Epilogue – Part III
OLI
The early morning sunshine gilded the fresh spring buds on the trees crowding close to the winding country road. Every now and then, the Jeep would hit a bump and Ren would grumble, even though we weren’t in Shakira and he wasn’t driving.
It was adorable.
He acted as if anything that happened to the Jeep hurt him. He was going to end up naming it soon. I sipped my iced banana float latte and rattled the cubes until Ren scowled over his shoulder at me.
KC snickered.
“Yes, bratty kitten?” Ren sipped his latte and slowly shook his head.
“This is so pretty.” The lake peeked through the trees on our right. Diamonds capped the small waves. “I’m glad we’re doing something for spring break that isn’t sitting around the apartment in the city.”
KC turned down the Tiesto song pulsing through the sound system—which had been Ren’s pick. “Yeah, we’ve never been on a vacation together.”
Ren grunted. “This isn’t a vacation. It’s just getting out of the city for a week.”
“Okay, Mr. Fancypants. It isn’t a vacation.” I rolled my eyes.
KC patted his thigh. “Whatever you want to call it, I love it. You win best idea of the month.”
I gasped and shoved the back of KC’s seat. “Hey! I didn’t realize we could win that! I would’ve been trying a lot harder with my great ideas.”
“You snooze, you lose. He already called it.” Ren rattled the ice in his drink in my direction, so I shimmied mine back.
Our battle of annoying noises must’ve gone on for too long because KC grabbed Ren’s cup, drained the coffee, and then tossed the ice out the window.
He glared at both of us in the rearview mirror with a smile twitching the corners of his mouth as he threw the trash on the floor at Ren’s feet.
I sat back to protect my drink while Ren stared holes through KC.
“That was the worst idea of the month, so you won both,” KC said.
“Oh fuck, no,” Ren growled.
I was giggling as KC stopped the Jeep in the driveway leading up to a massive, two-story square-log house.
“Okay. Ren, this isn’t a cabin,” I said.
Ren huffed. “Yes, it is.” He popped open his door, so I followed him.
KC hopped out and shut his door with a whistle. “I hate to do this to you, but I have to agree with Oli, this is a rustic vacation home, not a cabin.”
Ren shrugged. “Well, it’s ours now, since you won’t agree to run back to LA, which has the decency not to snow. I’m over snow after the blizzard this year.”
“Ours?” I finished my drink while Ren watched me with his eyebrows raised. “As in, you bought it? We aren’t just renting it?”
“Yep.” He winked at me.
“Whoa.” KC shifted to face him. “You didn’t tell me about that part.”
“That’s what makes it a surprise,” he said, leaning back against the side of the Jeep. “You don’t know it’s happening. What do you think?”
KC took a shaky breath and grinned. “I love it.”
Ren tossed me a small silver key, which I fumbled. It bounced, grasshopper-like, and I scrambled after it.
My cheeks burned as I scooped it off the ground. “You couldn’t just hand it to me?”
“Why don’t you go in and make sure everything is good?” Ren lounged more firmly against the Jeep. There was something about the way he was standing, all cocky, that made me sure he was up to something, and with him, there was no telling what it could be.
“Um, such as?” I fiddled with the key and almost dropped it again. A breeze from the lake swayed the nearby trees, and I dragged my jean jacket closer by crossing my arms.
Ren smirked. “The kitchen should be stocked. Bed made. That sort of stuff.”
“Uh, okay. What are you two going to do?”
KC glanced at Ren. Yeah, they were definitely up to something. “Unload the luggage.”
“Okay, weirdos. You’re being sneaky and I know it, but it’s too early for me to try to force facts out of you.” I finished my iced latte and sipped until it made that awful sound even I hated.
KC’s blush reached his hairline and he tugged down the bill of his cap. “No, we’re not.”
“Yes.” But I had a brand-new vacation house to inspect, so I left them there to do whatever nefarious stuff they were up to.
When I stepped through the front door, I couldn’t hold in a gasp.
The room soared up to exposed wooden rafters and everything smelled like cedar.
To the right was a fireplace I could stand inside.
The furniture reminded me of Ren’s apartment.
Heavy peach leather couches surrounded a circular firepit in the center of the living room.
Blue flames danced above glass beads. I stripped off my jacket and slipped the key in my pocket.
I couldn’t stand to disturb the perfection of the house, so I set my empty glass on the floor beside the front door. Everything was so clean.
I hung the jacket on some pegs I discovered near the door.
