Drilled by K.M. Neuhold

Chapter 14

RIDGE

I’m not immediately sure what woke me. Maybe the aggressive cooing of a morning dove directly outside the window or the sticky heat of the miles of bare skin against bare skin, just a little too sweaty to be comfortable. Or it might’ve been the loud sound of Logs grooming herself on Apollo’s bed.

Either way, it’s Saturday, and we’re ahead of schedule, so I feel no guilt about indulging in the feel of Apollo’s thick arousal against mine through our underwear, our bodies all wrapped up in each other as I let my eyes drift back closed.

Unfortunately, the peaceful, low-simmering horny, sleepy feeling is only allowed to linger for another half a second before the sound of a car door closing outside startles me fully awake.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I chant, jumping out of bed and darting to peek out the window while Apollo continues to snore loudly, completely unaware of our morning disturbance.

Just as I feared, there are several cars taking up the dirt and gravel parking area, right next to Apollo’s, and all of our coworkers and their partners are in the process of piling out. From the looks of things, they’re planning to stick around for at least a few days. Cole unloads several tents from the bed of his truck while Stone and Dare haul a few coolers out of theirs. Daniel, Ollie’s husband, is almost unrecognizable, for once not wearing a brightly colored designer suit. A peal of happy laughter breaks through the quiet of the morning as Ollie scoops him up and throws him over his shoulder playfully.

I slink away from the window before anyone can spot me and hurry back over to the bed. I give Apollo’s shoulder a quick shake. “Wake up.”

“Mm,” he grumbles, barely rousing.

“The guys are here, and I’m betting they're going to burst through that door any second. I’m also betting you don’t want them to realize that we slept mostly naked, all pressed together on this minuscule bed.”

He makes another sleepy sound, clearly not hearing a word I’m saying.

“Dammit,” I grumble, shuffling over to his bed and scooping up the cat. I guess this is a decent alternative so they won’t catch us. I dive under the covers and try to look like I slept there the whole night.

Almost right on cue, the door to the cabin slams open, and Stone steps inside with the rest of the guys right behind him.

“Rise and shine,” he says cheerfully, scaring not only Apollo into bolting upright out of a dead sleep but Logs into hissing and darting under the bed as well.

“Dude, you scared my cat,” I complain, sitting up and letting the blankets fall away. I’m in my underwear, but if they didn’t want a peek at the goods, they shouldn’t have barged in here unannounced. A flash of color catches my peripheral vision, and I glance down to find the crumpled condom wrapper from yesterday morning on the floor next to the bed.

Fuck.

“You got a cat?” West asks conversationally, not seeming at all bothered by the death glares Apollo is shooting at all of them while I very sneakily—yeah right—slide onto the floor and grab the wrapper before anyone else can spot it, and then look under the bed after the cat as a way to explain why I’m on the floor.

“I found her a couple of days ago.” I spot her, backed as far under the bed as she can manage, a low growl rumbling, and her stare fixed on me angrily as if I was the one who let all these strangers into her space. “She’s skinny and stuff but really sweet. I’m going to take her home with me.”

“You should have Porter take a look at her when you get back, make sure she’s healthy,” Watson suggests.

I tense at the mention of the adorable veterinarian Apollo took on a date a few weeks ago. “Yeah, thanks,” I mutter.

“What are you guys doing here?” Apollo asks, not bothering to mask the irritation in his tone.

“We figured you two have been up here with nothing to stare at except each other’s ugly faces for two weeks, and you could use a little break,” Cole says, and Apollo grumbles again. “So we’re here for the weekend.”

“Great,” Apollo mutters while I continue to try to coax Logs out from under the bed.

“As nice as Ridge’s ass is in those tighty-whities, I’m starving. Let’s go start breakfast and let them get dressed,” Ren suggests.

“He does have a nice ass,” Daniel agrees.

I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who hears Apollo’s low, possessive growl over the sound of Cole and Ollie complaining about their husbands’ appreciation of my fantastic ass. Damn, that’s hot.

