by Tijan
Mason signed and took the map.
She slid another couple copies to me, winking. “For you and the women folk, since none of us were blessed with a stick we can pull out and aim.”
Taylor laughed behind me. “I love her.”
Logan patted Taylor on the arm and said under his breath, “She doesn’t think I’m a soccer star.”
Taylor laughed harder. “I know.”
The lady overheard and pushed her glasses up to her forehead. She winked at Taylor. “Honey, he can pass for one. I just know he ain’t.” She looked him up and down. “You got the looks, all right—all smoldering and pretty-boyish. I know my players. This guy, I can tell, is the real football guy. He’s quiet and hoping I won’t take notice.” She smiled at Mason. “You don’t got nothing to fear from me.”
Mason nodded. “Not really giving one shit either way, ma’am.” Picking up the last two maps, he turned. “Let’s go.”
And we were off.
I glanced back and noted the lady’s gaze had remained on Mason’s ass until the door closed behind us.
We climbed back into the SUV and Taylor announced, “She had spunk.”
Logan said, “She was okay.”
We all laughed at that.
3
Samantha
The campsite was gorgeous—a clearing between massive redwood trees, with our own path leading to a beach. The water was sparkling and the sand so fine it was surreal. But the biggest surprise wasn’t the location or that as the lady had explained. There was another campsite right next to us. A path connected the two, with enough trees in between for privacy. The big shock was the three massive campers already in place next door, along with two others on the side.
“What the fuck?” Logan yelled.
Mason shared a look with me, a grin tugging at his mouth. “They got here fast.”
I grunted, “No doubt.”
The door opened on one of the campers and out walked Nate.
And walking wasn’t the best way to describe Nate. He strutted his way down the three steps, grinning wildly at us, and Matteo popped out right behind him. Nate always reminded me of Mason, since both were similar height and both had black hair. But over the years, Mason’s body had become more sculpted. It was a result from his job so maybe that was why Nate’s face seemed a bit more fuller than Mason’s chiseled jawline. Matteo was an inch shorter, more muscular than both Nate and Mason. He was proud of his Hawaiian ethnicity, but he seemed tanner than normal.
“Hell yeah!” Logan yelled. He was around the SUV in a flash, and the three guys were hugging and pounding each other’s backs.
Taylor sighed. “SBCers, all three of them.” She got out, but trailed behind at a slower pace.
Soul brotha connections.
Mason and I hung back.
I was in the twilight zone.
Mason should’ve been over there, hugging, pounding on the backs. Grins all around. He wasn’t. I knew this had nothing to do with Logan and Nate. Both guys were at our house constantly. Nate had recently been traveling more to Fallen Crest. There were issues going on with his family, so he and Mason had started calling each other more, but it was Matteo.
And guy tension was the worst tension there was.
Matteo hadn’t reached out to Mason. Mason had reached out, but was shut down so he didn’t call again. Matteo was close to Nate, so it wasn’t the issue where Matteo was talking shit about Mason. Nate and Logan would never stand for that, but the issue was that no one was talking about it.
It was felt. It was there. And the guys weren’t sure how to handle it.
Old Mason would rip into Matteo, but we’d been busy. We were across the country. Marriage. Careers. Our little Maddie. So, life happened and I was sure life was happening for Matteo too.
Matteo was a good guy. Always had been, but yeah, things were just weird right now.
I was almost hoping a fight would just handle this and everyone could go back to being normal.
Mason let out a sigh. “Logan’s pissed at me because I’m close to Channing.”
“Logan loves Channing.”
He shook his head. “But he’s pissed at how close I’ve gotten with Channing too.”
There was really nothing to say to that.
“And I don’t want to fight Matteo,” he added.
He must’ve been on the same brainwave as me?
Another breath of pain sliced through me for my man, but I ignored it. “Matteo will get over it too. It’s painful for him now, but it won’t be later.”
“Nate used to be my best friend, but he’s Logan’s now.”
These guys.
It’d been Mason and Nate. Nate left. Then it was Mason and Logan. Brothers. Then Nate came back, and I’d been in there instead of him. He’d been on the outskirts for the last few years, until Mason grew more serious about football. That meant more responsibilities, more pressure, more of a spotlight on him all the time. Nate didn’t get that spotlight. Neither did Logan. It wasn’t the same as when they’d grown up.
Mason had married me.
Mason had married his career.
And both Logan and Nate were in their own journeys.
They were in a different stage of life. It was just that simple.
But then there was Channing, who was in a different stage of his life altogether.
I knew my man was hurting, but I also knew only time would heal it.
“Hey.” I reached for his hand, sliding my fingers through his and lifting both our hands so I could kiss his. I smiled, resting the side of my face against our hands. “It will be fine. Having friends, being loved is never a problem. Fighting to keep the love is the challenge, and we all know you dominate when you’ve been given a challenge.”
