly taking her down with it.