The guys all file out of the cabin, joking and chatting loudly until the door snaps shut behind them, leaving the two of us alone in silence once again.

I let out a sigh of relief, sitting up and wadding up the condom wrapper to toss at Apollo. “You’re welcome.”

He arches an eyebrow at me. “For what? You flashing your ass at everybody?”

“It’s called a diversion. They might have noticed the bottle of lube open on the floor next to my bed if I hadn’t.”

He makes a gravelly noise in his throat, hopping out of bed and scooping up the lube. He strides across the room and stuffs it deep into his suitcase.

“Do you think they came to check up on our work? Or is this really just a fun little camping weekend?” I ask.

“I think they came to see if they can collect on that stupid-ass bet they all made.”

I guess that means I have to keep my hands off of Apollo for the next two days so none of them catch on.

Fuck.

APOLLO

Waking up to a cabin full of my coworkers wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. I work to unclench my jaw and fists as I get dressed, a tight ball of anxious annoyance coiled inside my chest.

“This ruined everything, didn’t it?” Ridge asks, tugging his own clothes on across the room.

“What?” I ask, more of a growl than an actual word.

“The guys being here,” he says. “Stuff happened yesterday, good stuff, fucking mind-blowing stuff, but now the guys are here, and we missed our chance, didn’t we? The window is closing on all of the potential for naked, dirty forest sex. You’re spooked, I can tell.” He yanks his shirt over his head while he rambles.

Is it ruined? I hadn’t considered it. The thought makes the tightness in my chest even worse, so I shake it off and close the space between us in a few steps, cutting off his nervous babble with my mouth roughly against his.

“Mmph,” he mumbles against my lips.

“I don’t really want to parade it around in front of them because fuck knows they’ll be obnoxious about it, and over my dead body is anyone getting a wad of cash over a bet about our sex life,” I tell him when I break the kiss. “But nothing’s ruined. Let’s just cool it for the weekend. Okay?”

“Yeah,” he agrees quickly, brushing his fingertips over his lips in an absent gesture that makes my chest ache in a whole different way.

Once we’re both fully dressed and the cat is fed, we join the rest of the guys outside, where they already have the fire roaring, the smell of bacon and eggs filling the air.

“They brought bacon,” Ridge mutters reverently, clearly forgiving all of their sins instantly.

He hurries over to join the guys, grabbing a paper plate and waiting anxiously for the bacon and eggs to finish cooking. I walk a little slower, still trying to get my irritation and disappointment under control.

We only have fourteen more days together up here, and now we’re losing two of them to unexpected visitors. I know the guys aren’t trying to cock-block us, at least I don’t think it’s intentional, but it’s damn annoying all the same.

Even if it weren’t for the sex issue, the idea of forty-eight hours stuck with this many people makes my skin itchy. At least they’re not all planning to cram into our cabin with us to sleep.

Thankfully, for their own sake, they had the foresight to stop and pick up a carafe of coffee when they drove through town. I snag one of the paper cups and fill it up, rumbling happily at the rich smell of coffee…better yet, real coffee instead of the instant crap I’ve been drinking for weeks.

Okay, fine, the guys are a little bit forgiven. I take a sip and hum in satisfaction, my eyelids falling closed as I savor it. When I open them again, I find Ridge watching me from the other side of the fire, a slight blush in his cheeks while a few of the other guys look at me in amusement.

“What?” I grumble.

“Nothing, just wondering if you need a minute alone with that coffee,” Ev teases.

“Absolutely. Actually, I need a whole weekend alone with it. You all can feel free to see yourselves back to your cars.”

“Ouch, someone isn’t a morning person,” Miller notes with a cheerful smile in between doing jumping jacks a few feet away from everyone else. Seriously, that has to be pathological.

I make a growly noise in the back of my throat. I would’ve been a hell of a lot more of a morning person if I’d woken up with Ridge’s lips wrapped around my dick rather than a cabin full of nosy fuckers. Okay, fine, maybe my level of annoyance is slightly uncalled for.

