Page 76 of Dare to be Different

“Laken is fucking family,” I say. “She became family the first day we all met her.”

“Became mine the night before,” Jed brags.

“Nah, I heard she turned you down that night,” Hardin says. “But whatever you need to tell yourself, Jed.”

“Can’t believe Wyatt gave his blessing.” I laugh, getting up to hug them both.

Kade scoffs. “He told me that if I ever hurt her, he’ll cut off my balls and hang them above the fireplace to eternally roast.” He laughs.

Best threat ever. I love Wyatt.

“Well, just warning ya, she thinks I’m beautiful, so…”

Remy gets me in a headlock and pulls me away. “Compliments go to his head.” He folds me in against his side and, yeah, I’m just comfy-cozy here, even if he’s beating on me. “When are you gonna propose?” Rem asks.

“Up here. Tomorrow morning,” Kade says.

We all look in the distance to see Laken and Gar descending a moonlit slope. But above that, the Northern Lights are coming out, lighting up the sky in blues, greens, and purples.

“Fuck,” Kade marvels, looking at Jed.

Quickly, they show us the ring and the modifications they made. A gemstone for each of their eye colors, and a Celtic Knot that represents an unbreakable bond. Thoughtful pricks nailed it!

“Go!” We all shout at them. No better time and place to propose to a mountain chick than under the Aurora Borealis on a mountaintop. “Go!”

“Send Gar back!” Dom shouts after them. “I’ll keep him company.”

I lean against Remy, watching my tough-guy brother and my badass brother trudge through the snow to propose to the tiny warrior woman of their dreams.

“Fucking Dare family is growing by the day,” I say, subconsciously tightening my hold around Remy’s waist.

He looks at me, but there’s something like hopeful vulnerability in my eyes, so I turn away. Remy doesn’t mind, though. He knows my tells. Instead, he leans in until his lips brush the side of my hat, whispering, “Think you can fly this heli back and get off at the same time?”

Okay, that does it. Not afraid to look a dare-horse in the mouth. “Are you betting me, Remy Rivers? Doubting my flying and orgasm skills combined?”

“Mhm,” he hums, grinning. “Fifty bucks says you go off course.”

I mean, maybe. “Mouth or hands?”

“By any means necessary.” He holds out his free hand, rolled into a fist.

I bump my knuckles to his. “Can’t wait to watch you try to throw me off my flight game.” I grip his jaw and force his face in front of mine. “But not dangerous shit. I used to be a daredevil, but your three-day vacation to the middle of nowhere changed that. Got it?”

He glances behind me. No one is looking, so he presses a smirking kiss to my lips and hums again.

Helicopters are way more complicated to fly than planes. Like… way. There are two foot pedals, a collective stick to change the pitch of the main rotor blades, and the cyclic to tilt the rotor blades backward and forward, and if I let go of that one, we’ll crash. On top of all that, I’ve gotta control the throttle, and yeah, I think I might owe Remy fifty dollars after this.

“Not as coordinated as you thought you were?” Remy teases me, his hand sliding up my thigh to distract me already.

“It’s not my coordination I’m worried about,” I tell him, my breath puffing in the air.

“Then what?” He slides his hand a bit higher, cupping my dick through my snow pants. The helicopter jostles, and I firm up my grip on the stick. Remy laughs. “Ah. Distraction,” he guesses. “Can’t focus on it all at once.”

“Not when you’re rubbing my cock like that. Jesus, Remy.” I don’t want him to stop, though. “A handie might be worth a wreck.”

“It’s not,” he says, still smiling. “Get us to the airfield, Zahn.” He leans back in his seat, and I groan when he removes his hand.

“You know, it’s fucking pathetic that I’m not as wild as I think I am. The old me would have dared you to keep going, crash be damned. But the new me…”

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