Watching Trin by Freya Barker

Chapter 29

Trin

“Say it.”

I smile into my pillow as Bodhi snuggles my neck, his weight pressing against my back.

As it turns out, he’s not as patient as I thought he was. It’s kind of cute and I love teasing him.

I’m sure he already knows my feelings match his, but I didn’t want to simply echo them back to him. I’ve had almost twenty-four hours to absorb his words, let them settle under my skin and feed my soul like the gift they are. When I tell Bodhi I love him I want it to mean something more than just the words.

“Katrina…” he grumbles when I try to ease my body out from under his.

He woke me up before my alarm could, with mouth and hands, and then sent me soaring as he took me from behind. My limbs still feel like rubber.

“I have to get up, honey. Tuck wants stuffed French toast for breakfast and I still have to wrap his gift. I want to be ready when he wakes up.”

With a dramatic groan he lets me go, rolling on his back. I slip out of bed and turn to look at him. He’s watching me from heavy-lidded eyes. I let my gaze drift to the strong column of his neck and down his muscular torso to the edge of the sheet draped over his hips. Damn, the temptation is real, but if I don’t get myself in the shower now there’ll be no French toast for breakfast.

Hayden is already up when I get downstairs and has put the coffee machine to good use. A full pot is waiting.

“What can I do?” she asks as I pour myself a cup.

I take my first fortifying sip and groan with satisfaction. This stuff is like liquid energy in my veins, especially after drinking a few too many last night with Hayden, who looks way more chipper than I feel. From what I remember, Bodhi just had a couple of beers so this morning, when I was still feeling a little rough, he did all the work and I was content to let him.

“Apples. There’s a bag in the pantry. You can help me peel them.”

When she returns with the bag and dumps it on the counter, I’ve already pulled out my largest mixing bowl, a bottle of dark rum, brown sugar, and a stick of butter.

“What are we making?”

“French toast stuffed with rum and butter apples.”

She grins at me. “Hair of the dog?”

“Hell, no.” I wince. “The alcohol burns off with cooking.”

“Too bad,” she mumbles, getting to work.

By the time the rest of the family joins us in the kitchen—Vic straight from work, Bodhi with a sweet kiss and an ass squeeze, and the birthday boy with a big grin on his mug—the rum-buttered apples are cooling on the counter and the egg dip is waiting.

Stuffed French toast is a little messy to make, but the appreciative moans when someone takes a bite of the thick slices of Italian bread sprinkled with icing sugar, it’s all worth it. I’m a decent cook at best, but I can rock breakfast—even with a slight hangover—and there’s nothing more satisfying than looking after the people I love.

Which is probably why when everyone retreats to their rooms after breakfast—Vic to catch a few zzzs—except for Bodhi, who’s helping me do dishes, the time feels right and the words come easy.

“I may have started falling in love with you when I saw the way you handled Pops after you helped me find him.”

He may give himself whiplash with the speed his head snaps to me. The cutlery he was drying falls with a clatter on the counter, and I suddenly find myself pinned between the sink and Bodhi’s body. My wet hands pressed against his chest. Not that he seems to care his shirt is getting soaked.

“Yeah?”

The raw rasp of his voice brings tears to my eyes.

“You’re a good man, Bodhi Jones. The very best. I didn’t stand a chan—”

His mouth slams on mine, his tongue spearing between my lips as he slides a hand under my hair and grabs a fistful. His deep groan vibrates through my body and my fingers curl in his shirt.

“Must you?”

Bodhi breaks the kiss and mumbles, “Fuck,” under his breath. Then both of us look over at Tucker.

“Yes, I must. You’ll understand when you get a woman as hot as your mom.”

“Eww,” Tuck responds to Bodhi, but does it with a grin on his face for me.

“Hey,” I object. “Watch it, kiddo. I haven’t given you your gift yet. I can easily change my mind.”

At some point Hayden comes out of the study and alerts us some people are walking up the driveway.

It turns out to be Tuck’s friend, Ravi, and he’s being dropped off by another Arrow’s Edge biker. My son is already dragging the boy—who barely gets a, “Hello,” out of his mouth—to the back door. Undoubtedly heading for the dirt bike.

I turn to the bearded man left standing at the door, feeling Bodhi step up behind me.

“I’m Ravi’s dad, name’s Tse. You must be Tucker’s mom.”

He holds out a hand covered in tattoos and his palm is rough with the kind of calluses earned with physical labor.

“Hi, yes, I’m Trin.” I cock my thumb over my shoulder. “And that’s Bodhi.”

“We’ve met,” he says, doing one of those chin lifts over my shoulder before focusing his attention on me. “Ravi’s pumped, so he’ll probably forget the iTunes gift card he has in his pocket. He may need reminding. Also, how much?” He pulls a wallet from his back pocket. “For the zip-line?”

“Oh, no.” I put up my hands. “I’ve got—”

“I’ve got it covered,” Bodhi talks over me.

I turn around to glare at him but he seems unimpressed as he raises an eyebrow.

“All right then,” Tse says. “Just wanted to introduce myself and leave you my number.” He hands over a piece of note paper. “Ravi has his cell, he can call me when I need to come fetch him, but I figure you should have it in case he’s being a pest. Don’t hesitate.”

The man has one of those laid-back, lazy gaits that draw your eye. At least it does mine as I watch him walk down the driveway to the pickup truck parked there.

“That’s enough drooling,” Bodhi rumbles in my ear.

* * *

Bodhi

“Seriously, does every man in this town look like they walked straight off a movie set?”