“Pol has the unique ability to be grouchy at absolutely any time of day,” Ridge defends.

“Pol?” Cole asks, raising one eyebrow as he pushes the eggs around in the pan.

“We grew up together, he has a nickname for me. No big deal,” I say quickly before they can get the idea that it means more than it does and start some kind of dick-investigation.

“So, how’s the sex?” West asks with a smirk.

Dammit.

I scowl, and Ridge dips his head, avoiding the conversation altogether and filling his plate with the bacon and eggs that Cole is pulling off the fire.

“If you haven’t fucked, then prove it,” Stone says, taking a sip from his own Styrofoam cup.

I make an irritated sound, and Ridge chuckles.

“How exactly would we prove that? You want us to both bend over so you can inspect our assholes for signs of wreckage?” he offers sarcastically, and I bite back another growl.

“No, just kiss.” Stone shrugs as if it’s the most obvious solution in the world.

“What?” I bark. “How would that prove anything?”

“Heat. Duh. Like, watch…” Without warning, Stone leans over and catches Ollie by surprise with a quick peck to his lips.

Ollie shoves him away and tugs the collar of his shirt up to wipe his mouth off. “What the fuck, man?”

“See, no heat,” Stone says.

“Disagree. That was hot. Do it again, but with tongue this time,” Daniel prompts with a lascivious grin at his husband.

“No way is Stone's tongue getting near my mouth. He probably makes out with farm animals.” Ollie shakes his head and wrinkles his nose.

“Hey, don't talk about my husband like that.” Stone smirks at Dare, who gives him the finger.

“You were basically making out with Rudy and Nards before we left the house this morning,” Dare points out.

“So?”

“So, they lick their own assholes.”

“And I lick your asshole. Let's all stop pretending we're somehow superior to dogs,” Stone says, and his reasoning does kind of check out, not that I’d ever admit that.

“Instead of me kissing Ridge, why don’t you just kiss my ass?” I suggest.

Ren snorts a laugh into his breakfast, nearly choking on a mouthful of eggs.

“That’s fair, dude. Leave them alone,” he lightly scolds Stone.

“Fine,” Stone sighs. “Eventually, you guys are going to fight the bullet and tell us.”

“What?” Ridge cocks his head in confusion. “It’s bite the bullet.”

“That’s grim,” Stone says, shaking his head.

Ridge glances over at me as if I’m supposed to help him on this one. I fight a grin. It’s Stone. There is no help to be had.

Thank fuck, the subject is dropped after that. At least for now. Maybe it would be less of a pain in the ass to just admit it and let Stone collect his winnings…or whoever is entitled to it once they sort out what they all meant by bang it out. I grit my teeth at the thought, not just of someone getting money because of that stupid fucking bet, but for how cheap it makes whatever is happening between Ridge and me. An entire lifetime of lusting after him—fine, more than lusting, but I’m not going to use the other word right now—and it’s all reduced to a few hundred bucks changing hands between a bunch of immature assholes.

“Hey, ignore them. It’s nobody’s business,” Ollie says quietly to me while everyone else is busy discussing hiking and kayaking options in the area.

I hum in appreciation. Okay, so they’re not all complete assholes. If pressed about it on a good day, I’d say they’re generally good guys.

I look across the fire at Ridge, currently deep in conversation with Dare about something. Dare has a rare smile on his face, which is saying something because he’s one of the few people I’ve met who can match me scowl for scowl. I shouldn’t be surprised. Ridge clearly has a way with grumpy, growly guys.

As if he can feel me staring at him, Ridge glances over and catches my eyes, a soft smile dancing on his lips. Fuck, I want to kiss him again…more than I should for something that has to be short-lived.

“What do you guys say?” Cole asks. “Hit up the kayak rental after breakfast?”

Agreement ripples around the circle, and I nod as well. Taking a break from the campground actually sounds fucking fantastic.