“Holy shit,” I mumbled. This was a lot to take in.
There were stairs to the left, but the room transitioned into a glossy, modern kitchen made of sealed stone counters and burnished copper appliances.
I spotted a fruit basket on the island and wine chilling in a bucket next to it. Nosiness won out as I spied a note.
Ren,
I hope your boyfriends love the house! Good luck.
~Cindy
Smiling, I lifted the lid on a white box of candy that had been tucked behind the fruit basket and happily snatched a peanut butter meltaway.
I didn’t know if Cindy was some kind of psychic, but I loved her immediately as I stuffed the treat in my mouth.
Sweet peanut butter joy dissolved on my tongue.
“You’re a saint, Cindy,” I murmured and spun around to check out the upstairs.
There were only two rooms on the second floor, a bathroom that made me want to move out here permanently—there was a tub with jets we could all fit in—and the bedroom.
There was another fireplace in the bedroom made of stone and a gas fire was burning there just like downstairs.
The room was very Ren, with dark gray blackout curtains and a matching soft comforter that was turned down as if we had maid service.
Hell, maybe we did. What did I know? What did a guy arrange who thought nothing of buying a vacation home instead of just renting one like a normal person?
There was another box of peanut butter meltaways on the nightstand—along with an automatic lube dispenser. The silver canister gleamed with possibilities.
Hell, we’d been doing sex all wrong before now.
Snorting, I grabbed the dispenser and looked it over, but my attention was snagged by a French door leading to a balcony. I walked closer and gasped at Lake Ontario sparkling nearby. The water stretched away and just kept going like the ocean.
“Oh wow.” I shook my head and rushed downstairs with the dispenser clutched in my hands.
It was so ridiculous, I wanted to laugh about it with the guys.
Of course, a spark ignited in my belly. I definitely also wanted to try to use all the lube in the dispenser before we had to head back to reality next week.
I sprinted out the front door, but the guys were nowhere in sight. I stopped and cocked my head as a strange crack hit the air, followed by a second one. Then, it happened again in rapid succession.
“Huh?” I wandered in the direction of the noise. My path took me around the landscaped yard. Daffodils were blooming, but it seemed like later in the summer there would be all sorts of flowers. A patch of rose bushes had the beginnings of tightly coiled pink buds.
When I turned the corner to the back of the house, my cock filled so fast my head rushed and I had to put my hand against the wall to stay upright.
KC and Ren were using the stump of what must’ve been an ancient tree as a chopping block.
They had massive logs in front of them and each of my men was using an axe with a shiny silver head and a long wooden handle.
As their axes came down, they split the logs in synchronization that must’ve been practiced. Jeans hugged their muscled thighs.
Fuck, they looked good.
They each wore red-and-black plaid long-sleeved shirts, but they weren’t buttoned. Sweat already gleamed on their skin and steamed in the early morning air.
“I had a stroke in that house from the shock of having someone buy me a vacation home, and now I’m in gay heaven. I don’t know how, but I made it.” I practically skipped toward my guys with the dispenser cradled in my hands. “I always knew there would be lumberjacks in the afterlife.”
They didn’t stop to acknowledge me, just kept splitting logs and stacking the firewood into a pile nearby. The scent of fresh-cut wood reminded me of the way KC always smelled, and I moaned.
KC finally broke character and flashed one of his charming smiles.
“Oh my fucking God.” My cock flexed and I sucked in air between my teeth. “Death by rippling muscles and handsome faces.”
The axe in KC’s hands slowed. He swung it over his shoulder and put his other hand on his hip, parting the fabric of his shirt even more. The red hair in the center of his chest sparkled.
I whimpered and almost dropped to my knees.
“Do we look like your beefcake pinup men?” KC asked, smile cranking up another notch.
The shirt slipped a teeny bit farther open.
I had a view of a six-pack that belonged on the statue of a Greek god and one peaked pink nipple.
Heat sparked and raced across my body from head to toe, then settled and pulsed in my cock.
“Nothing anyone could draw anywhere could look this good.” I was afraid to glance away in case this really was something my brain had cooked up from a sugar and caffeine overload.
Ren sputtered and blushed, missing his mark.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, then struck a pose mirroring KC.
I bit my lip to stop a laugh from sneaking free because he didn’t look anywhere as comfortable as KC playing dress up.
Ren was so himself that any attempt to be someone else really did just look like a costume on him.
But it was a hot ensemble, so I didn’t care.