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Simmer down, you lonely bastard, I thought. There’s nothing good for you here, so just do me a favor and hibernate for about seven days.
I glanced around to see where the object of my thoughts was, and caught him leaning over his own pack several yards away. It was almost fully dark by now, but there was enough ambient light from lanterns and head lamps to make him out. He’d taken off his boots and hiking shorts and was standing in just boxer briefs and a T-shirt.
Ohdeargod. He was standing there in his underwear.
The muscles of his thighs flexed as he shifted his weight, obviously looking for something in his pack. Xander’s long hair was loose from its tie and hung in thick waves over his shoulders. He was barefooted, which he’d told the rest of us to never be in the backcountry.
“Your feet are your only mode of transportation out here. Treat them like the invaluable resource they are. We can’t risk foot injuries, so remember: never go barefoot. Ever.”
It was so hard to get used to his deep masculine voice. The sound both surprised and comforted me because it still held such familiar notes. It was the sound of my childhood, of happy adventures on my parents’ huge property, of late nights spent lying side-by-side in his bed or mine when one of us snuck out to be with the other. Nothing ever happened, of course. We’d been too young and hadn’t spared much time for thoughts of serious things like sex. And honestly, we hadn’t needed to.
We’d had each other, after all, and that was all we’d needed.
“Would you like me to ask Toby for one of his straps to maybe rig your jaw up with?” Aiden’s voice cut through the quiet space around me, causing me to jump.
“What? What are you talking about?” I sputtered.
“You haven’t stopped drooling over him since we got to the trailhead. This is a fucking problem, Bennett.”
I took a deep breath and looked at my best friend. My current best friend. Fuck, why did that feel like a betrayal to Xander— who currently wanted nothing to do with me?
“Am not,” I said stupidly.
“Oh god,” Aiden muttered, throwing out his sleeping bag and reaching for mine, presumably so he could put it into my tent for me. “Just go hump his leg and get it over with, for fuck’s sake.”
I smacked his shoulder and cracked open my water bottle to wash away all evidence of the drool he may or may not have been correct about. “Shut up. You’re imagining things. But you have to admit it’s a shock.”
“That’s an understatement,” he said dryly. “Should I go tell him I know what your cum tastes like and see what he says?”
I choked on my water, spilling it down my neck and onto my boots.
“Jackass! Seriously?” I gaped at him. “You’re such a fucking ass,” I hissed.
Aiden glanced behind me, presumably toward Xander, and raised his voice just loud enough for the man to hear. “Speaking of ass, I could describe how it feels to be buried so deep inside—”
I dropped my water bottle and lunged forward to clap a hand over his mouth.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up,” I ground out between clenched teeth. “I don’t know what I ever saw in you to begin with.”
“C’mon. You were in love with me. Admit it,” Aiden said with a grin.
“I was young and stupid,” I muttered.
“You had excellent taste,” he corrected with a wink. His eyes slid to my ass again. “And the whole bossy bottom thing you’ve got going on is hot as fuck.”
“Jesus,” I muttered, as I bent forward slightly so I could pull my wet shirt away from my skin.
“Can’t wait to tap this ass while I’ve got you bent over some boulder or up against a tree,” Aiden purred, and I jumped when his hand slid over my ass.
“What the fuck?” I said. Aiden was a handsy guy, but we still had boundaries.
“You two about done?” Xander’s low voice grumbled from somewhere behind us as he approached and glared from a few feet away. The light formed shadows along his jaw and I noticed Bear trailing close behind him. I wondered if he had anyone else in his life who loved him as much as that dog appeared to.
I sent Aiden a death glare. I knew he’d grabbed me and said all that shit because he’d seen Xander heading our way.
“I’m not sharing a tent with you if you’re going to be an ass,” I said to Aiden.
“You two can’t sleep together. I mean near each other. You need to move your tents so each of you is near one of the kids’ group tents. Spread out,” Xander said.
Aiden’s mouth quirked up around the edges, but before he had a chance to make a snarky comment, Xander added, “Get some sleep. Sunrise comes early in the wild.”
