41. Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Finnley
“There she is,” Wrenley says when I step out onto the porch of Timber Haven. She’s standing next to Hank’s truck, her arm around the waist of the tall redhead next to her. Two young boys with the same bright, auburn hair run around them. They dart behind the truck, giggling and chasing each other.
“Well, you’re even more gorgeous in person,” Ginger says when I descend the steps. With a glance at Wren, she says, “Good hell, she’s an itty-bitty thing, too. She makes us look like lumberjacks,” she adds, before wrapping me in a tight hug.
I squeeze her back with a laugh and Wren smacks her.
“You’re both gorgeous, so shut up,” I say. When she releases me, I move to hug Wren as well. Ginger is a couple of inches taller than Wren—I’d guess pretty close to six feet—and they both had to bend down to hug me.
Whereas Wren is blond, tan, and lean, even with her pregnant belly, Ginger is all soft curves, pale, freckled skin, and red hair. Her blue eyes are so bright, they’re almost translucent. Her smile is wide, and there’s a tiny dimple cleft in her chin. While Wren’s eyes are a soft, chocolate brown, next to both her and Ginger, my dark hair and deep brown eyes feel like a striking contrast.
“Tate, Jordan!” Ginger calls. “Come say hi to Finnley.”
The shorter of the two brothers comes running immediately, stopping in front of me. His head goes back to look at me. The taller one is a bit reluctant when he steps up next to his brother, and he doesn’t meet my gaze.
The first boy holds out his hand and grins up at me. I take his hand in mine, and he gives it a short shake. “I’m Jordan. You’re really pretty,” he says.
“Thank you, Jordan. It’s nice to finally meet you,” I say and then glance at his brother. “And you must be Tate?”
His gaze flicks to mine and he nods before he drops his eyes to the ground again.
I look at Ginger when she says, “Say hello, Tate.”
He rolls his eyes at his mom and quietly says, “Hi.” I’m not sure if he’s shy or if it’s something else, but his eyes almost hold a sadness to them when he looks at me.
Skye opens the screen behind us, and I turn in her direction. “There’s fresh lemonade and chocolate chip cookies inside if the boys would like some?” she asks with a smile.
Jordan’s enthusiastic, “Yes!” is dampened a bit by Tate’s mumble of, “I hate lemonade.” The scowl on his face would almost be comical if the look of apology on Ginger’s didn’t make me pause.
“I like milk with my chocolate chip cookies,” I say. “Maybe you’d like that, instead?”
He reluctantly nods and follows his brother up the short steps. Ginger watches them go with a sigh. “Sorry about Tate. He’s not really happy to be here. Ever since Peter started seriously dating, he’s been…different.”
I nod, watching them go .
Wren says, “He’s always been such a happy boy.” Then, she turns to Ginger, squeezing her arm. “He’ll be ok, babe.”
“Yeah,” she says, then smiles brightly. “Well, I already met this one’s baby daddy at the airport.” She hooks a thumb in Wren’s direction. “Where’s this best friend of yours?”
Wren chuckles and my body flushes with heat. I seriously hope my face and neck aren’t as hot as they feel.
Thankfully, Wren answers for me, and I am off the hook. For now. “Everyone is out at Hutch’s. We’ll get you settled, and then head over there.” Turning to me, she says, “Hank had a few things to take care of at the ranch, but he’ll meet us out there.”
Ginger and the boys will be staying at Timber Haven while they’re in town. I reserved two rooms for them the second I knew they’d be coming.
“I’ll grab your bags,” I say.
“I can help,” Wren says, but Ginger scoffs.
“Slow your roll, cupcake. You’ve got precious cargo on board in the form of my nieces, and I won’t have that man of yours pissed at me.”
Wren rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest, hip popped. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”
“Just stand there and look pretty and hush your face,” Ginger says, following me to the bed of the truck.
Together, Ginger and I lug their suitcases inside and upstairs to the two rooms that share the Jack and Jill bath. They’ll be able to leave both bathroom doors open, and it will be like one big suite. The boys follow us up shortly after, and Ginger tells them to change into their swimsuits.
We’re spending the day out at Hutch’s, swimming and grilling, and we’ll camp out overnight. It’s something we try to do at least once every summer. It’s one of Paige’s favorite things to do during their summer visits, and now that they’re back here for good, the tradition will likely continue. Probably more frequently, if I know Paige and her ability to get her dad to do just about anything.
Ginger and the boys will come back here to sleep though, since she’s not one for camping, and Wren and Hank will likely head home later, too.
