3. Kailee
Chapter three
Kailee
A ndre fainted again in the ATV, his head in my lap. I tried to cushion him as much as possible, but there was no way this could be smooth.
I could tell the two men had done this before. It crossed my mind that they were really hot. It wasn’t just looks, though they were both very attractive. They both had beards and dark sunglasses, though Creed’s hair was longer, as if he couldn’t be bothered to cut it.
Davin had more of a military cut and a darker tone to his skin.
They’d picked Andre up easily and gently. Something about their calm, capable manner was really sexy. The muscles didn’t hurt, either.
When I was getting Andre and myself set on the ATV, I heard Creed lecturing the group to get it together and sober up. He put out the fire, too, worried that the group would do something foolish.
I saw Tina give him a big hug. She’d whispered a thank you to me also, so she wasn’t happy that the party had gotten out of hand, either.
“The group is almost up here. We’ll likely pass them.”
I shook my head from those distracting thoughts, and pressed my fingers to Andre’s neck again, feeling his pulse.
I was glad that I was the one traveling with him rather than staying at the campfire, though it was nerve-wracking. By the time we had Andre packed to go, Tina had sobered up and was helping Pam clear up the site and get people ready to go.
My older brothers liked ATVs. I used to go out with them a bit in the fields near my childhood home a few hours from here. Now that I’d seen some terrible ATV accident scenes in my work in the ambulance, I was a bit more cautious.
The men gave Andre and I each a helmet, though mine was big.
The trail trip took no time at all, and soon I could see the lights of the public parking lot. Knowing where you are going really makes a difference, I thought. To my surprise, there was a helicopter waiting for us.
“I’ll drive,” Davin said. “I’ll meet you guys there.”
“Wait.” I didn’t think they could hear my faint voice. “Um?”
Creed looked at me over his shoulder and smiled. I smiled automatically in response.
He took it as agreement.
***
“Whoa! This is what we should have done for the bachelorette party!” I couldn’t resist saying when I got a peek at the town lights in the distance from where we lifted off the mountain.
My stomach was still on the ground, I thought, but it was worth it.
Andre’s color looked better after the rescue group got him hooked up to fluids. They’d invited me to help as we loaded him on to the bed on the side of the copter.
One of the rescue workers, Sabrina, I think her name was, helped us load Andre, then offered to ride with Davin.
I had no doubt that these two mountain men got plenty of attention. I wondered what it would be like to kiss them. Both of them. I should take Ken up on his date offers. He was more my speed. These two were straight out of a fantasy.
Then Creed smiled at me again from where he sat next to me in the copter and, of course, I smiled back.
I’d heard Xander, the pilot, ask if Creed wanted to pilot the copter.
Seriously? Was there nothing these men couldn’t do? I had a vision of them in bed with me. Shaking my head again to focus, I knew they’d be outstanding in bed, too.
***
At the hospital I sprang out as I usually did from the ambulance, spouting numbers and readings from the field. “I cleaned out the bite and bandaged it.”
“Good job,” Steven, the nurse, said.
I knew Steven from several shifts. He was in his 50s and was the best nurse here. I was so happy to see him I could hug him.
“I think Andre had an allergic reaction more than anything, then maybe the mild stroke.” I pulled out my phone to text an update to Pam, who’d put in her number.
***
“You should check for tics and bites, too,” Elise, a nurse I knew from ambulance rounds, said to me as I sat in a chair near the admissions desk a while later. Creed and I were waiting for Davin, and we wanted news of Andre’s condition.
As usual, on a Friday night, the ER was packed.
“I dressed appropriately, but I’d appreciate it if you could have a quick look.” Seeing Andre’s bite made me nervous, but I didn’t have any pain.She nodded, then we all turned as someone screamed in the waiting room.
“Go!” I waved her over.
Creed glanced out there. “Security’s got it. Someone fainted. I can look for tics.”
I stopped amid taking off my windbreaker. “That’s ok.”
“You don’t want to get all the way naked?” His deep laugh rumbled, and the noise had me joining in, too.
The problem was, I wanted to get naked.
And as I spotted Davin walking into the waiting room. I knew I wanted to get naked with both of them at once. But first, tics.
“Thanks,” I said, as Creed looked at my neck and pulled my t-shirt neckline down a bit in the back to check exposed skin.
Elise walked back in to the office area, stripping off rubber gloves.
I introduced Davin, and when the two men stepped out into the hallway to give us room, she gave me a thumbs up as she looked at my legs and ankles.
“You should offer to check them,” she said.
“Both of them?” I wasn’t she meant what I thought she meant.
She nodded. “You know how I told you I have an unusual dating situation?”
I’d seen her with three different guys around town.
“I live with three men. I’m with all of them.”
I looked up and into Davin’s eyes as he watched through the doorway. They’d heard all of this discussion.
***
As we left a short time later, I think my cheeks were still warm with embarrassment.
“Do you mind if I get a ride back to my car in the public lot?”
“Of course not. Our group got most of the tour group packed up and shuttled to their homes. Only a few could drive.”
I nodded. “I’ll bet Pam had to chaperone. She was always level-headed like that as a teen, too.”
“So that was a bachelorette party? Even with the frat boys?” Davin asked as he opened his car door for me.
I tried and failed to remember when anyone else had done that for me. Then I got a step on the truck and pulled myself up. I wish I’d had the nerve to ask them for help getting up there.
“The guys were part of a different group. Tina booked her four bridesmaids and herself for the overnight hike for her bachelorette party. I don’t think we were supposed to go that far up, but it was really pretty.”
The truck was warming up, and the adrenalin crash hit hard. My eyes were drooping.
***
“Kailee?”
My eyes opened when we were in the parking lot on the mountain.
Creed had the door of the truck open and was leaning towards me.
“Oh! I’m sorry. I am used to taking naps on shift, but not usually with two guys I just met.”
“We get it; no worries.” Creed lifted me out of the truck and held me until my legs were steady under me on the ground.
The cool night woke me up quickly and I enjoyed the feel of his hard body against mine.
Davin brought up my backpack. “I can put this in your car.”
I don’t want this time with them to end; I thought.
“Can I buy you two a coffee sometime soon? I don’t know how often you’re in town, but I’m interested in the rescue group.” There. I had a reason to see them again.
“Of course,” Creed said. “Give me your phone. I’ll put both of our numbers in there.”
I saw I had a lot of texts from Tina, thanking me for my help.
I handed over the phone. I wondered if they’d ever call. Of course I’d asked them out, so maybe I’d have to reach out to them. What if I’d totally misread this, and they didn’t share dates or weren’t interested in me?
As doubts crept in and I felt awkward, Creed finished typing into my phone, then handed it to Davin.
Davin typed in his information, then pulled me into his arms.