Chapter 3

Three

DAN

Kara and Zeke making out last night at the fire played in my dreams all night. All of us have been lusting after Kara for years, but none of us want to be the reason things fall apart. She’s too precious to us to risk it, but I think Zeke finally blew past that last night. If she’s okay being physical, then maybe we can actually start a relationship with her. Something tells me she’ll be more skittish when it comes to the feelings part of a relationship. Neither Flynn nor I would pass the chance to be with her up. We’re together, but neither of us would mind if Kara joined. I’m not sure Flynn would mind if the other guys joined in sometimes, but they’ve never showed interest. I wouldn’t mind, that’s for sure.

It’s still early when I start to wake. All of us spread around on the tatami mats in a big pile, Kara inevitably in the middle. Looking around, I see Zeke is gone, which is no surprise. His dad mode is active early today and getting breakfast ready. What surprises me is that Troy is starting to stir as well. He’s not usually up super early on these trips, but I suppose he did go to bed early. I have my arms wrapped around Flynn, holding his back to my front. My morning wood is nestled snugly against his ass, and I can’t help but thrust gently against him, savoring the feel.

Flynn decides that now is the time to be cheeky and gently pushes his ass back against me. A pleased rumble emanates from my chest, and I squeeze him gently with my arms. Kara’s still out like a light, but I glance up to see Troy pushing himself up on one elbow, watching us with an interested gleam in his eye. I can’t help but smirk at him when I wink.

“Like what you see?” Flynn asks softly, teasing.

Troy raises an eyebrow and smiles. “Maybe I do,” he teases back.

Well shit, that made my cock jump a little.

Flynn chuckles. “Seems like Dan liked that response,” he says.

Kara rolls over and groans in protest, grabbing at Troy to pull him back into the blankets.

“Less talking, it’s too early,” she complains.

Troy doesn’t hesitate as he lets himself back down into the pile of blankets and pillows, wrapping his arms around Kara. She lets him and snuggles in against him before snaking one hand out to grab onto Flynn’s free hand. She closes her eyes, contentment rolling off her.

My eyes flick to Troy before I push myself up on my elbow to see Flynn. I raise my eyebrow in question, looking between them all again. Flynn shrugs and mouths the word “Zeke” with a question on his face. I shrug in response, trying to decide if she’s still mostly asleep or if her kisses with Zeke really loosened her inhibitions enough to allow for this closeness. Troy gives us a look like he’ll beat on us if we ruin this, so I smile and kiss Flynn’s shoulder before slowly moving away.

Just as I reach into my suitcase to grab my swim trunks, Zeke calls in through the mesh covered window.

“Breakfast is ready! Made bacon, then cooked some eggs in the grease. All the artery clogging goodness we need before a day at the beach,” he quips.

Kara perks up at that and sits up, eyes open wide. “Bacon?”

She scrambles out of bed, wearing her tiny sleep shorts and tank top, headed straight outside. Poor Troy looks devastated at his loss, and I chuckle at them both, hoping Zeke made coffee as well. If not, I’ll just have to do it, I don’t mind. Once my boxers are off and my swim trunks are on, I step out of the tent and check out the set-up Zeke has going. He’s cooking on the tailgate of Kara’s truck and plating the food family style on the picnic table. I see the full carafe of coffee on the picnic table and smile broadly.

As I approach the picnic table, Zeke is setting down the last plateful of eggs. I walk over to him and plant a kiss on his cheek playfully.

“Thanks, Daddy, for the coffee,” I tell him.

Zeke laughs. “Fuck off with that.”

We’re both joking, but I’m pretty sure any of us would happily call him “Daddy” if he wanted. Pretty sure he’d be into that if he let himself loose a bit, but it’s hard to tell until it happens. Maybe I’ll mention it to Flynn and see if he has any ideas. I might be the biggest one of the bunch, but I’d definitely call Zeke “Daddy”.

Shit, now I have a semi. Ah well, such is life.

The coffee mugs are already set up on the picnic table, so I snag one and fill it up, no cream or sugar. My body lights up at the taste of the bitter goodness and I hum happily. Kara smiles at me with a small laugh, grabbing her own mug before digging into the cooler for her creamer. She pours in way too much before adding coffee and humming her own delight.

