All in April (Crystal Frond Series #5)

Chapter 1

One

APRIL

A pril showers make April sour.

“It’s slow,” I mutter with my elbows on my knees. A rare moment of getting to sit is usually welcomed, but I was hoping for some extra tips for my birthday.

The grease on the pan sizzles as Marcus flips a burger after tossing the spatula behind his back and catching it in front with a wide smile. “Isn’t it your birthday?”

I shove off the box of industrial sized pickle jars and take a spin on my skates. “Yep.”

He shakes his twists and laughs loud. Too loud for my liking. “That makes you a fool, doesn’t it?”

“Har, har. Like I haven’t heard that before.”

Being born on the first of April has been only a minor curse in my life, the others far more devastating and meaningful. Having prisoners for parents was the major one. As was having to leave foster care a year earlier than expected just to escape the inevitable abuse.

Wearing roller skates to serve hungry old guys at a drive-in diner has turned out to be a blessing. I have a place to sleep. It’s a cot on Mr. Reynold’s, the owner’s, covered porch. The winter was chilly, but he gave me a space heater and a thick sleeping bag for warmth.

The rain, though…it’s impossible to get rid of. It soaks through the duffel bag that contains everything in my life: my tube socks for work, my collection of vintage poodle skirts, my favorite pillow, my composition book art journals I’ve kept since age nine, and my sparse collection of Wonder Woman comic books. My radio quit working last week after a particularly bad storm, which was horrid because I couldn’t sleep for days without the college station lulling me into a trance at night.

A fifty-something woman with a gray beehive hairdo comes rolling into the kitchen, the swinging door squeaking loudly as it sways back and forth. Her uniform skirt is smeared with mud and her tube socks are more brown than white now. It’s always a dangerous thing when we have to skate on a day like today, but I need more tips. With only a couple hundred more, I’ll have enough for the security deposit on a studio apartment. One free of porch critters.

“April? Your lumberjacks are here.” Even if Sandy hadn’t said anything, I’d hear their blaring horn anyway.

“On it.” Grabbing a pink plastic tray, I straighten my blue poodle skirt and lower my sweater top just slightly. I’m nineteen now and am going to use my little assets to get whatever I can from the guys. Do I take advantage of their incessant flirting? Yep. Sure do. It usually nets me an extra twenty a day.

The three men showed up last March after the snow melted in some unknown forest where they had been staying for work. They said they’d be coming by the diner every day until autumn just to get a “sweet taste” of whatever I had to give them. Sure enough, they disappeared for several months. Right on schedule, they showed up again last month ready for more burgers, shakes, and fries. And a “look at those pretty knees under that skirt,” Jack, the nice one said.

As I skate out the door, I snag my menu pad, though I know what they want already. It just gives me an excuse to lean over the car window and pretend I don’t. They like it and it gives me a chance to look at them. All of them. They’re gorgeous and huge manly men that wear plaid shirts and tight jeans, but somehow fit into a classic green Ford Thunderbird.

The one they call Wolf does scare me with his intense blue stare, always scouring my figure as if he can see me naked under my uniform. He’s also the one that likes to present me with the tip after I give them the food. Sometimes he lets his finger rub against the back of my hand when he does and I’m still not sure how to feel about that.

Jack is sweet and always making jokes, especially poking fun at the other two. But Brahn never smiles. In fact, he doesn’t give much expression at all, so I never know if I’m doing a good job or not.

Blowing a big bubble with my gum, I push my roller skates across the wet parking lot as fast as I can, trying to get to the opposite overhang without getting soaked. The white sweater is patchy with rain drops, showcasing my red bra underneath. Great.

“Hey, boys! What can I get you today?”

Jack’s smiling face leans over Wolf in the driver’s seat to say, “Sweetheart, it’s your birthday. We wanted to get you something.”

Wolf’s intense eyes scan my breasts and don’t leave even when I raise my tray up to guard my chest from his leering gaze. Brahn grunts from the back but produces a wrapped gift complete with a yellow and blue polka dot bow. Is it professionally wrapped? No, but the gesture immediately makes my eyes tear up.

“What? No… You didn’t have to do anything?—”

“Nonsense! We wanted to. Didn’t we?” Jack elbows Wolf, who finally looks into my eyes and gives me a wink with a sly grin.

His voice is husky and makes it sound like he’s trying to say something naughty instead of the words that come out of his mouth. “We sure did.”

My clit pulses at the sight of him. Of all of them. Wearing their flannel, broad chests almost busting through the buttons, scruffy beards, and the scent of the woods coming from their car.

I sniff back some tears and give them a nod. “Thank you. No one has ever done something like this for me. Should I open it now?”

“Yes! Go on, sweetheart!”

Placing the tray on the open window frame, I balance the package on top and rip into it. The box is heavy, much heavier than I would expect and when I get to it, there’s no way for me to open it. My breath halts when Wolf flicks open a pocketknife while licking his lower lip as he does so. Then, he stares at my chest as he slides it through the tape holding the top together.

Digging one nail in, I open the top and gasp at what’s inside. “Oh my god! How did you know?” Within the folds of cardboard are at least twenty copies of Wonder Woman. Originals. In cellophane. “This…this is too much!”

“Nonsense. We wanted to see that smile right there.” Wolf’s grin is maniacal as he talks.

Glancing at each of their faces, I’m struck with the hunger in their eyes. It makes my stomach do tiny flip flops wondering what it is they expect in return. “I-I don’t know how to repay you.”