His eyes grew dark, and his smile turned wolfish. “I love you.” His gaze fell to my mouth. “And I want to drive out of here, find somewhere private, and bend you over in front of me.” He leaned over, his other hand sliding around my neck. “Right now.” And then his mouth was on mine, and the world melted away.
We took a little time to ourselves in the SUV.
4
Samantha
When we got out, Mason and I went around to the back of the SUV and began to grab the bags. Nate came across the campsite toward us.
“Hey, man.”
He and Mason hugged.
I had to stop and pause because it was so natural for both of them. They’d been through a lot, but Nate moved toward his childhood best friend and Mason held up, waiting for him. Both knew what the other would do and it was striking me how much these guys had been through. Maybe it was because of the Matteo awkward dynamic that I was realizing how different this was feeling, how much I’d taken for granted Mason’s close friends that were like brothers to him. He and Logan were brothers, but in a different way, so was Nate to them. Channing was in that group, and until today I would’ve put Matteo with them as well.
I still would. So that meant things needed to get hashed out at this campsite. Pronto.
Mason asked, “Things work out here?”
He was referring to the reason Nate had been in California a lot more lately.
Nate shrugged. “It’s a work in progress. How about that?”
Mason jerked his head toward the campers. “No tents?”
Nate’s smile was blinding, and instant. He seemed more at ease suddenly. “Trust me. Tent camping sucks. You’ll be thanking me tonight when you’re wrapped up with Sam and you’ve got some privacy.” His smile turned rakish. “Plus, I knew Logan would be griping about tents. So yeah, we splurged. Each of us has our own. We were figuring Matteo and I would take one of these. You and Sam the other. Logan and Taylor in the third. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds good.” Mason looked at me. “You good with that?”
I grinned back. I was easy with anything, just wanted Mason and Heather.
And speaking of Heather, I heard a door close at the campsite next to us and look
ed over. Voices and shouts filled the air soon after, and I could see movement through the trees.
“Where the fuck are they?”
Heather.
A pissed Heather.
Still sultry. Her hair was still a dirty blonde mess, but those smoky eyes that she sometimes made-up wasn’t on her face. Didn’t matter, though. Not for Heather. If she was standing, how she was now, she still oozed sex appeal.
God, I missed her.
Mason and Nate started laughing.
I was moving toward her before I realized what I was doing.
Mason called after me, “Yeah. Sam. I’ll get everything situat—”
I wasn’t listening anymore. I loved my man, but I needed my Heather right now.
I darted down the path that connected the campsites.
There she was.
Standing just outside Channing’s truck. Frowning—or more scowling, with her hands on her hips and her blonde hair tossed back over her shoulders.
“What the fuck is going on here?” she yelled. “I called. I explained the situation. We were supposed to get prime campin—” She saw me, and her voice stopped. A strangled sound came out next. “Holy fuck!”
Heather shrieked and ran to me.
I ran to her.
It was all glorious, with our hair in the wind and then our bodies hitting each other, and we didn’t care. We laughed and squeezed each other as hard as we could. Then I was cursing—no, she started cursing first and I followed.
“Your future sister-in-law’s lost her marbles, Bren,” I heard a voice call.
I turned to find the tallest guy in the group looking our way. Next to him was a shorter guy, a bit more squat, and he grinned as he checked me out.
“Damn. Forgot how hot Samantha Kade is.” He didn’t seem to care that I could hear him. He tipped his head up. “Respect, Mrs. Kade, but you’re hot. You get hotter each year too. Each week since it wasn’t long ago that we saw you.”
“Z!” A bark came from the girl who stepped out from behind them.
Bren, Channing’s sister.
The words beautiful wolf were the best to describe her—dark hair, dark eyes, and a thin frame. I had jet-black hair, but there was something feral in Bren that I’d never attained. When I thought about growing up, living with Analise, I sometimes wondered why I hadn’t gotten what Bren had inside her. But from what Heather had shared, there’d been some serious dark moments in Bren’s life.
Heather sighed. “Mama Malinda has taken Bren under her wing.”
“Good.” For some reason, that made my chest feel lighter. When I looked at Heather, I could see her own concern for the girl. “She’s got you. She’s got Malinda. She’s got Channing. She’s going to be okay.”
Heather drew in a ragged breath, blinking back a tear.
“God,” she whispered. “I hope so. She’s been through so much already.” She shook her head. “She could kick our ass, Sam. Thank God we didn’t grow up at the same time she did. If we tangled with her…” Heather whistled under her breath.
I hip-checked her. “Don’t let Logan hear you say that. He’ll take it as a challenge.”
Heather groaned and angled her head to check out where I’d come from. “True.” She stepped back, untangling our arms and folding hers over her chest. She looked at all the campers. “We caravanned up with Nate, and he told us about the campers, but damn. Wow.”
“I know. Nice, huh?”
“Yeah.”
I turned to look at the two campers on their site. “I’m assuming Bren’s crew will stay in one and you and Channing in the other?”
Bren and her friends had disappeared. I saw two, but I knew there was a third somewhere. There was no way Bren would come without that third guy.
