Page 31

When we reach the ladder, Bower encourages me to go first as he holds the bottom steady for me. When I get to the top and look back down, Bower is climbing up and the other two are looking up at me, trying to shield their eyes from the rain.

“Zee!” Weston yells, trying to be heard over the rain. “You better get that pretty little ass of yours into the hut!”

He thinks my ass is pretty?

“And what if I don’t?” I yell back, deciding to ignore the unusual compliment.

“You don’t want to find out what happens, Tink. Now get in there,” Bower says as he climbs up beside me and grabs my hand, pulling me into the hut.

The relief of being out of the rain is immediate, and my shoulders instantly relax.

I look up at Bower as he pushes his hand through his wet hair that’s hanging down to his shoulders.

“Your hair looks good like that,” I tell him, reaching up to touch a strand that falls in front of his eye, pushing it behind his ear.

A smirk covers his gorgeous face as he gently grabs my waist and pulls me closer to him. “Oh yeah? You like my hair, Tink?”

My eyes latch on to his grinning lips, and I lick my own and nod in response. I’m suddenly filled with the wonder of what it’d be like to kiss him.

I press my hands against his wet shirt, feeling his firm stomach as I swallow heavily. His eyes explore my face and his smile turns into something much more heated. His nostrils flare slightly, then he starts to dip his head towards me.

“Wow, that’s one heck of a down pour out there,” Kingsley says, popping the intimate bubble Bower and I had found ourselves in.

I try to take a step back, but Bower grips my waist, turning me and pulling me against him while he wraps his arms around me.

I grip his forearms and rest my head on his bicep as I watch the other two close the door and try to shake off some of the rain.

“I wish we had towels,” he says as his eyes bounce around the space, landing on me standing in Bower’s embrace.

“Sorry, I never learned how to make those,” I tell him with a quirk of my lips.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you had though, you seem to be pretty resourceful out here.”

“At least we all have a change of clothes in here,” Bower says, releasing me to point to the table. I glance over and see my own bag there.

Frowning, I move over and peek inside, confirming it is, in fact, mine. “How did you get this?” I ask in confusion.

“Kingsley went up the tree, looking for you,” Weston says, pulling off his wet shirt and throwing it into the corner of the room where it lands with a plop.

My eyes widen as I take in his bare chest. I’ve seen it before, but this time, the sight instantly makes me wet between my legs as I clench my thighs tight.

Why does that keep happening to me? I’ve never wanted underwear so badly in my life.

“I saw your bag so thought it’d be a good idea to keep it dry,” Kingsley explains as I turn to him to find him in a similar state of bare chestedness. When he starts to undo his jeans, I quickly spin around, just in time to see Bower push his own jeans and boxers down to the floor.

“Sweet baby penis!” I gasp at the sight of his naked body as my hands fly to my heated cheeks. Kingsley laughs loudly as Bower narrows his eyes at me.

“Tink, sweetheart. Please never use the word ‘baby’ and ‘penis’ in the same sentence again when referring to me. A guy's ego can only take so much.”

“I—” I cut myself off as I stare at his definitely not so baby package.

Fingers snap in front of me, making me jerk back. “What? I—” My wide eyes find Bower smirking down at me as he points at his eyes.

“My eyes are up here, Tink.”

“Ohmygod, I’m so sorry!” I blurt out, covering my face with my hands as I try to find somewhere to turn that isn’t full of naked men.

“Just give us a minute to air dry, then we’ll put boxers on,” Kingsley says gently, taking pity on me.

“You’re welcome to look if you want, Tink. I was only kidding,” Bower says right before I feel the heat of his body press against my back. “Would you like to take your wet clothes off, too? You can stay right where you are, so we can’t see much.”

I hesitate before answering. I really don’t want to get naked in front of them, but I’m drenched and a change of clothes would go a long way to making me feel better. “Okay,” I whisper hesitantly.

“Arms up,” he commands, and I lift my arms above my head. Bower grabs the bottom of my top and carefully pulls it up, tossing it into the corner with their wet clothes.

I lower my arms, crossing them over my chest as his hands slide down my sides until they reach my skirt. He slowly pushes it down my hips and when he bends down, he places a quick kiss on my ass cheek, making me gasp in surprise.

I lift my feet, stepping out of the skirt, and he tosses it away.