“Whenever you guys are ready, we’ll head out,” I say. Wren and I leave Ginger to change and head downstairs.
As soon as Wren parks the truck among all the other vehicles out at Hutch’s place, she climbs out and makes a beeline for the workshop.
“Finn!“ she calls as she’s walking away. “Let Hank know I’m in the bathroom, so he doesn’t send out a search party, please.”
“Will do.”
Once we’re all out of the truck, Ginger hands me a life jacket, and while I help Jordan get into his, she helps Tate. It’s going to be a beautiful day, but it’s hot, even though we’re surrounded by pine trees.
From here, I can hear laughter and faint splashing. “It sounds like everyone’s already down at the lake. It’s just over this rise, past the firepit. Paige is really excited to meet you both,” I tell Ginger’s boys.
My stomach does a little flip-flop when the lake comes into view. Ginger stops to take it all in and my eyes land on Hudson, who’s standing at the edge of the lake next to Hutch. He’s wearing swimming trunks and an old T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Something that would normally be douchey on anyone else looks downright panty-melting on Hudson.
His dark hair is wet from being in the water, and he’s got a couple days of stubble on his jaw, something he doesn’t have often. He looks fucking edible when he laughs at something Hutch says and tips back his bottle of beer .
“Goddamn, who’s the beefcake with all the tats and hair?” Ginger asks out of the side of her mouth, as the boys run off ahead of us.
I chuckle and nod in their direction. “That’s Hutch, and that’s Hudson next to him.” My eyes scan the water and find Hank in the water with Paige.
She glances at me, wide-eyed. “Holy shit. If all the men out here look like those three, I need to move to Montana.”
I smirk and lift an arm, pointing. “Norah and Hales are at the picnic table and Natalie is over there.” The leggy brunette is currently manhandling a giant flamingo floaty with a scowl on her pretty face. I can almost hear Nat cussing up a storm from here. The floppy plastic jostles around in the warm breeze as she tries to blow it up with a small handheld pump.
Hudson catches sight of the boys running toward the lake, and his eyes land on Ginger and me. He lifts his chin, sticking his tongue out at me, then a huge, goofy grin splits his face.
Hudson’s always been handsome in any capacity, but being back here—relaxed and hanging out with his siblings—is a good look on him. He looks so happy . The last couple of weeks of mind-blowing sex between the two of us might have something to do with that, too. My best friend is hot as fuck. And he’s right; I am a slut for his cock, and that tongue, too.
He nudges Hutch, who turns to look in our direction, too. With his beer halfway to his mouth, he gives us that signature lazy smile, all dimples and straight white teeth. Ginger blows out a breath next to me, which makes me chuckle.
The distraction gives Hayley the chance to sneak up behind Hutch. Dressed in a white bikini top and cutoffs with a bucket in her hand, she stands up on her tiptoes. However, given that Hutch is tall as hell and she’s only a couple of inches taller than me, when she throws the water on him, it only soaks his back and runs down the back of his legs.
He turns in surprise, chucks his beer bottle, and lunges for her. “You little shit,” he calls out with a laugh .
She only makes it three steps, then lets out a yelp when he throws her over his shoulder and carries her like it’s nothing to the end of the dock. She lets out a squealing laugh, kicks her legs, and tries to shove herself off him. But before she has a chance to wriggle free, he unceremoniously lifts her and dumps her into the lake backward, sunglasses and all.
Hudson laughs and shakes his head, then turns and starts walking toward us.
Wren pokes her head in between Ginger and me, wrapping her arms around both of our waists. “What are we doing, besties?” she asks.
“Oh, Ginger’s checking out the available local meat,” I say, nodding to where Hutch has stripped off his shirt at the end of the dock. He folds his long body to sit on the edge, and when Hayley grabs his leg, trying to yank him off, he puts a big palm on her forehead and shoves her back into the water with a laugh.
Wren’s eyes snag on my necklace and she reaches out to touch it. “Is this new?”
I look down as her fingers clasp it. “Um, yeah,” I say hesitantly, hoping she doesn’t turn it over. She has no reason to, and I guess a friendship necklace between Hudson and me would be completely appropriate, but telling her he gave it to me without disclosing why and when feels wrong. Plus, I sort of like it being our secret. If she wonders what the purple and pink stones represent, she doesn’t voice it.
“It’s pretty,” she says, then turns her bright smile on Ginger. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.” The two of them take off and Wren looks back over her shoulder. “You coming?”
