Roommates Box Set #4-6

18. Carter

18

CARTER

“We need to talk,” I said to Tristan and Drew after breakfast. Sierra had volunteered to take Zeus out, so it was just the three of us.

“Is this about the solar panel company?” Tristan asked as Drew looked up from the sink where he rinsed the plates. “You were right to walk away from that offer. They’ll come back with another offer. They need us as much as we need them.”

“It’s a win-win,” Drew added.

I rolled my eyes. “Not about that. Meet me out by the wood pile after lunch.”

Tristan opened his mouth to ask a question, but I cut him off. “Your work wife isn’t invited.”

Then I strode out of the kitchen, ignoring the glances I knew they’d exchanged behind my back.

“What’s this about?” Tristan asked.

“Our houseguest.” I’d brought the axe, but I didn’t begin splitting logs.

“I’m not sure I’d call her a guest anymore,” Drew said. “She’s here to work, just like we are.”

“Nevertheless, she’s causing friction in the group.”

Drew rounded on me. “So, what are we going to do, throw her out in the snow?”

Tristan held up a hand. “Just hear him out.”

“Thank you. It’s not her fault, but it’s thrown us off stride. Since it doesn’t look like she’ll be leaving any time soon, we need to figure out how to deal with it so we can get our work done—and so she can, too.”

“What’s the problem?” Drew asked. “We work during the day, and so does she. We drink and watch movies at night, and so does she. What’s the issue?”

“Well, first off, she’s pigeon-holed each of us. She’s fit us into certain slots.”

“What do you mean?” Drew sounded skeptical.

“For starters, she thinks of you like a little brother.”

That cut the wind out of his sails. “No way. Siblings don’t do the things we’ve done together.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t see it that way. If she did, she’d freeze up on you, like we’ve seen her do many times. But she’s convinced herself that you two are just joking and playing around, so it’s okay.” They didn’t think I noticed the glances and playful touches they sometimes exchanged, but I did.

“He’s older than her,” Tristan said.

“Doesn’t matter. She thinks he’s friendly and fun, and above all, safe.”

Drew didn’t look pleased with that assessment.

“What about me?” Tristan asked.

“You’re her peer. Her work colleague.”

Neither of them looked happy, but if they thought about it, they’d see it was true.

“Couldn’t it be that she actually likes me?” Tristan asked.

“She does. She likes both of you.” But only because they fit in nice, neat roles that made her feel safe.

“So, what slot has she put you in?” Drew asked me.

“That’s easy. She thinks he’s the devil,” Tristan said instantly.

“Yep.”

“Really?” Drew hadn’t proved to be a very astute observer of human nature, but I gave him a pass because it was clear that he was besotted with Sierra.

“She sees him as the personification of sexuality. That’s why she hates him so much.” Tristan tried, but he couldn’t hold back a smirk.

“That amuses you?”

“Hell yeah. How many times have I seen women falling all over you just because of the way you look? It’s a real pleasure to meet one who takes one look at you and runs the other way.”

Okay, he had a point there. But it would’ve been nice if Sierra had been one of the ones to appreciate my charms, not resent them.

Drew still wasn’t up to speed. “But you’ve barely spoken to her. How can she hate you?” He paused. “Wait, is that why you’ve been so damn quiet? Because you know how uncomfortable you make her?”

When I didn’t say anything, Tristan jumped in. “He’s actually been on his best behavior around her.”

“But you yell at everyone on the phone. Is that just displaced aggression?” Drew asked.

I grinned. “Nah, that’s just doing business.” It was one of my favorite parts of it.

Drew kicked at a clump of snow. “So why are you telling us this?”

“Firstly, so you two don’t fall head over heels for someone who’s not in the same place. And secondly, because she needs our help.”

That got their attention. “We are helping her,” Tristan said.

“Yeah. Food and shelter. The same as we’d do for anyone.” Well, except that asshole Brookmeyer at work. If you try to take credit for my idea, you’re on my shit list. But if you do that and eat my leftovers out of the fridge, you’re my enemy for life.

“What else should we be doing for her?” Drew asked.

“Well, for one thing, you can stop tiptoeing around her.”

“Us?” Tristan said. “You’re the one who barely even speaks to her.”

“Because I intimidate the hell out of her. Trust me, trying not to scare off our young guest has been hell on earth.”

“I still don’t see how that was your best behavior,” Drew said, but I ignored him.

“The point is, she’s not intimidated by you two. So stop acting like she’s a China doll who’s going to break if you touch her wrong.”

“We didn’t touch her wrong,” Tristan grumbled, and Drew’s head swung around. Apparently, he hadn’t been aware anything had gone on between Tristan and Sierra.

