Chapter 44

Winnie

S ince I never got to make my pot roast dinner for the boys, the next morning, I’m downstairs early making them all breakfast. It was hard leaving Max sleeping in his bed, where we cuddled all night after getting home. I’ve decided to do a buffet of each of their favorites.

They filter in one by one and start pitching in even though I try to shoo them away. Axel and Max are setting the table while Theo puts the finishing touches on my fruit place.

“Morning, all,” Gav says, sauntering in and looking scrumptiously rumpled. “Can I do anything?”

“No! I want to do this by myself!” I cry, playfully, as Diesel sneaks up behind me nuzzling my neck and palming my butt with both hands.

Cruz, wearing only a towel, bless him, starts getting out glasses and pouring OJ for everyone .

“You have ten boyfriends. You’re never going to get to do anything by yourself again, Peach.” Diesel nips my earlobe with his lips while giving my buns a squeeze. His cock is hard against my back. My blueberry walnut pancakes aren’t the only mouthwatering thing in the kitchen this morning. I press back into him making him groan.

“No time for hanky panky, Easy Deezy. I’ve got to get these hash browns in the skillet–”

“Mmm,” he murmurs into my hair. “How ‘bout we forget that and I’ll try to put a bun in your oven instead?”

“Oh my god,” I laugh, thankful he’s obviously just teasing because I am not yet ready for that level of It’s Complicated. “You horny, horny man. If you insist on hanging around in here while I cook, please go crack those eggs over there.”

“Consider your eggs cracked, Peach.”

“Thank you. And please wash your hands first since you just groped my ass.”

“What do I look like, some kind of Neanderthal?” he teases.

“Yep,” Mason cracks.

“Hey,” says Axel. “Since Deez and I are identical I take offense to that.”

“Eh,” Cruz says. “I don’t take offense to anything.”

I get a delicious, minty fresh good morning kiss from each of them as we bustle around.

This is my life!!!

“Holy shit, Jack slept in?” Gunnar asks, when he finally wanders in and takes a head count .

“No, he’s up,” I say. He was up in more ways than one until I made him sit down at the table under which I gave him a blowie when it was just the two of us awake. My cheeks flush thinking about it. Anna is going to kill us if she ever finds out what we’ve been up to in her kitchen.

“And he’s not bitching that there’s no coffee?” Gunnar goes to the coffee maker and gets that going.

“I sent him to the market to get some powdered sugar.”

“Oh, Darlin’, don’t you know I can give you all the sugar you need?” Cruz winks at me from the blender.

Everyone but me groans. I blow Cruz a kiss.

Diesel’s hands are back on my ass.

“Deez, I need you to resist while I’m holding a hot skillet.”

“Oh, baby, but how can I when you’re in those little shorts?” He’s behind me again, and whispers in my ear. “Especially since I’ve had my cock buried inside this fine behind–”

“Okay!” I announce. I’m sure I’m beet red. “I’m going to change into something with more coverage.”

“Noooo!” at least three or four of them chorus.

“Don’t let my bacon burn. I’ll be right back.”

I get to my room and lock the door behind me before any of them can sneak after me and follow me in for a morning quickie. Not that I’d say no. But I really don’t want to wind up permanently bow-legged from too much sex.

I’m in a t-shirt but haven’t gotten my overalls on yet when my phone starts ringing.

I glance at the display. It’s Lexie our manager .

“Hey, Lex,” I answer. Then I say as kindly as possible, “If you are calling to try to get me to do some kind of 1 Girl, 10 Hammer spinoff, please don’t.”

Max and I talked about it at length last night and eventually, he and Mason do want to do another show, but it’ll be some kind of home improvement show. Definitely not anything to do with our personal lives. He and Mace both formally backed out of Who Wants To Marry A Hammer Brother? before even writing their letters to me.

“I’m not calling to try to get you to do anything, Win,” Lexie sounds extremely flustered, but I mean, that’s kind of on brand for her. “Well, yeah, actually I am. I need you to convince Max and Mason to say they were out of their damn minds and obviously didn’t mean it when they decided to back out of the new show!”

Uh, yeah, not happening, babe.

“Max and Mason are big boys, Lexie. They do what they want.”

“Well, the consequences are not going to be pretty!” she screeches.