Trin snickers at Hayden’s comment after the guy who introduced himself as Brett helped her into her harness, like he did earlier with Anika. Vic did her own, but he tried to give Trin a hand as well. One well-aimed look from me had him reconsider. Wise man.

The boys are already wearing theirs and are chomping at the bit to get this show on the road.

Despite a minor disagreement I had with Trin over whether she should sit this one out or not—she decided not and that was the end of that—I’m still feeling about ten feet tall as I watch her laugh with her friend. Always thought actions spoke louder than words, but damn if it wasn’t good to hear that particular phrase from her lips.

“Ready?”

Tucker and Ravi—a quiet kid—nod enthusiastically at Brett’s question, and he goes over the instructions one more time.

“Remember to stick together as a group. We’re gonna stop at each platform and wait for the others to catch up. And if anyone has had enough, make sure your group knows before you get off. There’s a trail under each platform that runs right back to this building here. Just follow the arrows.”

I managed to get a call in to Mom before we left home, wanting to make sure she knows we’ll be gone for a few hours. It’s not unheard of for her to show early, but she’d be finding a locked door.

Up ahead I can hear Tucker whoop as he launches himself off the platform. Ravi follows right behind, a little more sedate. Then come Vic, Anika, and Hayden, but when Trin steps up to the edge she hesitates.

“No shame in backing out,” the helpful Brett says, earning a glare from me.

I step up close behind her and dip down so my mouth is at level with her ear.

“You’ve got this, Beautiful. I’m gonna be right behind you.”

She sucks in a deep breath, gives a sharp nod of her head, and steps off the edge.

By the time I get to the next treetop platform, she’s waiting for me, a big grin splitting her face ear to ear.

“That was awesome!”

“Good.” I brush a kiss on her lips. “You’ve got about eleven more of these to go.”

The boys seem to be having a great time, and surprisingly my sister is now whooping right along with them when she steps off a platform. However, after finishing our ninth run she’s running out of steam, as is Trin.

“Guys, that’s it for me,” Anika announces as she plucks at the straps of the harness that run between her legs. “That’s a bit too much of a workout for my hooha and I need to pee like a racehorse.”

The boys snicker and Hayden slaps her hand over her mouth.

“Jesus, Sis,” I hiss. “No one needs to hear about your damn hooha.”

Apparently, the wrong thing to say, since now everyone, including my loose-lipped sister, bursts out laughing.

“I’ll go down with you,” Trin offers Anika when the hilarity subsides. “I have to go too.”

I’m quick to react.

“I’ll walk you guys.”

“No you won’t. You’re being ridiculous,” my sister sputters, already starting to climb down the ladder.

Trin presses a kiss to my jaw.

“There’s two of us. We’ll be fine,” she assures me with a smile before she starts down as well.

I watch them walk down the trail until Tucker speaks up.

“I’m going ahead to the next one, okay?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer and pushes off the platform.

“Jesus, Tucker!”

“You guys stick with the kids,” Hayden suggests as she moves past me to the stairs. “I can use a pee break myself.”

I get the sense I’m not the only protective one.

* * *

Trin

“My brother’s a little overprotective.”

Anika hooks her arm through mine. We barely fit on the path, walking side by side. It’s pretty narrow.

“I’ve noticed,” I comment dryly.

She chuckles.

“Only for those he cares about,” she repeats what he told me himself almost word for word. “Which reminds me to give you a heads-up; you’re the first woman he’s brought home in eight years and Mom is beside herself. Even more so because you come with an instant grandson, which so far Bodhi and I have failed to provide her with.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Hmmm.” She gives my arm a squeeze. “Of course that also means she will go totally overboard for your son’s birthday. I popped in yesterday and saw the cake she was working on. Totally over the top.”

As sweet as it is, it does make me feel a little uneasy. We’re still relatively new, and even though I don’t doubt we feel deeply for each other, this relationship hasn’t exactly developed under normal circumstances. What happens when life returns to regular scheduling and we discover we weren’t meant for the long haul? How will that impact Tucker?

“I’ve freaked you out,” she says contritely.

“No, you ha—”

Anika squeals and I swing around, almost falling on my ass, when a heavy hand lands on my shoulder.

“Christ, Hayden! You scared the snot out of me.”

“Good,” she says with a straight face. “You should be a little more aware of your surroundings.”

“Come on guys,” Anika urges. “Now I really have to go.”

She resumes walking up the mountain, back to the lodge. Hayden gives me a little shove to go ahead of her.

“I forgot how bossy you can be,” I complain over my shoulder, but all that nets me is the tongue she sticks out at me.

The restrooms are at the side of the building. Men on the left, women on the right, and a single disabled bathroom in the middle. All three of us rush into the women’s bathroom to find there are only two stalls.

“You girls take these. I’ll sneak into the disabled bathroom,” Hayden offers, heading straight back out.

I duck into one of the stalls and let out a deep sigh as I empty my bladder. On the other side of the thin wall I hear a muttered curse.

“What’s wrong?”

“I got my damn period and I didn’t bring anything. Did you see any dispensers out there?”

“I don’t think so, but I’m done, I can check.”

I flush, step out, and check the bathroom walls.

“Nothing here,” I share, washing my hands at the sink. “I probably have a pad in the side pocket of my bag.”

“Sweet. That’ll work.”

“Okay, it’s in the locker though. Sit tight, I’m just gonna grab it.”

The lockers are inside the front lobby behind the desk. I feel in my pocket for the small key and head outside. Looks like Hayden is still in the disabled washroom. The display over the doorknob still shows as occupied. I should probably give her a heads-up.

I lift my hand to knock on the door when a voice whispers behind me.

“Don’t.”

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end when I feel something hard press between my shoulder blades.

“Start walking.”