Chapter 13Goldie

Chapter 13

Goldie

"W hat the hell are you doing?" Grumpy Luke repeats.

With the spell broken, nay, shattered into a billion bits, Lynx sets me down. His pupils are enlarged and his rock-hard chest heaves with ragged breaths. Nash takes a step back, hands shoved in his pockets. At first glance, he looks unfazed, but a glimpse downward tells me he's fazed alright.

I can't stop panting. It takes me a minute to come back to myself, letting the sound of the steadily rushing river ground me and calm my burning hot nerves.

Would I have done it with Lynx…with Lynx and Nash…if Grumpy Luke hadn't interrupted?

I might've. I actually might've. Holy shit. That realization sends my head spinning. Despite what I told Lynx about just being temporarily disoriented, I might actually need to go to the hospital and get an X-ray or MRI or whatever to make sure I don't have a concussion or worse. Because the way I'm thinking, the way I'm behaving, or about to behave, definitely screams Goldie Has A Serious Head Injury!

"We were just—" Lynx begins.

"I have two damn eyes. I can see what you were just doing." Luke shakes his head.

Lynx shrugs. "You asked."

I'm attempting to discreetly zip up my pants when Grumpy Luke's two damn eyes fixate on me.

"This lady," he says, but he says it in a way that tells me "lady" is not the word he wants to use to describe me, "has been here less than twenty-four hours and she's already beguiled y'all into a threesome?"

The big hairy slut-shamer! I fix him with a look that would set my usual work crew running. Now, Luke…he is not fazed by me. Not one bit.

"Okay, Lucas ," I start, hands on my hips. "I didn't beguile anyone into anything. But not an hour ago, you were implying that I think I'm too good to sleep with one of your brothers, and now you're accusing me of being some seductress hell-bent on poisoning them with my vagina or something! Which is it, bro?"

"Maybe both." His hands are on his hips too.

"That makes no sense." I fold my arms across my chest.

" This makes no sense!" he fires back, gesturing at the picture of the three of us.

And furthermore —" I begin.

"Does no one, other than me, remember what happened last time two of us went after the same woman?" Grumpy Luke asks, talking over me as if I wasn't even speaking. He's returned his attention to his brothers, now acting as if I'm not even here. As if, maybe, wishful thinking will make it reality. "You should remember," he says to Lynx.

I really don't want to ask. I want to give him a piece of my mind. But I can't help myself. The intrigue is real.

"What happened the last time two of you went after the same woman?"

Grumpy Luke casts a glance at me. "None. Of. Your. Goddamn. Business. Goldilocks."

He says the nickname with derision, not affection.

"So?" Grumpy Luke looks around. "Where are the fish?"

"Well, I'm guessing they're still in the river," Nash says, not even a little bit sheepish.

"I caught three," Lynx adds.

"Are you kidding me? You should've caught a dozen by now. Three?" Grumpy Luke jabs a finger in my direction. I'm ashamed that, in this moment of conflict, I notice his fingers are as big as cocks too. "She needs to go. She's a distraction. First, Ash with the weather and now…these shenanigans? She needs to go. Now. We said one night."

Wait. "You're blaming me for Ash not being able to control the weather?" I ask incredulously.

Also—I can't go anywhere yet! I need more of those kisses! I need to know more about these men! I need to have sex. Like…it feels kind of like I've been fasting and telling myself it's okay…but now I realize, it's not okay at all. I'm two seconds away from literal starvation and there's a buffet before me and I need to eat. I might actually die if I don't. The need to have one of them inside me is overwhelming. Not one of their fingers, but one of their actual cocks. How big they must be. Holy shit.

I fan myself.

"I'm blaming you for being a distraction," Grumpy Luke repeats.

I'm not the distraction! I was a woman on a mission until I crashed into you! All of you are the distractions!

That's what I want to say to Grumpy Luke because, honestly, all I wanted to do was to find the Bigfoot that saved my life, make an award-winning documentary, and show the world that Sasquatches not only exist, but they're heroes! Kind-eyed, gentle-giant heroes!

And, bam, now suddenly all I want to do is make out with the mountain men.