As he stands, his hands glide up my legs, ending on my hips.

He moves closer, chest pressing against me, and his hard cock presses against my lower back, making me suck in a sharp breath at the reminder that he’s just as naked as I am.

His fingers flex on my damp skin as he inhales against the side of my head. Is he smelling me? A shiver rolls down my spine as I lick my lips, unsure what to do or say.

Weston’s arm reaches in front of me as he grabs my dry t-shirt and shakes it out, then in one swift motion, he turns and pulls it down over my head, his eyes never dropping from my face, something I’m grateful for.

He helps me push my arms through as Bower takes a step back to put on his own boxers.

I realize Weston and Kingsley have theirs on now as well, and I’m not sure if I’m upset by that or grateful, but it does make me feel a tad bit more relaxed.

“Shit, we should have grabbed the jerky from the kitchen before we took off our wet clothes,” Bower says as he stretches his arms above his head. I try and fail not to stare at all the skin on display, and when he sees me looking, he winks at me with a smirk, so I quickly turn away.

“Zee, here, you can wear these,” Kingsley says, offering me a spare pair of his boxers. I gratefully take them, not wanting to be stuck in here without anything underneath this loose fitting t-shirt, especially with how wet I was still feeling down there.

“Thanks,” I say, quickly pulling them on. “Bower, I don’t think you’ll have to go hungry,” I say as I rummage through my bag and pull out a bundle of jerky wrapped in a banana leaf. “I’ve got some jerky you can eat.”

I toss him the whole bundle, and his eyes widen in surprise.

When he unwraps it and sees all the dried meat, a huge smile covers his face as he pulls me into a side hug.

“This is why I’m gonna marry you, Tink. You’re always thinking two steps ahead!

” He takes a piece and offers it around to everyone while I try not to freak out at his words.

He’s obviously kidding, didn't he say that the first day we met, too?

Yeah, he’s obviously just joking around.

We nibble away in silence as the rain continues outside. How am I going to get out of here, and where am I even going to go? I can’t fall asleep here, it’s too risky.

“Zee, you take the bed,” Weston says as he grabs a spare pillow and lays down right in front of the door.

I eye the exit as the sounds of the rain penetrate my fog.

Crap shells, I’m stuck in here for the night, aren’t I?

The way he’s looking at me right now tells me he’s expecting me to try to leave, and he’s not willing to budge.

I can’t sleep here, I’ll just have to try to stay awake until the rain stops.

There is no way I want to risk falling asleep where they’ll hear my nightmares.

I’m not so much afraid of how they’ll judge me, since they’ve done nothing to make me feel that way since they arrived.

It’s more worry of having to relive what happened by explaining the nightmares to them.

It’s something I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to bury for the past fifteen years, and I’m afraid if I allow myself to fully remember, I won’t be able to hold myself together anymore.

Bower gives me a kiss on the forehead before climbing into the hammock. I grab Steve and McStabby from my bag and move to sit on the bed, but not before Kingsley stops me, grabbing my hand gently and turning me to face him.

His eyes scan my face, a small frown pulling at his eyebrows. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” I say with a nod, the knot of unease growing in my belly.

He watches me for a few more moments before placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Alright, get to bed.” He moves to the other mattress as I climb into my old bed, hugging Steve to my chest.

Bower kissed me on the cheek, and the butt , and Kingsley kissed my forehead.

They were becoming more affectionate with me every day.

I can’t say I mind it, in fact, it stirs something in me I haven’t felt in years.

But I remind myself that family often kisses each other on the cheek or forehead, so maybe they just see me like a sister.

But the way Bower had held me briefly while we were naked, and the fact that he kissed my butt cheek, makes me think that isn’t entirely accurate. The biggest problem is that there are three of them, and one of me. And I care for all of them equally. And not as brothers.

I glance around again and a shiver rolls through me. Suddenly, I wonder why none of them wanted to lie with me.

Under the raft they were all too eager for cuddles, but now… Had I done something wrong? Nobody seemed upset. Was that just a one-time thing?

Crab sucker , did they just do that to ease my panic? None of them offered any sort of declaration of commitment or intentions.

I squeeze my eyes tightly shut as I roll to face the wall. I’m such an idiot. They were being nice, helping me calm down from my irrational state. Of course it didn’t mean the same to them as it meant to me. If it did, someone would be cuddling with me now .