“She’s the most repressed woman I’ve ever met,” I continued.

Drew wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes, but I didn’t think he was truly mad. He never was. “Sexually, you mean.”

“Right.”

“It’s not surprising, given her background,” Tristan said. “She grew up in Hollywood. She was a child star. You know what she told me? Her first real kiss was with an actor old enough to be her father. She was seventeen at the time.”

I gave a low whistle. “That’s fucked up.” Though not exactly a surprise. She didn’t act like a person who’d had a normal, healthy upbringing. Then again, who had?

Drew stared at Tristan. “Seriously? That’s awful.”

Tristan nodded.

“But… I think it’s fair to say our Sierra has shown herself to be open up to new experiences. Wouldn’t you agree?” I asked.

Both of them nodded. It wasn’t like they could dispute that point.

“So, I think we should help her with that. You both already have.”

Neither of them said anything. I knew Tristan like I knew myself, and this conversation wasn’t sitting well with him—yet, he couldn’t deny anything I’d said.

“We came up here to work, not to worry about Sierra,” he said.

“Yet, that’s what we keep doing,” I responded, and Drew nodded. “But we are still getting some work done. So is she. But I think that if we clear up a few things between us, we’d all be better off.”

“What do you propose?” Drew asked me. He knew me well enough to know I always had a plan.

“If she wants to explore, let’s let her. We know what we’re doing. We can make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

“And we won’t take advantage of her the way those assholes in Hollywood did,” Tristan added. Then he looked at me. “Do you think she’d be open to sharing?”

“What?” Drew asked.

“I think so, yes.” Over the years, Tristan had come to trust my ability to figure out what women wanted—in the bedroom, at least.

Drew finally caught up. “You two have shared a woman before?”

“It’s been a while,” I admitted, and Tristan nodded.

“What makes you think she’d be into that?” Drew demanded.

“She’s already made out with two out of the three of us.”

“So?”

“So, that means she likes all of us.”

“Except you,” Tristan said.

“Except me.” That was what I got for giving her space.

“We’ll let her decide what she wants, of course,” Tristan said. “But would anyone here get their feelings hurt if she wants more than one of us?” His eyes were on Drew, who shook his head.

“I just want her to be happy.”

What a boy scout. But I couldn’t argue with what he said.

“Don’t worry, we won’t let things get out of hand,” Tristan assured Drew. “After all, it’s not like we have any condoms with us.”

“I do.”

Drew’s jaw dropped. “You brought condoms to the middle of the woods for a stay with two other men?”

Tristan arched an eyebrow. “Which one of us were you planning to fuck?”

I didn’t dignify that with a response. “I bring condoms everywhere.”

Tristan rolled his eyes, but I’d long since learned that it was better to have them and not use them than vice versa. “So, what do we do?” he asked.

“Simple. We let her know that we’re up for some exploration as well, because we are. And above all, that no one’s going to shame her for her desires—or how many of us she chooses to enact them with. Agreed?” I knew Tristan was on board, so I turned to Drew.

“Agreed.” His face was a mixture of anticipation and resentment, but I knew that last part wouldn’t last long.

“Good,” Tristan said. “So, meeting adjourned?”

“I’m going to split some logs. I’ll be in a bit later,” I said.

Drew took a load of wood back to the cabin, but Tristan stuck around. “How do you fit in this plan since Sierra practically runs in the other direction every time she sees you?”

“Could you say that without grinning next time?”

“Sorry,” Tristan said, but he didn’t sound very sincere. “I’m just very used to women having the opposite reaction to you.”

“Me, too,” I grumbled.

“In spite of what our rather unobservant young colleague thinks, I noticed you trying not to intimidate her.”

At last, someone willing to give me some credit. “It hasn’t been easy.” Partly because she was drop-dead gorgeous, and also because avoidance wasn’t in my nature.

“She needed it, though. Otherwise, she would’ve run off and ended up in a pile of broken bones at the bottom of the hillside.”

“Yeah. But the question is, how do I get to know her better without scaring her off?” We’d likely be stuck together for at least another week. No way I’d be able to make it that long without revealing my true nature.

Oddly enough, Tristan was thinking along the same lines. “Maybe it’s time to let her see the real you. The good, the bad, and the ugly.”

I scoffed. “There’s nothing ugly about me.”

Tristan rolled his eyes again as he picked up a load of firewood. “You know what I mean.”

I sighed. Yes, there was definitely some good and some bad in me. But the question of how to reveal either to such a skittish young woman was one that would require some serious thought.