No, no. Let's be real, Goldie. That's not all you want to do.

I flush, cheeks hot as flames at the thought of Lynx's tongue toying with mine. Never mind what that tongue might do elsewhere…

Get a hold of yourself, girl. The altitude must really be getting to me.

"We wound up eating lunch late yesterday—because of you—and from the looks of it, we're going to wind up eating lunch late today, as well," Luke says to Lynx and Nash, then to me, after which he clenches his jaw for a full thirty seconds with such intensity I'm surprised that when he opens his mouth to speak again all of his teeth don't just fall out in the form of dust. "You have to go."

"Back off, Luke. She's not going anywhere 'til she's all healed up," Lynx says.

"Says who?" Luke demands.

"Says me," Lynx replies.

Suddenly it's like Grumpy Luke is the sun and there's a full solar eclipse happening.

Lynx has stepped between us.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I limp out from behind Lynx, literally putting myself in the middle. I don't know how these guys handle their disputes. They don't seem like the types to do rock paper scissors. If physical brawls are their thing, well. I can't take that chance. Once fists start flying, some of the others might agree with Grumpy Luke that I need to go. I gotta smooth this out. I gotta get more than one night.

"We outvoted you yesterday, Luke. Nine to one," Lynx says, his tone less confrontational this time but still heated. "We wanted to bring her to the cabin, and if we have another vote on whether or not we want her to stay more than one night, the results will be the same."

Technically it was eight to one yesterday, since Rusty wasn't there, but I'm not going to be the one to point that out.

Luke just stares at Lynx, his mouth slightly agape.

I try to put myself in his shoes.

"Hey," I pipe up, my voice as soothing as possible. "Grumpy Luke does have a point. You all just met me yesterday and—"

"Would you stop calling me that?" Grumpy Luke glares at me harder.

"Only when you stop being grumpy. And stop interrupting me, for crying out loud! Now. You're brothers. You're family. I don't want you fighting over me."

"We're not fighting over you. We're fighting because of you," Luke corrects.

"We're not fighting." Lynx gestures between Nash and himself. "We were getting along just fine."

Nash smirks. "Yeah, we're lovers, not fighters." He waggles his eyebrows.

Luke groans.

"Hey," I say gently, because diffusing the tension between the brothers is the most important thing right now. Unfortunately, because I'd rather be diffusing the tension between my thighs, quite frankly. "Right now, we need to be catching some fish, right? So lunch can be on time?"

"Damn straight. This discussion is not over, but for now, Goldilocks is coming with me," Grumpy Luke says, and the next thing I know, I'm upside down, slung over Grumpy Luke's shoulder like a sack of potatoes with arms and legs. "All I care about is that you two lunkheads catch some damn fish for lunch. And if I leave her here, the only thing either of you is likely to catch is mononucleosis or the clap."

"Hey!" I protest.

But I need to win Grumpy Luke over so I can stay without them fighting. So calling him an asshole probably isn't the route I want to take. I am, however, slung over his shoulder backward so I take the opportunity to smack his ass.

"Don't do that again unless you want me to drop you on your head," he warns.

"What the hell, man? Luke, put her down," Nash demands. He sounds MAD.

"Where are you taking her?" Lynx demands. Also MAD.

So much for being lovers, not fighters.

"I'm taking her back to the cabin. And don't either of you dare follow. Don't come back until you've caught some damn fish! A whole mess of damn fish!"

"It's okay!" I call to Lynx and Nash so this doesn't escalate. "I'm okay! I'll go back to the cabin!"

I know I'm still just turned on from my little…whatever the hell that was…with Lynx and Nash, but there's something mildly hot about Grumpy Luke's gruff voice and bossiness.

"You can put me down," I tell him as he stalks away, ignoring Lynx and Nash's protests to bring me back. I hope they don't follow. It'll just make it worse. "I can walk."

It won't be pleasant, walking all the way back, but it'll be better than the jostling and bouncing that's happening every time he takes a step.

"The more you stay off that ankle, the sooner it heals, the faster you're out of my hair," he grouses. Then with a sigh, he adds, "Hopefully."

"Oh, Lucas, don't be such a flirt." I don't know what it is about this guy, but he makes it impossible for me not to try to push his buttons.