“They are well aware that they’re in breach of contract and there’s going to be financial–”

“We’re not talking about financial shit, Win. We’re talking about something money can’t fix. The guys are going to be blacklisted from the entertainment industry. They’ll be lucky if they can get a gig on a freaking local morning show after this. The project was moving very quickly and both the production company and studio are out for blood over Max and Mason backing out.”

I sit down on the bed. “Oh, boy. ”

“And when I say ‘the guys’ are going to be blacklisted, Winnie, I want to make it perfectly clear that I mean all of them. I can’t stress how dire this is. You could all be ruined, your reputations tarnished beyond repair.”

Fuck. Lexie is wound tight, sure, but she’s not one for hyperbole or being overdramatic. If she says it it’s true.

I run a hand through my hair, wondering what this might mean for the others’ careers. For Gunner and Diesel’s music even.

Fuck.

I think long and hard for a few minutes. I don’t want any of my boys to lose out on their dreams, on their careers, on anything that makes them happy for me.

“Do you think it would help if we offered to do another show instead? All of us?” I ask.

“I’m listening,” she says. “But it would have to be something really, really special.”

I think it will be, but I hope it’ll be enough.

After I make my pitch to Lexie, who promises she’ll call me back ASAP, I pull on my overalls and go downstairs. Part of me wants to wait until I hear back from her, but that part of me is outvoted by my heart, which loves these boys so, and my conscience, which holds me to the same standards I’m holding them to. I’m not starting out this phase of our relationship with deception.

Jack is back with the powdered sugar and all of the others have finished up the dishes I left in various states of done. We all sit down to eat and I lay out the current state of affairs, including what I proposed to Lexie .

Nobody looks happy about the situation and everyone is picking at their food.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” Max says, rubbing his hands over his face. “I wish I had something else to offer, but… yeah. That’s it.”

“What you and Mason did was really fucking unprofessional, bro,” Theo says.

“Don’t be a douchebag,” Gunnar says.

“Gun, you don’t have to defend us. I appreciate it, but it’s unnecessary. Theo’s right,” Mason says.

Theo clears his throat. “What Max and Mason did was really fucking unprofessional but… let’s make it work. Hopefully Lexie will get back to us with good news.”

Someone nudges my foot under the table and I suspect it’s Gavin, who speaks next, “Pooh Bear, you sure if she says it’s a go that you’ll be okay with it?”

What I pitched to Lexie is a 1 Girl, 10 Hammers special mini-series of three or four episodes–the fans are obviously still clamoring for more after the finale just aired–where we film the rest of the reno on Gram’s house. I explained to Lexie how deeply personal it is, and how I’m willing to talk on camera–as many confessionals as they want– about my past and what this house did to me growing up and how the renovation has healed those wounds.

“If we have to, I’m on board for offering them to resurrect 1 Girl, 10 Hammers for a couple more seasons in lieu of that. Winnie shouldn’t have to lay her soul bare on national television,” Jack says. “Period. ”

“No way,” Max says. “I mean, I agree with you. She shouldn’t. But you shouldn’t have to go back to the show, either, Jack. You said you were done and we heard you. You want your privacy back, man, and you deserve that.”

“Everybody, hear me out,” Diesel says.

“No,” the rest of us say automatically, because we can all tell he’s about to say something none of us like.

“What if they go with the Who Wants To Marry A Hammer Brother thing?” he suggests.

Um, how about hell no?

“Hell no,” Mason says.

I fight a smile.

“Just listen. You can fake your way through it and break up with whoever you choose right after it’s over.”

“Because that’s fair to the women?” I ask, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, you’ve got a point,” he relents.

Gunnar bites his lip, dragging it through his teeth. “It’s not the worst idea.”

“They’re not doing Who Wants To Marry A Hammer Brother,” I say. I don’t feel right adding that when I’m sleeping with all of them, I don’t want to watch Max or Mason kissing dozens of other women, even if it’s just for show. But then I remember the whole open, honesty thing. “I don’t want to watch either of you kissing other women, even if it’s just for show. Sorry if that’s hypocritical.”

“Wait,” Jack says. “What Gun said just gave me an idea– ”

My phone buzzes.

Lexie.

We all hold our collective breath. She works quick, but, even for her, to have gotten an answer this fast is astonishing. Rejections tend to come quicker than acceptances, though, so I brace myself.