“That’ll be four together. They’ll be okay with that?”
Heather barked out an abrupt laugh. “Yeah.” She patted my arm. “You really don’t understand how tight that group is. You, Mason, and Logan are tight, but those guys…” She shook her head, her eyes rolling upward. “It’s almost ridiculous at times. You’ll see. And yes, they’ll prefer it. If Bren and Cross want alone time, they’ll disappear and then come back.”
Cross. That was his name.
A second truck pulled in and parked behind the first. Channing waved from behind the wheel and hit the horn, flashing us a grin.
Instantly, Heather loosened up.
Oh yeah, my friend was happy. That made me happy.
Before Channing got out, a guy who could’ve been his younger brother stepped out from the passenger side.
He paused, looking at me, and oh yeah, I could see what Bren saw in him. He was young, but it didn’t matter. The guy was gorgeous—dark blond hair, a scowl that probably made most of the girls want him, and he was tanned and lean like Channing.
Without saying a word to any of us, he took off.
Heather waved. “Nice seeing you too, Cross.”
He didn’t look back, just lifted an arm.
Channing came over. A tattooed arm rose and he raked his hand through his dark blond hair, which was shorter than the last time I saw him. It accentuated the model face Channing always got teased for having. He was frowning now. “He’s in a mood. I picked him up from his dad’s house, and holy shit, I thought Mason could brood. Mase has got nothing on that kid.” His words were laced with fondness and amusement. “He needs time with his other half, if you know what I mean.”
Channing turned to me. “Heya, Sam.”
I chuckled. “Hi, Channing.”
He caught me up in a hug, but it was brief and polite.
I was best friends with his other half, and he was close enough to be considered a best friend to mine, but Channing and I didn’t have much of a relationship. We both loved our soulmates, and because of that, we were friendly. Anything else felt inappropriate, but a sort of respect had formed between us.
After he pulled Heather in for some brief Heather/Channing time, he went off to search for my man.
Heather craned her neck, looking toward our campsite. “Is Taylor over there too?”
I didn’t have time to answer. Just as a bunch of male voices got loud and raucous, Taylor came walking our way from the path. She paused, looked back, and shook her head as she approached.
“Buddy!”
“Man!”
“Hell yeah!”
Cheers filled the air behind her.
Taylor came over, hugged Heather, and murmured, “I’m fairly certain there are going to be two groups tonight: the boys…” She indicated behind her. “And the women.”
“And Bren’s crew will be the third,” Heather added.
Taylor frowned. “Who’s Bren?”
5
Samantha
Gender roles were reversed for this campout.
I had no idea how it happened, but I knew when it happened.
Logan had decreed that we needed better food. Not more food, better food, so off the guys went to the nearest grocery store. They were also tasked with stopping for more booze. (Not better booze, more booze this time.) And while they were at it, we put them in charge of picking up anything else miscellaneous we needed.
Bren asked for a knife.
I had no idea why, but Channing only stared her down before sighing. “Fine.”
I asked for hand sanitizer and toilet paper (since none of the campers had any).
Taylor handed Logan a list. Knowing her, it included all the items everyone else needed but forgot to request.
Heather asked for cigarettes, and Channing was back to doing his stare-off. He didn’t sigh this round.
Heather’s the one who sighed, gritting her teeth. “Fine. Just whiskey.”
The corner of Channing’s mouth curved up, but he ran a tattooed hand over his face. “She quit this year and still keeps asking for a carton.”
Heather lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug. “What do you do? It’s reflex. People ask if I need something, I need cigarettes. It’s au
tomatic.”
So Matteo, Nate, Logan, Mason, and Channing all piled into an SUV and drove away with Mason behind the wheel. I should note that Matteo had not greeted Mason or myself. He stayed beside Nate and Logan, and when all the guys were together, Matteo was quiet. I knew this because I watched.
Before the football weirdness, Matteo would’ve come over to give me a hug.
There was no hug.
I noticed this. Taylor and Heather did not. Neither was close to Matteo, but I knew all of the guys had noticed. So I was mulling over that because I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Not that I had a say because Nate and Logan were friends with Matteo. He and Mason would be again, I was hoping, so that was my answer. I would be fine with it because everything would work out in the end.
Or I was hoping.
So the guys went shopping and the girls went to grab firewood.
I dropped my second load by the fire pit and glanced around.
Heather came up behind me, dumping her load.
“Where are your girl and her crew?”
She snorted. “Fuck if I know. Knowing them, we won’t see them until Zellman decides he’s hungry. Honest to God, that kid is the smallest of all of them and he eats the most.”
I grinned at her. “Who’s the tall one again?”
“Jordan. Cross is—”
“—the gorgeous broody one?”
She flashed me back a grin. “Yeah.”
Taylor approached with her third haul. There were small beads of sweat on her forehead.
She wasn’t alone. It was hot out and we all started to sweat a little.
I sighed, bending over. Locking my fingers, I raised my arms over my head, stretching. “I should go for a run.”