"Luke isn't short for Lucas," he says.

Lucifer? I start to ask. Is it short for Lucifer?

But I take another tack, because the need for him to like me is suddenly as overwhelming as the need for his brothers to touch me was just moments ago.

"Yay! You're opening up to me, telling me things about yourself. So, hey, while we're getting to know each other—"

"We're not."

"You know no one calls it the clap anymore, right?"

He sighs, and I rise and fall with it. "You're giving me a headache."

" I'm giving you a headache? You've literally got all the blood in my body rushing to my head." My voice wobbles up and down with each gigantic step he takes.

"Well. Better than where Tweedledum and Tweedledee had all the blood in your body rushing, I suppose," he says.

I almost laugh at that. Almost. Touché

And I'm not going to lie, he's saving me a ton of effort. His strides are huge, and he's able to clear fallen trees that I would have needed to either hurtle myself over, climb across, or go around if I wanted to keep up.

Though the earth is racing by at a dizzying speed, at least his ass gives me something to focus on so I don't get motion sickness. I do love trying to find a positive spin on situations, and though my head is spinning, my view is most definitely positive.

Except he's somehow managed to up his speed-walking, and now we're racing through the forest at a dizzying clip that's making me wanna…

"If you don't put me down, I'm gonna barf," I warn him, and that does the trick.

I expect him to just toss me onto the ground on my butt. But he draws me over his shoulder by my hips and deposits me gently and slowly in front of him. Probably just doesn't want to risk causing me any further injuries that'll prolong my recuperation time. Are they really going to let me stay until I'm all healed up? Could that take a week? That could take a week, right?

"Happy?" His eyes are something else, though. Like a daytime stormy sky, flashing with streaks of lightning, darkening as more clouds roll in. Talk about fifty shades of gray right there.

"Thrilled," I reply, but the world is still spinning a bit.

Grumpy Luke lifts his chin. "What are your intentions with my brothers?"

I blink up at him. Did I just fall into a sitcom from the 1950s? "What?"

"While we've got a minute alone, we might as well get on the same page here."

"Okay."

"I don't buy the whole I'm just up on the mountain camping alone line of malarkey you fed us. And I don't believe a city girl like you would be attracted to Lynx or Nash, either."

"But I am," I say without even thinking, as if my libido is now controlling all my actions without my brain or mouth to stop it. "I mean, I was. I—"

Oh, my sweet mercy, I was .

"Yeah. Changing everything about someone's appearance is generally the very first thing you do when you're attracted to someone, right?" There is nothing light and jovial about his sarcasm. He raises a bushy brow. "Look, I can't make you leave if they want you to stay. Well, I can, but it will only piss them all off and I'd rather put up with you for a few days than piss them all off. But if you hurt any of them, and I mean any single one of my brothers, me and you are going to have a big problem. Got it?"

Without letting me answer, he stomps past me, calling over his very broad shoulder, "They may not look like it, but my brothers have hearts that can break."

I stand rooted in place for a moment. It's not what he said, but something in the way he said it. Grumpy Luke has a sensitive, protective side?

"Are you coming on your own or do I need to throw your ass over my shoulder again?" he asks without glancing back.

I trail behind him the rest of the way to the cabin. Partially because his strides are like six times the length of mine, and partially because of my damn ankle. Is it throbbing? If it's throbbing, I think that means I could have a blood clot or something and I probably do need to go to the hospital. And if I need to leave for the hospital, there would be no reason to come back, let alone stay…

Grumpy Luke is waiting by the front door…I guess to make sure I don't turn around and race limping back to finish up what Lynx, Nash, and I started? Without comment, he ushers me inside.

He stomps around gathering up pillows, which he piles up at one end of the couch.

"If you have to relieve yourself, go to the bathroom and come straight back. But do not move from this couch otherwise. The kind of healing you need is not the kind Marvin Gaye would recommend." That's a pretty clever pop culture reference, if a dated one, something I wouldn't expect out of Grumpy Luke.

"So lie down, elevate your bad foot, and try not to start any orgies, got it?" he barks, which is something I totally would expect out of him.