Chapter 3
It was already hot and humid by the time the sun made an appearance this morning. I have a building project that I cannot get out of my mind, so I am up with the sun to get things started. I have been wanting to add a sunroom to my little house on the mountain.
I make a run to the lumber store in town and purchase some pathway stones to help establish the dimensions for the sunroom. Moving all those stones from the back of my truck to the side of the house takes longer than I expected and my tank top and shorts are soaked with sweat.
I am standing at the back of the house, placing the last couple of stones, when I hear someone clear their throat. I look up to find Dalton, Gunner, and Tray standing at the other end of my stone layout. “Baby girl. What are you doing?” Dalton asks, trying to make sense of the stones.
“Figuring out the measurements for my sunroom addition.” I give him a guilty grin since I have not mentioned my plans yet. He just shakes his head and starts walking toward me. It is my house, so it isn’t likely that he will tell me no.
“Well, Miss Independent, it’s too bad that you don’t know anyone in construction that could help with a project like that.” Tray smarts off with a laugh, causing Gunner and Dalton to chuckle as well. I stick my tongue out at him as I wipe sweat from my face.
“What are you three doing here on a Thursday afternoon?” I question as Dalton wraps me in a hug from behind.
“Surprising you, of course. We finished our last job early and thought we would come see what trouble you were getting into … since you haven’t answered your phone this morning.” Dalton gives me a quick kiss before he continues. “So … explain how all these rocks are going to become a sunroom.”
I give them the basic idea that I have, and Dalton enters the measurements into an app on his phone. “Okay, Snow White, let’s get you inside and out of this sun.”
Once inside, I show them my notebook of rough sketches and leave the three sitting on the couch to talk it over while I change into fresh clothes. I pour us glasses of iced tea – sweet, of course – then sit in the floor on the other side of the coffee table from them.
My sketches are now covered in pen marks and numbers. After over an hour of crunching numbers, the addition is going to be bigger than I had planned but will probably come out under the budget I had set. I guess it is good to know some people in construction.
“Um … guys,” Tray breaks into the discussion, making eye contact with Dalton, then nodding his head in my direction. They all look at me with shocked looks.
“Oh no … baby girl. How long were you out in the sun? You realize our wedding is in a week, right?” Dalton asks, still looking somewhat shocked.
“A week from tomorrow. Why? What is going on?” I question, absolutely confused by their looks. Dalton puts his hand out toward my head but stops several inches away from touching me.
“Holy hell woman! You are putting off some serious heat! You look like a ripe tomato from being out in the sun and it is only going to get worse.”
I look down at my arms and chest and start laughing because, yes – my pale skin does not like the sun at all, and I am glowing red hot.
“I put on sunblock before I went outside. SPF 100! I swear I did! Aloe to the rescue,” I say as I get up and head to the bathroom.
I find the bottle of ‘aloe burn gel’ and put a thick coat on the red skin I can see.
I take the bottle with me into the living room.
“I need someone to get the back of my neck and shoulders, please.” Tray motions me over to him since Dalton and Gunner are deep in a conversation about what type of windows to get.
I move to sit on the floor in front of Tray, but he grabs my hips and pulls me onto his lap.
I look over at Dalton to see if he reacts, but he just gives us a little smirk while shaking his head and goes back to his conversation. Interesting…
I pull my ponytail forward so Tray can put the aloe on the back of my neck.
He gently covers the areas I had missed, moving my tank-top around to check the gaps.
Tray sets the bottle down and starts rubbing the back of my neck.
I am not going to complain as he works on my ever-present knot at the base of my neck.
After a while, the conversation stops, and the room goes silent.
Dalton leans over and whispers, “are you asleep?” I giggle and shake my head.
“You’re getting awfully handsy with my woman there, Tray.
” I hear Dalton mutter, but he doesn’t sound mad.
I glance over at him, and he is just watching Tray’s hands, a contemplative look on his face.
“Completely innocent! I swear! You only have to worry if she starts moaning.” Tray finally retorts. I look back over my shoulder then lean back against Tray’s chest. “I know how to be quiet,” I whisper, making eye contact with Dalton, then I get up and go into the kitchen to refill my tea glass.