It was days later before I came up with a plan. In that time, Sierra worked like a fiend on my laptop. She’d shared the news about the director who wanted to take a look at her screenplay—something truly impressive. She seemed to be doing everything she could to take advantage of the opportunity, and I admired her for that.

On the other hand, she disappeared nearly every day at three when we did our workout. A few times, she stayed inside, but she never got any real work done. She just spent her time sneaking peeks at us ,while trying to look like she wasn’t.

I had to chuckle every time I hiked past her little snow fort. It actually wasn’t badly done. When I was a kid, I’d learned the bucket method, too. But it was taking her a long time to build it, and I still didn’t have a clue as to why she was doing it.

When she went took Zeus out to her fortress of solitude one morning an hour or two after breakfast, I decided to make my move.

I had to take the long route so that neither she nor Zeus would notice me. It took forever, but finally I made it to the spot where I went to be alone and to think. There was no snow fort, but I’d got it set up the way I liked it. Then I gave a loud, sharp whistle.

Soon, I heard him coming, and I couldn’t help smiling. Zeus was as much of a brother to me as Tristan was. Not as good of a business partner, though.

I knelt down to pet him as I waited. I heard her coming from a long way away. She wasn’t very good at moving through the snow, but then again, she didn’t have very good boots.

She entered the clearing and stopped short, out of breath. “I—you—I thought he’d run off.”

“He always comes back.”

Her breath came out in warm clouds. “I just wanted to make sure.”

“Thank you for keeping track of him.”

She nodded. “What are you doing out here?”

“Target practice.”

Her eyes went to the bow and arrows slung over my shoulder. Then she scanned the clearing until she spotted the target about forty yards away. I’d rigged a heavy wool blanket up between two trees. A bullseye was painted on it, and I’d propped up loose branches behind it so my arrows wouldn’t sail on through and get lost in the snow beyond.

Comprehension filled her face as she realized the truth of what I’d been doing when I left the cabin with my bow.

Tristan had said I should show her the real me. This was part of it.

Moving slowly so as not to alarm her, I reached back and grabbed an arrow. Notching it, I adjusted my stance and took careful aim. The arrow flew cleanly through the crisp air and hit the second ring of the bullseye. Thanks to the branches behind it, it bounced back and onto the ground under the target.

Sierra was silent as I shot a few more times. Finally, she spoke. “Where did you learn archery?”

I shrugged. “I liked reading adventure novels when I was a kid. Fantasy stuff, where a band of misfits fight their way through a magical land. You know, the classic hero’s journey. Then in high school, I got a chance to try out archery, and I never stopped.” Though I didn’t get a chance to practice much anymore.

She nodded and inched closer, looking at my bow.

I held it out for her to see. “I’ve had this one for at least ten years. And by the way, the bows used for hunting are very different. I don’t own a compound bow.”

Her face flushed. She knew she’d misjudged me.

“Want to try it?”

“Yes.” She moved closer, but she still reminded me of prey that was prepared to bolt at any moment.

“Have you ever used a bow before?”

“Yes. Well, no.” She tried once more. “Sort of.”

“That answers that question.”

To my surprise, she gave me a sheepish grin. “It was for a straight-to-television movie when I was a kid. A bunch of us were stranded on a desert island, and we had to fight off very inept and accident-prone pirates.”

“Sounds like a Peter Pan knock-off.”

“Yes, with a healthy dose of Home Alone. I used a bow for that, but it was like a toy compared to yours.”

She’d complimented my bow… maybe someday she’d find something good to say about me.

Maybe.

“Here, stand like this.”

She copied my stance exactly, her back to me. She was an actress, so I supposed she was used to taking direction.

I put my hand on her waist—at least, I thought it was her waist. Drew’s coat was ridiculously big on her. I adjusted her stance, but then her foot slid out from under her and we had to start all over.

“When we get down from the mountain, I’m buying you a pair of real boots.”

“I’ll get a dozen. The ones down at my cabin are fur-lined and sturdy,” she said with a sign of longing. “They probably house a bird’s nest by now.”

“Well, for now, let’s get you shooting in case any inept pirates show up.”

Her shoulders shook, and I wondered if she’d actually laughed at that. Probably not.

I moved to her side and helped her notch an arrow. I placed my hands on top of her, our gloves making it hard to tell exactly how her fingers were positioned. “Pull back the string.”

She did, her eyes on the target.

“Slowly,” I corrected. “Keep the arrow level.”

Usually, with beginners, the arrow fell a few times, or the tip bounced all over the place. She really had done this before.

She loosed the arrow, and it traveled about three-fourths of the way to the target. “Not a bad start. Just put a little more force in it next time.”

