Page 49 of Ten Mountain Men

Nash smirks. “Yeah, we’re lovers, not fighters.” He waggles his eyebrows.

Luke groans.

“Hey,” I say gently, because diffusing the tension between the brothers is the most important thing right now. Unfortunately, because I’d rather be diffusing the tension between my thighs, quite frankly. “Right now, we need to be catching some fish, right? So lunch can be on time?”

“Damn straight. This discussion is not over, but for now, Goldilocks is coming with me,” Grumpy Luke says, and the next thing I know, I’m upside down, slung over Grumpy Luke’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes with arms and legs. “All I care about is that you two lunkheads catch some damn fish for lunch. And if I leave her here, the only thing either of you is likely to catch is mononucleosis or the clap.”

“Hey!” I protest.

But I need to win Grumpy Luke over so I can stay without them fighting. So calling him an asshole probably isn’t the route I want to take. I am, however, slung over his shoulder backward so I take the opportunity to smack his ass.

“Don’t do that again unless you want me to drop you on your head,” he warns.

“What the hell, man? Luke, put her down,” Nash demands. He sounds MAD.

“Where are you taking her?” Lynx demands. Also MAD.

So much for being lovers, not fighters.

“I’m taking her back to the cabin. And don’t either of you dare follow. Don’t come back until you’ve caught some damn fish! A whole mess of damn fish!”

“It’s okay!” I call to Lynx and Nash so this doesn’t escalate. “I’m okay! I’ll go back to the cabin!”

I know I’m still just turned on from my little…whatever the hell that was…with Lynx and Nash, but there’s something mildly hot about Grumpy Luke’s gruff voice and bossiness.

“Youcanput me down,” I tell him as he stalks away, ignoring Lynx and Nash’s protests to bring me back. I hope they don’t follow. It’ll just make it worse. “I can walk.”

It won’t be pleasant, walking all the way back, but it’ll be better than the jostling and bouncing that’s happening every time he takes a step.

“The more you stay off that ankle, the sooner it heals, the faster you’re out of my hair,” he grouses. Then with a sigh, he adds, “Hopefully.”

“Oh, Lucas, don’t be such a flirt.” I don’t know what it is about this guy, but he makes it impossible for me not to try to push his buttons.

“Luke isn’t short for Lucas,” he says.

Lucifer?I start to ask. Is it short for Lucifer?

But I take another tack, because the need for him to like me is suddenly as overwhelming as the need for his brothers to touch me was just moments ago.

“Yay! You’re opening up to me, telling me things about yourself. So, hey, while we’re getting to know each other—”

“We’re not.”

“You know no one calls it the clap anymore, right?”

He sighs, and I rise and fall with it. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“I’mgivingyoua headache? You’ve literally got all the blood in my body rushing to my head.” My voice wobbles up and down with each gigantic step he takes.

“Well. Better than where Tweedledum and Tweedledee had all the blood in your body rushing, I suppose,” he says.

I almost laugh at that. Almost. Touché

And I’m not going to lie, he’s saving me a ton of effort. His strides are huge, and he’s able to clear fallen trees that I would have needed to either hurtle myself over, climb across, or go around if I wanted to keep up.

Though the earth is racing by at a dizzying speed, at least his ass gives me something to focus on so I don’t get motion sickness. I do love trying to find a positive spin on situations, and though my headisspinning, my view is most definitely positive.

Except he’s somehow managed to up his speed-walking, and now we’re racing through the forest at a dizzying clip that’s making me wanna…

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