Hudson’s a couple steps in front of Ginger and Wren, heading my way. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a second,” I tell her with a nod. My hand instinctively reaches for the necklace. I’ve noticed I do it a lot, almost as if I’m making sure it’s still there, even though I haven’t taken it off longer than a few minutes to take a quick shower. I don’t even want to do that, but I’m afraid the shampoo and body wash will ruin it.
“Oh, hey, Hudson,” Wren says when she turns back around. “This is Ginger.”
Hudson stops and reaches out to shake Ginger’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Hudson. I’ve heard a lot about you,” she says, shooting me a mischievous grin.
Hudson flicks a glance my way with a chuckle and sticks his hands in the pockets of his swimsuit. “All good things, I hope.”
“Oh, yeah,” she says. “Completely perfect things.”
My cheeks flare with heat, remembering how I told both Wren and Ginger that day in the cabin about every inch of him being completely perfect.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ginger.”
She nods, and Wren starts pulling her away.
When Hudson turns to me, Ginger gives me two enthusiastic thumbs up behind his back, then makes grabby hands at his ass. I stifle a laugh. I love her already. She’s going to fit in perfectly with everyone.
Hudson steps close and drops his voice, and I have to tip my head back to look at him. “Hey, pretty girl.” The quiet endearment makes my stomach flip. “Are they gone?”
I glance around him and nod, then look back up at him.
“Good,” he says. Hooking his pinky around mine, he leans in to brush his lips lightly against mine. It’s a quick kiss and would look like nothing to anyone who happened to look our way. Still, it sets my heart racing, and I immediately want more.
It’s crazy how quickly we’ve fallen into this new version of us. I can’t wait to come home every night, knowing that, if he’s not at the bar, he’ll be there cooking dinner for me and Paige. We usually watch a movie, something that Paige picks, or sometimes we play a game of chess. Other times, Hudson will play video games, while Paige watches something on her tablet and I read. He almost always pulls my feet into his lap at the end of the night and either gives me a foot rub or just lets them rest there, like it’s the most natural thing in the world for us to touch each other in these ways.
“You didn’t wake me up before you left this morning,” I say, slipping my arm through his while we walk to the lake.
He leans in to plant a kiss on the top of my head, something that he’s done for years. How did I never notice how nice that feels?
“Figured I’d let you sleep in after I rocked your world all night.” His grin is cocky, and I bump him with my hip, my cheeks heating again. Will I ever not blush when he talks about sex between us? Probably not.
Everyone is out of the water and gathered at the picnic table when we walk up, with the exception of Hutch and the kids, who are all intently watching him strategically stack rocks from where he’s crouched in the dirt, twenty or so feet away. Wren hands Hank a towel, and he leans in to plant a kiss on her lips. She swats at his chest when he shakes his wet hair on her.
Working the towel against his hair, he smiles at Ginger. “Hey, Red,” he says.
Ginger laughs at his nickname for her and leans in to give him a quick side hug. They seem just like old friends when she says, “Hey, best friend’s baby daddy.”
Hudson moves to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and resting his chin on the top of my head. It’s not an unusual thing for him to do in front of his family, but it feels different now that we’re messing around. The length of him along my body is comforting, but it also sends a wave of desire through me when I remember how I woke up with him pressed against my back in the middle of the night last night. That quickly led to two intense, mind-blowing back-to-back orgasms—one on his tongue and the other on his cock.
I lean back into him, wondering how I ever had him against me before without jumping him.
“Hi,” Hayley says, extending her hand to Ginger. “I’m Hayley and these are my sisters, Natalie and Norah.” Then, she turns and hollers over her shoulder, “Hutch, get your ass over here!”
Nat and Norah exchange pleasantries with Ginger, and when Hutch gets within arm’s length of us, Hudson reaches out and titty twists him. Hutch flips out the towel in his hand, catching Hudson in the calf.
“Mother fucker ,” Hudson laughs, rubbing his calf and then pulling me back against his chest.
“Pansy ass,” Hutch quips.
Wren smacks his arm with an exasperated roll of her eyes, drawing his attention. “Hutch, this is Ginger, my friend from California.”
Hutch leans across the space and extends a long arm to snag the last beer out of the ice bucket on the table, crowding close to Ginger. When he straightens back up, he’s standing so close that she has to tip her head back to stare up at him. Judging by her reaction to him when we first arrived and the way her throat works to swallow, she’s slightly affected by his proximity. But it only lasts a second and it’s replaced with a bit of a smirk as she looks up at him.