She tried again. Her fourth arrow hit the bottom of the thick blanket that served as a target.

“Good job.”

Her smile was radiant.

She shot the rest and hit the cloth a few more times.

“Can I try again?”

“How about tomorrow? There’s something else we have to do before we go back.”

“What?”

“Well, first we have to gather the arrows, which isn’t easy.”

Sierra frowned, looking over the expanse of white in front of us. “Because they get lost in the snow?”

“No, because Zeus will think we’re playing fetch.”

This time she laughed, a light musical sound. “Where is he, anyway?”

“Out exploring. But trust me, if you look like you’re about to throw a stick for him, he’ll be here in a flash.”

“I’ll just pretend I’m out for a stroll.” She grinned. “I’m an actress, you know.”

“So I’ve heard.”

We gathered up the arrows in a casual, I’m-not-holding-a-wooden-stick-suitable-for-throwing kind of way. And when Zeus reappeared, he seemed happy just to sit in the snow and look up at her. He was as taken by her as Drew was.

I dried the arrows before putting them in the quiver, while Sierra kept Zeus occupied. She seemed surprised when I walked over to a snow shovel leaning against a nearby tree.

“What’s that for?”

“You’ll see.”

We walked back toward the cabin in silence, but Sierra grew visibly uneasy when we approached the area she’d claimed as her own.

When it was just ahead, she stepped in front of me and turned to face me. “Thank you for letting me shoot your bow, but I’m getting hungry. Should we go back and get some lunch?”

I planted the blade of the shovel in the ground as I listened to her. “Is there some reason you don’t want me to see your snow fort?”

Her cheeks flushed red. “I just… whenever I needed some fresh air, it was something to do, you know? Just a silly thing.”

Her rush of words puzzled me. Did she think I’d judge her for making it? Then again, she was an actress. Millions of people watched her every move on screen. Maybe she was used to people—agents, directors, costars—having opinions on what she did.

“I want to help you finish it.”

Her jaw dropped. “Why?”

“Why not? You’ve got a good start. It won’t take too much to add another layer to the walls and strengthen them.”

She bit her lip, her green eyes turning away. “It’s just… it’s kind of the place I go when I need to think.”

“How will my being there prevent you from thinking?”

Involuntarily, her gaze traveled down my body and back up again, and I bit back a grin.

“It’s become my place to be alone.”

“My makeshift archery range is my place to think and get away from it all—yet, I invited you there.”

She gazed into the distance for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah, you did. Okay, come on.”

She led the way, or rather, Zeus did. It was clear that he’d been there before. When we arrived, she stepped inside. The structure was about five by five, with an open door and a log at the back to sit on. The walls were well structured, but they were only about three feet tall. That wasn’t high enough.

“Is that what you used?” I gestured toward the yellow bucket in the corner. It looked like it belonged on a California beach, not a mountain in Colorado. “Why don’t you make another layer? I’ll help fill it in and strengthen the walls.”

“All right.”

We worked well together, though it took a while. She’d already used a lot of the loose snow around the fort, so she had to travel a bit to get more snow to pack into the bucket. After a few minutes, it dawned on me that it would be easier to bring the snow to her, so I used the shovel to make a pile of snow near the door. I also pressed snow against the outside of the walls, using the shovel to pack it tight and smooth it out. “If we had time, we could douse the walls with water. Then it’d freeze overnight and would be really hard by tomorrow.”

She shuddered. “Ice isn’t my favorite thing right now.”

“Understandable.”

The walls of the fort were over four feet tall when we stopped. “It looks good,” she said when we stepped back to survey it. “A lot stronger than it was before.”

I strode around it like a general inspecting his troops. “Yeah, it’s better, but it’s still got a few weak points. Time to shore up the defenses.”

“What do you mean?” Sierra looked generally curious to know the answer. I’d half expected that by this point, she would’ve gone back inside to warm herself by the fire while making googly eyes at Tristan and Drew.

To answer her question, I stooped down and gathered a large handful of snow from the pile I’d made before. With my leather gloves protecting my hands, I packed it into a tight ball. Then I placed it inside the fort and made another one.

Sierra followed suit. When the pile of snow dwindled, I used the shovel to get more. We didn’t stop until we had well over a hundred snowballs lined up inside the fort.

Sierra’s face was flushed from the cold, but she smiled as she looked over our defenses. “What now?”

“Do you have your phone with you?”

“Of course.”

“Now you call Drew or Tristan and tell them that you fell and twisted your ankle.”

Sierra grinned as she took off her gloves and pulled out her phone.