Chapter 32

Winnie

“H ow much longer ‘til we get there?” I ask.

It’s the next night and I’m sitting between Axel and Diesel in the front of Axe’s extended cab pickup as he drives us to what he’s reassured me is a remote and perfect date destination. Diesel’s arm is slung around my shoulders and I’ve been idly playing with his fingers during the drive. Cruz, in the backseat, curls my hair around his finger. It would be perfect except the blindfold I’m wearing is making me too antsy. I want to see everything there is to see on this date with my favorite triplets.

“Do not answer her,” Axel warns his brothers as he drops a hand from the steering wheel to the top of my thigh. “I don’t want to give her any hints about where we’re going.”

Diesel laughs and drops his mouth to the top of my shoulder. “You could give Win thirty hints and she’d never guess,” he says, his lips skimming across my skin .

Okay, perhaps the blindfold isn’t too bad an idea, not when it heightens every single touch.

“You could’ve at least gotten road trip snacks, bro,” Cruz grumbles.

“We’ll have plenty to eat when we get there,” Axel says.

“If you’re bored, Win, blame it on Axe.” Cruz says, and I can practically see the adorable pout on his mouth. “He shot down my idea to liven up the drive.”

“Which was?” I ask, cocking my head in Cruz’s direction. “Also, not to be Cathy Complainer, but this blindfold is making my eyeballs sweat.”

Diesel laughs again. “He wanted to put a mattress in the back so the two of you could spend the ride stargazing.” The hand I’m holding moves and he emphasizes the word stargazing like he’s put air quotes around it.

“Oh, I’d be seeing stars, alright,” Cruz comments, making me smile. I don’t have to be able to see to know he’s waggling his eyebrows.

“And I told him I’m not his chauffeur and my truck is not his fuckmobile,” Axel states.

There’s a smile in Axel’s voice and he gently kneads my thigh, his glorious hand slipping higher up my leg.

“Aww, poor Cruz,” I say, unable to hide my giddy smile. “Cruzie, if it makes you feel any better, any time you want, we can drive your truck somewhere and park it and I’ll lie in the back with you and stargaze.”

I reach my free hand behind me and Cruz grabs it, pulling it gently so that he can nibble my fingertips .

“You doing anything tonight, darlin’?” he jokes.

“I don’t know. You tell me,” I shoot back.

Cruz makes an appreciative sound, and both Axel and Diesel squeeze where they touch me, hand and thigh, and I feel all of their touches in every fiber of my being.

After talking with Axel yesterday, after my call with Goldie, the anticipation I have had for our date has had me feeling like a kid waiting for their birthday party. The permission Axe gave me to embrace my fantasies unlocked a freedom I’ve never felt before.

Last night, I told my boys that I wanted to have a night to myself, a long bubble bath and my own bed. I insisted I needed to give my body time to recover, but really, I pulled out my dildo collection and experimented some more.

I’ve fucked each of my “boys” plenty, but last night it felt different. I didn’t have any lube, but with the memory in my mind of Gunnar on the stairs, lapping me up, and then Diesel turning me around, his thumb touching my ass as he fucked me, I was slippery and ready.

Pushing the first dildo inside my ass didn’t feel like I thought it would. I picked my smallest, mightiest one, and after fucking my pussy to get it slick, I moved to my knees and circled my ass with the tip. There was resistance when I pushed inside, and my muscles clenched tight at the strange feeling. I winced as I stretched and had to remember to breathe and go slow in order to relax enough for my body to adjust. I nearly gave up. But the thought of Diesel behind me, his hands gripping my hips renewed my excitement. And when I touched my clit, the jolt of electricity that hit me was nearly as powerful as the feeling Diesel’s touch had given me when he fucked me on the stairs.

It took biting my lip hard to keep from gasping and moaning loudly at the surprisingly sweet sensations that washed over me as I allowed my body to take a bigger dildo. And by the time I came, muffling my cries into my pillow, I was no longer afraid of how much anal sex would hurt. I was wetter than ever just imagining it.

In the confines of Axel’s truck, breathing in Diesel’s familiar scent, I grow wet all over again. I’m tempted to turn my head and seek out his lips.

Then I hear the distinct sound of Axel putting on the blinker and we’re making a left-hand turn. And slowing down.

The blinker again. A right-hand turn. Slowing down more.

The road turns into gravel, crunching under the wheels as the truck coasts forward. Axel’s pulling into a parking space.

“Are we here?” I ask.

“We are here,” he announces. “But do not take the blindfold off.”

Diesel helps me out, and he keeps a steady arm around me as leads me away from the truck. The air is heavy with the rich scent of earth and pine. The gravel gives way to leaves crunching beneath my feet as I’m guided into what I’m sure is a forest, or at least a heavily wooded area.

“We’re camping,” I say, glad the blindfold covers up my tears as memories of my childhood camping trips with the Hammer family flood my mind .

The aroma of wood smoke and roasted marshmallows, the crackling sound of the campfire, and the laughter echoing through the trees, were all core memories for me. Not to mention Anna’s makeshift kitchen, with the stunning view of a babbling brook, and the array of culinary delights prepared by the brothers as they scrambled to impress me with their cooking prowess. The taste of charred hot dogs and extra-gooey s’mores still lingers on my tongue.