“How do you drink it with so much sugar?” I ask her with a smile.

She looks over at me with a smirk. “Someone needs to balance out your black coffee.”

Chuckling, I grab a plate and hand it to her before taking my own. As we load up on food with Zeke, Troy and Flynn finally make an appearance from the tent. Internally I laugh at it, the tent. It’s a mini cabin, not a tent, but Troy won’t hear of it being called anything but a tent. He’s so adorable.

Breakfast passes amicably, and we all pitch in to clean up. Zeke cleaned up last night, then cooked this morning, and while I know he likes to take care of us, it’s not his job to do everything. Glancing at us with a grateful smile, he takes the opportunity to check the ice status and leaves to grab a couple more bags from the administration office of the campground. If we’re going to have a cooler at the beach all day, we’ll need a fresh bag to get us through.

Once dishes are done, everyone gets their suits on, and we let Kara change on her own. I grab our wagon with wheels equipped to handle sand and load it up with the cooler, some towels, and a beach blanket. Also grabbing the two umbrellas we have, I set them on top for someone to grab and carry since they won’t fit in with everything else. We all head over to the beach, grabbing a spot midway from the start of the beach to the water. Troy directs us on where to spread out the blanket and position the umbrellas before we set up to lounge a bit. Kara brought a bag filled with snacks and books that she sets near the cooler full of cans of beer and soda.

We spend a bit enjoying the quiet late morning, but once lunchtime passes, the weather starts to really heat up. The beach is getting crowded too, but we still have some room around us. Kara finally stands, hands on her hips as she surveys the people quickly filling up the beach and water. Then she turns to us, determination on her face.

“It’s water time, bitches. Let’s go cool off!” she proclaims.

Flynn whoops and grabs the beach ball before blowing into the valve to inflate it. Everyone stands and sheds any non-water gear they’re wearing, and all our eyes fly to Kara as she removes her beach cover. She’s absolutely gorgeous, tall with long legs and a body built to be loved. Muscular girls and thin girls are fine. I don’t judge body types, but Kara and the extra weight she carries makes my blood hot. Her curves are perfect, and I love that she has extra in her belly that she’s not ashamed of. Her high-rise bikini bottoms cup her ass perfectly and the top pushes her breasts up nice and high. What I wouldn’t give to touch those beauties.

She glances around before shouting, “Last one to the water is a rotten egg!”

Bursting into motion, she flies toward the water, all of us except Flynn flying after her. We hit the water at the same and I take the moment to snag Kara as I move further in. She giggles and a few moments later, Flynn finally joins us with a fully inflated beach ball. We laugh and toss the ball around in a circle for a bit, trying to outthrow and splash each other as hard as we can.

A few other people ask to join in, so we let them, happy to add to the circle. One guy catches my eye, but not for a good reason. He’s giving Kara a full body scan as we play, taking his time to look freely at her. While I don’t outwardly show it, internally red flags are flying all over and I recognize that he needs to back the fuck off. He keeps trying to make passes at Kara and she’s turning him down, looking increasingly uncomfortable. That won’t do. I don’t want to see her upset.

Her limit is finally hit, and she excuses herself from the game, claiming she wants some time in the shade. My instincts are on high alert, and I follow along, claiming the same. Unfortunately, douchebag decides he should join, and follows along. My eyes keep him in sight even though my focus is on Kara. He’s still trying to talk to her, and she’s still politely telling him to back off.

When we reach the blanket, she turns to confront the guy head on. Fuck if that doesn’t get me a little hard. Again.

“I said ‘no’ and you need to back the fuck off now.”

“Sweet thing don’t be like that. I’m just tryin’ to be friendly. We can have a good time together, you know?”

The asshole even rubs his hands together and licks his lips like she’s some piece of meat at a buffet.

Man, some people just don’t take a hint, do they?

I’m sure Kara could handle this asshole, but I really think he needs a bigger lesson. He needs to understand women aren’t meat, and he really needs to understand that Kara’s ours. He doesn’t get to have her unless she says so. I move my body to stand next to Kara.

