Page 33 of Snowed In with her Mountain Men
“Thank you so much,” I smiled, feeling genuinely taken care of. “The both of you.”
Jaxon only grunted and sipped his coffee, while Ryder reached for the milk. Oakley however, continued avoiding my gaze altogether. It could’ve been simple morning-after-first-sex shyness. More likely though, it was because I’d passed him in the hallway a little while ago, in the middle of slipping from Jaxon’s room. The expression on his face had been pure shock, more than anything.
But damn, I’d never slept so good, wrapped in those big, tattooed arms.
At the moment, my mind was crystal clear, my body surprisingly well-rested. Parts of me were still pleasantly sore, but that was to be expected. I’d spent my entire shower marveling over the events of last night, and deciding how to handle the situation going forward. It was a strange state of affairs, really. But I was never one to shy away from a confrontation.
In fact, I’d always been the kind of girl who liked to meet things head on.
“So… who had fun last night?”
The question crashed like a concrete cinder block against the fragile silence of the kitchen. I immediately spun around, and raised my hand.
Oakley turned six different shades of red. Jaxon, maybe more. But Ryder’s hand shot up to mirror mine, as he looked back and returned my grin.
“I did.”
His cheerful admission forced the others into action. Sheepishly they looked at each other, and slowly, eventually, raised their hands.
“Good. Let’s get that out of the way, then. I’d hate to have to walk on eggshells the rest of the time I’m here, just because we got better… acquainted last night.”
With that, I spun back around and flipped the eggs.
Oakley coughed. “Acquainted?”
“That’s right. Look, you boys started this,” I pointed out with the spatula. “I just rolled with it. Wouldn’t you agree?”
I wasn’t sure what they’d expected, but it certainly wasn’t this. I’d ripped the Band-Aid off so quickly, the three of them were completely at a loss. Actually, it was kind of fun.
“Besides, I’m pretty sure we all got what we needed out of last night,” I added, a little deviously. “I know I did.”
Breakfast was a lot less awkward after that, and I even got a few smiles. The boys wolfed down their food, and I ate just as ravenously. Together, we drank the coffee pot dry.
“So, the three of you met in the military?” I asked, casually.
It was a ploy of course, to change the subject. To keep from discussing anything other than the fact that, only a few short hours ago, we’d fucked ourselves silly.
“Ryder and I happened to land on Parris Island at the same time,” said Oakley. “We trained together, graduated together, and were deployed to the same unit.”
I swung my gaze to Jaxon. “And you?”
Ryder barked out a laugh. “We found this animal in the jungle,” he nodded toward his friend. “Right in the thick of things. Central African Republic.”
I squinted. “Where’s that?”
“If you put a push-pin in the dead center of the African continent, that’s where we were,” said Oakley. “When we ran into Jaxon, we were in a little bit of trouble.”
“Actually we were in alotof trouble,” countered Ryder. “We had no food, no water. We were eating termites to keep our protein levels up, and drinking from scoop holes near a dirty river.”
“Gross,” I chuckled. “Why?”
“Because they were lost,” grunted Jaxon, simply. “Way off path. They got themselves surrounded by rebels trying to incite another civil war.”
“That’s when we bumped into this asshole,” Oakley pointed at Jaxon. “Literally.”
“He was on sniper patrol,” explained Ryder. “Lying in the bushes, covered in brush. Like a snake in the grass.”
“Deadliest fucking snake there is,” Oakley agreed.
