Page 162 of Wildest Dreams

“Uh, earth to Mace,” Wyatt says, shoving his hard elbow in my side.

I jab the fucker right back before raking a hand through my hair.

“We’re going back to Larch Peak for around a week. We’ve got friends camping up the mountain so, unless they head back down tomorrow, we’ll join them. Otherwise, we’ll be staying at the lake house while Ash waits for her mom to give it its official surveying. And once that’s been dealt with…” I shrug, my chest expanding contentedly. “Then we’re free. Ash’ll be ready to start looking into her next project, God willing, and I’ll be almost about to start NHL training.”

“So as soon as the lake house has been” – Wyatt scratches his stubble, searching for a word – “approved, then y’all will come back here for a bit?” he asks.

I look over at him and smirk. “Why? You missing me already?”

“Not you, asshole,” he grins. “I wanna see Aisling again.”

I humour him with a smile before socking him in the gut.

When Aisling turns around to look at us Wyatt is keeled over and choking, and she flashes me a concerned look which I wave away with a satisfied expression.

“Don’t worry about him,” I tell her, which has Wyatt laughing as he stands back to his full height.

“Yeah, yeah,” he rumbles. Then he gives Ash a wink as I pull her into my side and says, “Good meeting you,Aisling.”

I jerk my chin at him and, joking aside, we clasp our palms together, re-solidifying our brother’s bond.

“We’ll be back soon,” I tell him, those four words laced with so many others: like,I’m glad that you got on so well with AislingandI’m so proud to call a hero like you my brother.

He nods at me, smile creases crinkling the corners of his eyes, and then I turn to the kitchen doorway to see my mom and my dad.

It’s been good to spend time with them – even better to have Aisling here with me – and as soon as Ash is finished up with her first project it’ll feel good to come back here and make the most of seeing my dad and Wyatt before they go out and deploy again.

“Thank you for having me,” Aisling says, laughing lightly when my mom pulls her in for a hug.

The two most important women in my life, smiling happily and laughing with each other.

It’s a beautiful sight.

“Anytime, Aisling,” my mom says, and even my dad gives her a nod from the doorway, arms folded over his chest as he watches my mom.

His eyes flick over to mine and he tips his chin at me.

“Don’t be gone too long,” he rumbles, and hell if I don’t feel my whole heart fucking burn.

I gently move around Aisling, giving her a squeeze on her waist, before meeting my dad in the middle and embracing him in a hard hug. He slaps his fist on my back and I huff out a laugh, wondering what he just punctured.

“Love you, dad,” I tell him.

He grunts, nods, and says, “Love you too, son.”

*

The drive back to Larch Peak is quiet but fast, with Aisling curled up on the passenger seat and both of her hands wrapped around one of mine. We were blessed with two days of heat but the sky has finally turned overcast, with thick grey clouds blanketing low over the dark tops of the trees.

Doesn’t matter. The SUV is pounding with heat.

We didn’t do anything physical while staying at my parents’ house – one, because everyone would hear everything, and two, because that would be really fucking weird – but now my balls are so heavy that I have to shift on my seat every five seconds.

Aisling glances over, notices, and removes one of her hands from mine so that she can gently caress my quad.

I grunt, shaking my head, silently asking her to stop before I literally come.

“We’re almost at the lake house,” she says in her beautiful husky voice.

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