“You heard her, man. Time to go,” I tell him like we’re chatting about the weather.

“Fuck that noise, man. You bangin’ her? Wanna share?”

“Nah, man, you need to go.”

“What? You gonna make me? You’re big, but all you’re doin’ is smilin’. You ain’t no threat.”

I shrug, done with the warnings, and look over at Kara for permission. She leans into me slightly and gives a single nod before moving away. The minute she steps away, my right hook is sailing through the air and catches this asshole in the temple. He goes down hard, but doesn’t stay down.

He shakes his head and looks up at me, murder in his eyes. I was hoping one punch would do the trick, but I guess not. Looks like he needs a few more. It’s been a while since I’ve beat the shit out of someone, so maybe this will be cathartic. As I think through how this could go, I see him straighten up, wobble a bit, then roar before he lunges at me. I’m unsure if he’s trying to tackle me or punch me with that stance, but I move out of the way, directing us more to the water than to the blanket. I don’t need him bleeding on things we own.

He face plants into the sand, and I wonder if he’s much of a bleeder. I haven’t split his skin yet, but I bet he does, probably cries a bit too.

Poor guy . Must be hard to miss a first punch.

I glance back toward Kara to see her packing up. Probably a smart move. She’s so great. Chest heaving, the asshole picks himself up again and wipes his face off. I wait for him to recover as I try to predict what his next move will be.

“The fuck are you still smiling for?” he yells at me.

I shrug. “It’s a nice day; be a shame not to smile.”

“Fuckin’ psycho,” he mutters as he moves in close to take a swing.

I’ve been called a lot of things, including psycho, and for a while it really bothered me. Who is anyone to judge me for who I am? I decided after meeting my group that I don’t care what anyone else thinks. They accept me for who I am and that’s all I need. When this asshole tries to swing again, I duck and come up with a jab to his nose, hoping that will be enough to keep him down this time.

He howls in pain and covers his nose. I thought I felt a crunch, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Maybe I broke it. I can see the guys coming back to the blanket, beach ball in hand. Zeke looks concerned but not angry, which just proves my point that my guys love me for who I am. If “Daddy Zeke” isn’t angry, then I know he’s okay with me doing what needs to be done for Kara.

A couple of guys come up to the asshole and fuss over him a bit, exclaiming about the amount of blood pouring out of him. Zeke raises his eyebrow at me, asking if I’m good, and I nod my head with a smile. Flynn follows Zeke over to the supplies where they help Kara collect our stuff. She did quite a bit on her own, but having Zeke and Flynn will be a huge help. Troy, of course, stands right next to me, his hair up in a bun off his shoulders to try to keep cool.

Flynn knows I’ve always had a soft spot for Troy, but I’m not sure if Troy knows it or not. I don’t care if someone is a guy or girl; I like who I like. Troy puts a hand on my bicep, and I’m pretty sure he squeezes ever so slightly. He looks up at me, eyes wide.

“Are you okay?” he asks breathlessly.

“Yeah, of course.” I smile back at him.

“Thank goodness you were here to help our girl. She’s a badass for sure, but who doesn’t love having a strong guy stand up for them? Especially when he’s cute.”

I shake my head and laugh at Troy, deciding that the asshole harassing Kara is down for the count enough that I can walk away. My arm slings around Troy’s shoulders and I guide him to the group.

“Let’s go back to the tent and drink some beers. Sounds way better than staying here,” I tell him.

Before we can go far, I feel someone’s hand grab my shoulder and spin me around. Before I can gather myself, I feel a fist slam into the side of my head. I feel the impact jar my senses, but I don’t go down, just wobble a bit.

“You just gonna beat up my boy and walk away, faggot?”

Man, this guy really needs to get up to speed. Nobody insults people like that anymore. What a loser.

I sigh and look him over, shaking my head. “Sorry you’re stuck where you are,” I say with a sad smile before jabbing out to break his nose as well. Once he’s howling and covering his face, I turn back to Troy to check on him. “You good?”

He looks up at me like I’ve handed him every dream he’s ever had. “I’m good now,” he breathes.

I chuckle and we walk back to the campsite, my arm back around his shoulders where it belongs.