Page 15 of Crush & Byte
“You can see the lake from up here!”I shouted back, grinning down at them.“It’s so beautiful!”
Byte leaned against the Bronco, arms crossed, watching me with that half smile that made my stomach do funny things.“If you fall and break something, we’re in the middle of nowhere,” he said, but I could tell he wasn’t really upset.
“Party pooper,” I called down, swinging my legs.“I’m practically a monkey.”
I hadn’t felt this free in… well, maybe ever.Something about being here, with these two men who seemed to genuinely enjoy my enthusiasm instead of finding it annoying, made me feel like I could be completely myself.Hadn’t Maggie told me I needed to relax and have some fun since she’d first met me?Maybe she had a point.Life was too short to not live in the moment.
“Come on, little monkey,” Crush said, moving to the tree under me.“Let’s get our shit inside and eat before it gets too dark to do much.”
“I thought you said there was electricity?”
“Yep.Didn’t say there were lights.But we have runningandhot water, as well as oil lamps.”
I looked down at him from my perch high in the tree.“But why?”Before he could answer I plowed on.“Not because I’m complaining.Just curious.Seems like an odd choice.”
“Maggie said electric lighting would detract from the rustic atmosphere,” said Byte to Crush, then grinned up at me, amusement coloring his voice, “You gonna come down, or should we just leave your stuff in the yard?”
“Coming!”I scrambled down, only scraping my palms a couple of times, but I didn’t care.My heart raced, but not from the climb.There was something about being here with these two men that both terrified and exhilarated me.I hadn’t been lying when I told them I couldn’t sleep last night.If this ended right now, if these men turned out to be serial killers on the loose whose sweet, elderly grandmother set me up to be murdered, I wasn’t sure I could complain.Not because I didn’t want to live -- I had no intention of dying and I’d fight them to the fucking death -- but because of the adventure she gave me before everything went to shit.
With that thought, I paused on my way down.“Um, guys?”
“What is it, sweetheart?”Byte was under me, reaching like he might for a child who’d climbed too high and who he was afraid might fall.
“If you guys turn out to be serial killers and Mrs.Walsh helped lure me here so you could murder me in vicious and unspeakable ways, I had a great time up to this point.”
Both men stopped what they were doing and stared at me.Then Byte burst out laughing, doubling over with his hands on his knees.Even Crush’s stern expression cracked into a reluctant grin.
“Jesus Christ, River,” Crush said, shaking his head.“We’re not Goddamned serial killers.”He sounded gruff, but there was no mistaking the amusement as he looked up at me.
“Well, obviously that’s what a serial killer would say,” I pointed out as I swung down from the last branch and dropped to the ground with a little thump.I brushed bark from my palms.“Just saying.I had a great time.Adventure achieved.Murder would be a bummer ending, though.”
Byte was still chuckling as he straightened up.“I promise we have no plans to murder you.Grandma would be pissed.”
“Fair point.She does seem like the type to hunt someone down if you piss her off.”I bounced on my toes, still buzzing with excitement despite my murder jokes.“Let’s go inside!I want to see everything!”
Byte snagged my hand and tugged me toward the house and up the porch.I probably should have pulled my hand free, but I liked the way his skin felt against mine.It was also oddly intimate when I wasn’t expecting intimacy.
Crush pulled the brass key from his pocket and stuck it in the door’s lock.“Come on, Rapunzel with short hair.In you get.Freshen up if you need to, then we’ll head outside to watch the sunset.”
My eyes got wide.“Sunset… over the lake?”
“Yep.Better hurry.”Byte winked at me, turning me toward the bathroom and swatting my ass as I hurried off.
“Hey!”I turned to glare at him.“What was that for?”
“Climbing that fucking tree and nearly giving Crush heart failure.He’s too old for that shit.”
For some reason, his teasing combined with Crush’s exasperated look was the funniest shit ever.I practically doubled over in laughter as I opened the bathroom door.I’d never admit it, but the need for that bathroom was becoming an emergency.
The bathroom was small, with rustic hardwood floors and walls that were a rough, textured wood.The shower was the most prominent feature, with sleek, modern fixtures and a glass door, two shower heads, and room enough for…more than two people… Yeah.Not going there.
A small window looked out to the backyard and the lake beyond.A fluffy white towel hung from a rack on the wall with more folded neatly on a shelf recessed into one wall, and a small sink with a mirror above it sat to the side completed the whole package.Everything was spotless.Almost like the whole place had been prepared for us.
Once I’d done my business and washed my hands, I exited the room to find the men packing in our stuff and the supplies.Byte glanced back at me, a teasing gleam in his eyes.“Everything come out OK?”
“For Christ’s sake, Byte.”Crush slapped the back of his Byte’s head as he passed.
“What?”Byte tried to look shocked and mildly clueless, but he wasn’t fooling anyone.Yeah.I was having the time of my life with two gorgeous men who were nothing but kind.