Brahn shifts in the back seat, lifting his hips up and adjusting himself as I pretend not to notice. “You don’t owe us a damn thing. Except burgers. I want a double.”

I fumble with the package and my tray until Wolf reaches over and takes the present from me. “You can have this back after our food. How about that, girlie?”

Despite my reluctance to give the predator attention, I can’t help the smile that comes across my face. No one has shown me affection like these three. Never in my life. I’m not quite sure what to do with it all. So, I return to what I know and take out my pad of paper and jot down their orders.

By the time I return to the kitchen, I’m a soggy mess. An ocean could probably be wrung from my socks and my strawberry blonde pigtails stick to my neck like wet rats. When I enter the side door, everyone seems frozen in time. Marcus lets some burgers burn on the grill and Sandy is at a rare moment of pause by the pickles. Mr. Reynolds folds his hands across his broad belly as he sighs, staring at the two of them, then greets me with a sheepish shrug.

“Hi, April. Come on in.”

My heart thuds hard in my chest. Maybe he’s going to tell me not to flirt so much with the customers or that I’m fired. I don’t know what I’ll do without this job, or worse, what I’ll do without his covered porch.

I skate over and place my order ticket on the rail, then press my ass against the stainless-steel counter. Marcus turns to flip a burger but has no zest in his movements like normal.

Mr. Reynold’s dark brown eyes greet me with barely a glance. Mainly, he stares between my knees. “April, I’m sorry to tell you that I have to close Bud’s diner down.”

Oh no. Oh no, oh no. “What? But it’s been here for, like, fifty years!” What will I do without the income? How soon could I get another job?

“I’m sorry, darlin’, but winter’s always hard here. I thought we could make up for our losses by now. But we just can’t make it. Misses and I have to sell the house and are downsizing. Going to Florida to live near her sister.”

“D-downsizing? How…what…when…”

His eyes finally greet my face. “I’m going to have to ask you to get your stuff tonight. Um, Misses says she needs to clean the porch for the house showings.”

“I see.” I hear the words come out of my mouth, but it’s like it’s all happening to someone else. Jobless. Homeless. Alone.

And soaked.

“We’ll finish this shift, then close up like normal. Can’t afford to open the doors again, though. I’m sorry, you three. I let you down.” No one talks as Mr. Reynolds puts some checks in our boxes near the entrances, then gives us a small fake salute before leaving.

“Worst birthday ever,” I mutter.

Marcus sighs heavily and says, “Order up.” Usually he gives me a pep talk or a joke. But he keeps his face averted from mine. My wheels squeak with rust as I roll around to grab the fries and milkshakes, then the boy’s burgers.

Sandy shrugs and grabs her check, then starts to clean up. “I’m out of here. Too slow anyway. Good luck to y’all.”

I try to keep the tears from falling. I do. But by the time I reach the Thunderbird, the raindrops have mixed with my sad drops until they both stream down my cheeks.

“H-here’s y-your orders…” I hiccup and sob when I reach Wolf’s open window, placing a shaky tray on the side of the car.

“Sweetheart! What’s wrong?” Jack calls to me through the car and as I falter on the wet pavement, warm palms grip my waist and hold me up.

When I glance over my shoulder, Brahn’s big arms surround me quietly, but forcibly. “Mr. Reynold’s can’t afford to keep the diner open. I just lost my job and place to stay. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I guess I’ll get a hotel room?” I ask them all as they exchange knowing glances.

Brahn tugs me back into his firm chest and his words are deep and forceful. “You’re coming home with us. Where’s your stuff?”

I gasp and glance at them. “Oh, no. I couldn’t!”

“Stop. This is what we want, yeah?” Jack says and Wolf’s grin widens with a slight nod of his head.

Wolf’s eyes narrow. “I mean, there will be rules if you choose to stay with us, girlie.”

“Sweetheart, we’ll let you have your own room. Your own bathroom, but yeah. We need to establish some, um, boundaries. Like you’re not allowed to pay rent as long as…” Jack’s green eyes find Brahn behind me and Wolf waits for his reply as well.

When I look up to his tall figure, towering over me, his beard shakes as he speaks. “You won’t pay rent as long as you cook for us, clean up after us, and we get free use of you.”

Not paying rent? Amazing. Cooking and cleaning up after three huge men? Could be a problem, but I could manage without having to pay for room and board. But what is the last requirement? “F-free use?”

Wolf stuffs fries into his mouth and chews as Jack answers with a small smile. “With your advanced permission, of course.”

“But what does that mean, exactly?”

When he finally swallows, Wolf scans my body and answers. “It means the three of us get to fuck you however we want, whenever we want, and you don’t get to say no.”

“Except beforehand!” Jack interrupts enthusiastically with a rapid nod of encouragement.

My lungs explode as air whooshes from my chest. Did he just say what I thought he did? Take these three huge men repeatedly, for free rent and food? Can I do that? Will I even be able to walk?

Brahn’s palms tighten their grips on my arms as he holds me closer to his frame. “What do you say, cupcake? You coming home with us?”

I grab the strawberry milkshake from the tray and take a serious swig to gather up some saliva just so I can reply. As I sip, I take in each man. Wolf’s glistening blue stare and blond hair locked in a low bun. Jack’s eager green eyes and shaggy brown hair with his days old scruff across his jaw. Brahn’s black beard, full belly, and whiskey brown eyes that give a hint of kindness that’s lost in his demeanor.

With a deep breath, I call out, “Yep!”

Hopefully, I didn’t just agree to break my pussy.