“Ginger, huh?” he says, his gaze sweeping down her body appreciatively. He lifts a hand and fingers one of the bright, auburn curls hanging over her shoulder, like it's the most natural thing in the world. His eyes roam over her freckled face before he drops her hair with a smirk. “Bit on the nose, ain’t it?”
Ginger crosses her arms over her chest, drawing Hutch’s gaze to her cleavage. She notices and drops her head to the side, cocking a brow at him. “ Not as on the nose as your remedial choice of vernacular for a guy named Hutch,” she snipes. “And my eyes are up here, Bigfoot.”
Seven sets of eyes watch the exchange. A few of us look at each other and snicker.
“Oh, shit, here we go,” Hudson says against my ear, and I elbow him lightly, stifling a giggle.
The corner of Hutch’s mouth twitches in a hint of a smile, and he huffs out a chuckle. “Good to meet you, California ,” he says before turning his giant body away from her and walking away.
“Don’t mind our brother,” Hayley pipes up, addressing Ginger. “He’s a bit of a whore.”
“A bit?” Nat throws out sardonically, inspecting her nails.
“I can hear you,” Hutch calls out, his voice tinged with laughter. He’s heading up the small hill, away from the group and back toward the fire pit.
Ginger watches him walk away, her expression blank, seemingly unaffected. Then, she flips her red hair over her shoulder and turns her head to check on her boys, who have moved from playing in the dirt with Paige to the edge of the water.
With the introductions over, we all start to break apart, and Hank helps Wren settle into a chair, propping her feet up on a log. He kisses her, then leaves to help Hutch start the grill and get the hamburgers going. Hayley heads for the kids and the water. Hudson pulls up a few other chairs from around the rocky dirt beach for the rest of us. Then, he stands at the edge, about 100 yards away, watching the kids giggle and splash each other.
I settle in next to Wren, with Ginger on my left. Nat and Norah follow shortly after.
“So,” Nat says, leaning across Ginger to speak to me. “How’s my brother? ”
Her question pulls my eyes from the water, where Paige is trying to get onto a giant floaty shaped like a pizza slice.
“He’s good,” I say with a shrug. “Busy.” Suddenly, my face heats with just how busy he’s been.
“He seems better being back here. He wasn’t really himself the last time I talked to him. Seemed stressed.”
I nod, shielding my eyes from the sun, and watch Hayley hoist both boys up onto their own floaties. “Yeah, selling the bar was hard for him, but I think the move did him good. Paige, too. They’re both a lot happier, I think.” I don’t say what I really want to: I’m happier with them here, too.
From their respective floaties, the kids all squeal, while Hayley bobs in the water in the middle of all three. Her head tips back on a laugh.
“How you feeling, mama?” I ask, turning my attention to Wren. I reach over to rub her belly.
“Horny as hell and as big as a house,” she says lightly, settling her sunglasses over her eyes. “No one told me I’d want sex, like, three times a day while pregnant.”
Ginger laughs. “I remember those days.”
“Hank is exhausted, and the babies aren’t even here yet.” Wren sighs. “I swear, he fell asleep halfway through the other night. Says his cock is gonna fall off if I don’t let up.”
Nat makes a gagging sound. “That’s my cue to leave,” she says, and Norah gets up, too.
Wren laughs. “Sorry, guys. I sometimes forget he’s your brother.”
“It’s fine,” Norah says, waving Wren off with a small smile. “I’ll just go help the guys, so I don’t hear anything I’ll never forget.”
“Amen to that,” Nat echoes.
The twins walk away just as Hudson comes back over and plops down in the chair Nat just vacated.
Wren tips her chin at my leg. “What happened to your knee? ”
My eyes drop to the fading scrape on my knee and my eyes briefly meet Hudson’s. It looks a lot like a scabbed-over rug burn, and I’d completely forgotten it was even there until she pointed it out. It’s barely visible anymore, but leave it to Wrenley to notice something so minor.
“Oh, just scraped it,” I say and run a hand over it, hoping my cheeks aren’t flamed with heat.
Hudson coughs into a fist, trying to cover a smile. He’s not feeling so bad about that scrape now. In fact, he looks downright smug. I fight my own smile, heat rushing to my cheeks at the memory of him pounding into me in the kitchen that night.
“You ladies need me to bring drinks?” he says, his gaze skating over my body, then over to Wren and Ginger.
“I’d love a beer,” Ginger says. Hudson nods. Wren and I ask for water.
He catches me chewing my lower lip, his gaze heating. I quickly release it and he walks away with a smirk, heading off in the direction Hutch and Hank disappeared.