And after our campfire dinner always came the games. They changed over the years as we grew from kids into teenagers, the raucous rounds of hide-and-seek giving way to intense poker games and Truth or Dare. Their playful competitiveness never failed to make me laugh.

Cuddled up under the stars together, watching the campfire snap and flicker until we were falling asleep in our blankets…

I used to live for camping weekends with the Hammers.

Sure , Gram had said the first time I asked her permission to go camping with them. With you gone at suppertime, I might actually get a bite.

After that, I rarely ate in front of Gram or my dad if I could avoid it, but it was like they competed to see who could tell the meanest weight-related joke sometimes.

I push thoughts of Gram and my father away. Thankfully, they haunt me less frequently, and when they do, their embarrassing criticisms grow easier to ignore.

Axel’s voice brings me back to the present. “Ready, Win?”

His fingers are where the blindfold is tied at the back of my head. I nod .

As Axel unveils the campsite, my eyes widen in awe. Inside a wide ring of trees, edged with glowing golden orbs and flickering lanterns, is a billowing white tent. It’s more Taj Mahal than traditional camping gear, and it sparkles inside and out with fairy lights.

Plush rugs lead to a circle of benches around the fire pit.

“What is this place?” I wonder aloud as curiosity pulls me toward the tent’s entrance. As I peek inside, my breath catches. The interior is a haven—a vast mattress, adorned with luxurious blankets and plush pillows. Soft, ambient lighting from star-shaped lanterns wash the space in a warm romantic aura. The thought of this intimate bedroom under the stars fills me with a warmth that spreads through my entire body. I’m ready to strip off my clothes and dive in, it looks so cozy.

And I might. There’s not a single other person, or camera in sight. My boys turned camping into a secret romantic fairy tale, and I feel more cherished than ever before.

I practically skip back toward them, and they all watch me with identical grins.

“Is this okay?” Axel asks.

“It’s better than okay,” I reply, my voice catching with emotion. “It’s perfect.”

“We just have to be back by noon tomorrow,” he tells me. “But we’ve got all night to do whatever you want.”

I glance at the tent entrance again, and shiver thinking about doing whatever I want inside it with three of my boys .

“Who’s up for a little skinny-dipping in the lake?” Cruz asks, starting to take off this shirt.

I catch a flash of abs. My mouth instantly waters.

Diesel, who is already unpacking things, tosses a bag of marshmallows at Cruz. “And I thought you were hungry.”

“Before we do anything else, we build a campfire,” Axel says.,

The triplets all seem to go caveman at that plan – the invention of fire still excites them – and not twenty minutes later, we’re sitting around the firepit, all of us gazing into the dancing flames.

Cruz and Diesel are manning the weenie-roasting skewers and I have my head on Axel’s shoulder. We’re holding hands.

“This is perfect,” I whisper to Axel and when he drops a kiss on my temple I marvel over the fact that I’ve managed to find perfect, when I didn’t even believe perfect existed.

“This one is yours, Peach,” Diesel says, handing the skewer to Cruz who passes it to me.

It looks delicious, smells even better… and I don’t know why but I’m suddenly shy about eating such a phallic shaped object in front of them.

Maybe I’ll wait on the s’mores.

“Don’t worry,” Cruz says. “I solemnly swear not one of us is going to watch you eat a hot dog and think about what you look like giving a BJ.”

“I don’t solemnly swear shit,” Diesel says with a chuckle. He winks at me .

I blush, and blow on the weenie to cool it down. Then I say, “Hey, Deez,” and when he glances at me, I chomp down on it, taking a huge bite.

“Nothing you can do will turn me off, baby,” he promises, winking at me again. “That I will solemnly swear.”

Axel nods. “Ditto.”

Goodness, but they look even more gorgeous in the firelight.

As is Hammer tradition, the games begin after we eat. Axel proposes we play Truth or Dare, which I’m eager to try now that we’re adults.

The rules to our relationship have changed since we last played, so the rules of the game should change, too, right? There are bound to be plenty more truths and dares for us than ever before, and I can’t wait.

Unfortunately, we’re too stuffed with s’mores to do anything that requires us to move, so our game ends up being more truth than dare . And it’s surprisingly more PG than not.

“What was your favorite memory from one of our renos?” Diesel asks.

“Oh, that one is easy,” Cruz replies, even though technically it was Axel’s turn to answer. “The Lennon house.”

Cruz remembers every reno we ever did and can tell you not only what season it was but what episode, and the first names of each family member and the ages of the kids when we redid their house. He still keeps in touch with many of them.

“That was the first time I saw Winnie look comfortable on camera,” he explains .

The smile he gives me is sweet and genuine and I get goosebumps.

The truth portion of our game goes on like this a while longer, and I find I don’t mind. I’m wrapped up in nostalgia and Axel’s strong arms, both warmer than a blanket. And I’d be happy to keep the night just this sweet and cozy.

That is until Axel raises my hand up to his mouth and brushes my knuckles with his lips. “This has been nice… now, who’s up for some dares?”

And the mischievous gaze he gives me is enough to take my body from cozy-warm to too-hot and flushed.

I definitely am.