“Lex, you’re on speaker. You’ve got us all,” I tell her when I answer.

“Sorry, Win. It’s not enough,” she says flatly.

“Damn,” mutters Leo, who’s been quiet about the whole thing.

“Hey, Lex. It’s Jack,” he says. “Find out if that no would change to a yes if we could give them the 1 Girl, 10 Hammers romance storyline they’ve always wanted.”

I look at Jack, bug-eyed. All of the guys are gaping at him too.

“Jack, what the hell are you doing?” I whisper, frantically.

Though we all hope there will be a day where I can go to the movies and sit in between Cruz and Axel and hold both their hands… the day when I can go dancing again with Leo, Theo, and whoever else wants to go and make out with them all out in the open… the day where we can take our unconventional love public… the day when we can tell the world we’re us and if they don’t like it, they can fuck off… none of us are quite ready for that day to be today.

Except maybe Jack?

Jack holds up a finger to shush me .

“If you’re talking about some fabricated storyline, Jack, the audience will never buy it.”

Then how come we were pushed to do just that for almost all eight full seasons, I wonder.

Jack takes my phone and presses the mute button. “Do you all trust me?”

We all say yes, though some of us are more hesitant in our reply than others. Gunnar, especially, probably because of the Great Nail Gun Accident of Season 3. I don’t think he 100% believes it was a total accident on Jack’s part.

But Jack is Mr. Man With A Plan.

“Lex, Winnie and Leo are a couple,” Jack says, smoothly, after unmuting.

It’s nothing short of a miracle if Lexie didn’t hear at least one of us gasp.

Before Lexie–or any of the rest of us–can say anything, he goes on smoothly and part of me is wondering what the fuck he’s up to, but the rest of me thinks, damn, the way he takes charge is so sexy. I can’t wait for him to boss me around in the bed…Okay. Not the time for fantasizing.

“They’ve been together for a while but wanted to keep their relationship private. That night at the club and that whole picture fiasco… they were on a date. Theo was really just there as a third wheel so no one would suspect anything if they were spotted.”

Theo makes a face and gives Jack the middle finger.

“Are you shitting me?” Lexie asks and I have that anxious twist in my stomach. Even Lexie isn’t going to buy that Leo would choose me as his girlfriend? I shake my head. Because what she buys or doesn’t won’t matter in the long run. He has chosen me as his girlfriend. They all have.

This IS my life!

“No,” Jack says. “That’s why we were so against doing the Winnie’s Favorite Hammer spin-off.”

“OH MY GOD,” Lexie shouts like she’s mid-orgasm. “I knew it. I knew it. I knew one of you had to be banging her. The sexual chemistry amongst you all… Wait, Winnie, Leo, you are willing to go public? On the show?”

Now it’s Cruz who lurches forward, snapping up my phone and muting it. “This will make the internet trolls double down on attacking Win,” he says, his tone fiercely protective.

“I promise I won’t read the comments, Cruzie,” I take my phone back from him, unmute again, and say, “Lexie, if it will undo the damage Max and Mason have done,” I say, pause to mouth sorry at them both, then go on, “Leo and I will do anything on camera you want us, too.”

“Yes, love, absolutely anything at all,” he agrees, winking at me.

“I just wish there was some way to tie your romance into the storyline about the house and Winnie’s past…” Lexie muses. “That would really sell it.”

“Well, the lovebirds are planning on moving into the house when it’s done,” Jack says with a shrug at the WTF expressions on all of our faces.

“Yep,” I go with it. “I couldn’t be in the house at all without feeling like I was going to puke with this journey started, but now… well, we’ve turned it into a home.”

“Okay. Give me a couple of hours. No, give me one. One hour. ”

“Live in Gram’s house?” I ask Jack incredulously after I end the call.

“It’s a really nice little house now,” he says. “I wouldn’t mind living here.”

“Keyword being little. There’s two bedrooms. I’m more than down for threesomes but no way am I waking up spooning one of you douches,” Diesel says.

“You couldn’t have said it was me and Win?” Theo grumbles.

“Leo comes first alphabetically. Besides, it’ll only be a couple weeks, tops. In fact, we might have to undo some stuff to give us enough to fill a couple weeks.” He’s already looking around, planning.

By the end of the day, we have expedited contracts in hand for 1 Girl & Her Favorite Hammer: Renovations & Romance.