Wren lifts her sunglasses a bit with a glance at his retreating back, then raises her eyebrows at me. “Ok, spill it. What’s going on between you two?” she says, just as Ginger leans in and says, “So, what really happened to your knee?”
I have been itching to tell Wrenley about Hudson and me, and Ginger is definitely invested, as well. I turn to make sure Hudson and the twins are out of earshot. “We had sex.”
Wren bolts upright next to me, shoving her sunglasses further up her forehead. “Shut up right now,” she whisper-shouts and Ginger cackles.
Heat floods my face and neck, but all I can do is grin.
“When? How? Are you together?” Wren asks.
I blow out a breath. I absolutely do not want anyone to know we’re married, and even though we never said we were together, it feels that way. He basically made me promise there would be no one else while we’re married. But I can’t tell her that.
So, I shake my head. “No, just friends with benefits, I guess.”
“You guess?” Ginger asks. I love how she doesn’t shy away from the conversation, even though she just met me in person. It feels good to have another girlfriend to confide in. “Does that mean it’s happened more than once?”
I shrug, trying to sound nonchalant. “I mean, yeah?” I don’t know why I pose it as a question. We’ve had sex almost every night since that first time, and even though we haven’t defined anything beyond that first conversation, the way we are with each other—the tender kisses, the teasing, the snuggling, and the sex… It certainly feels like a relationship.
I suddenly feel so much lighter now that someone else knows. But I also realize I don’t want to share too much. Even though we haven’t defined anything, what I am feeling for him is bubbling very close to the surface, and I don’t want to explain that part. Sure, Wren suspects, but still. For whatever reason, it feels too private. If anyone deserves to know how I feel, it’s Hudson.
“Can we not get into details? He could be back any minute,” I say with a glance over my shoulder.
“Ok, fine,” Wren grumbles, drawing out the last word. She sits back and readjusts her glasses over her eyes with a sigh.
“Well, I haven’t had sex in months. So, I’m gonna need all the kinky details at some point. You know that, right?” Ginger says from the other side of me.
“It wasn’t kinky,” I groan and then remember how filthy he was when I had his cock down my throat. My eyes snag on my knee. I don’t know if I got it from the rough blow job or him fucking me against the door like a savage. Does it matter? It was hot. All of it. And every time since.
Wren laughs. “See, that surprises me. Hudson has a way with words that just screams filth.”
I feel a blush creeping up my cheeks. “Oh, trust me, the things that come out of that man’s mouth…”
“I bet he’s got a kinky side, too,” Ginger says. “You just gotta unlock it.” Her phone dings in her beach bag and she leans over to fish it out.
“Here you go, ladies,” Hudson says as he returns with two waters and a beer in his hands. Panic rises up my throat and I hope to hell he didn’t hear any part of our conversation. But when I meet his gaze, all seems normal.
“Thanks, Huddy,” I say and take the bottled water he hands me, quickly uncapping it and downing half.
“Food in ten,” he says and heads to the water to call Paige out of the lake.
“Wrenley, get Hank to show Hudson that spitting thing you like. It’d be a nice, little warm-up. Like, diet kink.” Ginger doesn’t even look up from her phone and her voice is casual, like she’s talking about the weather.
I choke on my water and shoot Wren a look, who gapes wide-eyed at the top of Ginger’s head. “Ginger! I told you that in confidence!” she hisses, but her lips twitch with a smile.
Ginger laughs. “Oh, relax. We all know your man has a filthy mouth. It stands to reason he’d like it dirty in the sack.”
When neither of us says anything, she looks up, splitting a glance between us. “What?”
I smack Wren’s arm with the back of my hand. “Did she say ‘spit?’”
Wren sighs and I look over in time to see Ginger shrug. “What? Sounds hot as fuck.”
My head turns on a slow swivel to look back at Wren. Her expression is baffled as she cuts a glance at me. “What um… Where—” I stammer, because this is such a weird conversation. But, like, I also want to know about the spitting. “Where…does he spit? ”
“The spitting is more Wren’s wheelhouse. I’m more of a pussy slap kinda gal.” Another shrug as she studies her phone.
“Pardon me?” I manage to choke out around a laugh.
“Oh, yeah,” she drawls and winks at me. “Just a quick slap right on the clit. Works like a charm.”
“ Pussy Slaps and Spitting: A Beginner’s Introduction to Kink by Ginger Westbrook,” Wren says with a cackle, and we all dissolve into laughter.