I hear Tray mutter ‘oh fuck!’ as I walk away, causing Dalton and Gunner to burst out in laughter. Having been hanging out with us for around a year now, Tray should be used to the playful teasing … but I still catch him off-guard sometimes.
I come back into the living room and curl up in the recliner. “So … what are the plans for tonight? Food wise? Do I need to cook something? Are you going to grill? You guys camping out here tonight?” Baby Ruth, my little black cat, joins me in the chair.
Gunner checks his phone before responding.
“Well, if you had of checked your phone any time today, you would know that Sahara is picking up sandwich stuff on her way here. We have sodas and chips in the truck. And cookies for later. Actually, she should be here any time now. I don’t know if she plans on us staying overnight or heading home. We’ll probably decide that later.”
While Gunner is talking, Tray gets up and walks into the bedroom, coming back out a moment later and hands me my phone. “Thank you. So … Tray, are you staying the night?” I ask once he has sat back down on the couch.
He shrugs his shoulders and Dalton responds with “probably.” I grin at Gunner and tease, “well then. Do you think that you and Sahara can keep your clothes on for one night if Tray is sleeping in the same room? Or does he need to drag the recliner to the back hallway again?”
All three guys laugh at the comment before Dalton responds with “I thought he would sleep in our bed with us this time.” Gunner laughs even harder at the ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look on my face.
I look back and forth between Dalton and Tray several times, completely at a loss of words.
Dalton gives me an evil grin. “Are you blushing, baby girl?”
“Nope! It’s the sunburn,” I mutter. I hear a car door shut and say, “Sahara’s here!
Go carry in the stuff for her.” I make a shooing motion towards the door.
Gunner and Tray are still laughing as they head outside.
Dalton is sitting there with a smug look on his face.
“Well, baby girl? You have anything to say?”
“Umm … No comment.”
“No comment? Are you trying to say that you are not interested or just pleading the 5th?”
“Uh … where is this coming from? Why the sudden change from ‘no one is going to touch my woman but me’ to ‘let’s invite another man to share our bed’? I really don’t know how to respond right now.” I answer honestly.
Dalton gets up and walks over to where I am sitting. “Just something to consider. We’ll talk about it more later,” he says, giving me a quick kiss before going to hold the door open for the others. I kind of feel like my teasing has backfired somehow.
The house becomes loud and slightly chaotic as the food items are spread out on the counters and an assembly line forms. Once we have our sandwiches fixed and plates piled full of chips, pickles, olives, and tomato slices, we move into the living room to eat.
Sahara and I sit on the floor at the ends of the coffee table, Dalton and Gunner sit on the couch next to us, and Tray takes the recliner.
Conversation quickly turns to the plans for the next couple of weeks. Not plans about the double wedding – we know that the moms have everything worked out. Honestly, they probably had all the details worked out since we became teenagers, just waiting for us girls to get together with the guys.
We have pretty much finished eating when Dalton’s phone rings.
He talks to his dad for a few minutes before the call ends.
“So, our plans for tomorrow have changed a little. Dad needs me and Gunner to help with something in the morning. Just us. He refused to say what it is, but he did say it would not take long. Knowing that, are you two going to stay overnight or drive back early in the morning?” Dalton asks Gunner and Sahara.
They both look at each other and shrug. “I thought we were planning on staying this weekend anyway. One more night won’t matter one way or the other.” Gunner finally responds.
“Cool. How about we make a pack to no bumping uglies this weekend? Or at least for as long as we can hold out.” Dalton holds up his hand to stop any protest before they can start.
“I know that is a lot to ask. You would think after almost a year, the extreme sex drives would have slowed down but, no – the four of us are still banging like bunnies. I think the only one who might complain is Tray for having to listen to us all the time.”
We all chuckle at that, but Tray’s face goes a little red.
“But, seriously. We have a lot of heavy furniture to move this weekend … so us guys need our strength and some rest. Besides, next weekend will probably be non-stop banging, if the girls have their way.” Sahara protests, throwing a pillow at Dalton, while the guys laugh.
When things settle down again, Dalton looks over at me. “Well, baby girl. Still no comments?” He asks with a sly grin.