Wilder (The Wild Ones Book 3)

by C. M. Owens

  Two days of this is getting to be too much.

  Clearly, I don’t have a seductive bone in my body, and now I’m feeling hella insecure, which just makes this all the more awkward.

  “I was thinking…maybe I could stay over,” I tell him, taking the much-less-subtle approach once again.

  I’d worry that I’m making him uncomfortable, if he understood what I was saying and had a problem with it. Only…I don’t think that’s the case.

  It’s getting confusing.

  “Sure. I can get you some of my sweats,” he offers, smiling over at me like it’s a great idea.

  He even winks at me, gets up, and heads to his room. I’ve mistaken innocent flirtation with signals from him before, but this time I think he’s giving me an actual signal.

  My heart slaps my throat as I watch him disappear inside, and a nervous smile creeps across my face. I didn’t think we’d jump straight into the bedroom.

  I just thought we might try hitting a base or two and test our chemistry. However…I don’t have an unlimited amount of time here.

  Gathering my nerves and shoving them into a dark corner, I stand up and head to the bedroom, and almost crash into him on his way out.

  “Here,” he says, handing me the sweats.

  I stare down at the clothes he places in my hand, whimpering internally.

  Never mind. He really was just being flirty and went to go get me some sweats.

  I can’t read him. I thought we were on the same page, and now I don’t feel that way anymore. It went from feeling like he was mine for the taking to feeling like he’s just overly flirtatious and doesn’t expect for women to take him seriously.

  This sucks.

  “Thanks,” I say tightly. “I’ll just…change in the room.”

  He nods and side steps me without ever touching me, and I think back to all the times I’ve used Cougar as an excuse to leap into his arms these past couple of days. I keep thinking it’s going to lead to one of those intense eye-locks that turns into primal, pent-up passion or something.

  Apparently that shit only happens in the movies.

  Reese is so much better at this sort of thing than I am. At this rate, I’ll be that boring, fancy chick he hung out with that one time before she sold her Grandma’s cabin.

  At the risk of sounding shameless, I look over my shoulder as he sits down and starts rattling the controls of the game pad, biting down on his tongue as he gets into it, and say, “You can join me if you want.”

  Distracted, he shakes his head. “I already changed.”

  My shoulders slump, and I head into the bedroom, feeling as unsexy as a girl can get. I guess I can try again when we go to bed.

  Yawning dramatically, I stretch, doing all I can to get his attention. It turns out to be really hard to get his attention when he’s playing games.

  “I’m really tired. I think I’ll turn in after I change. What about you?” I ask, striking the sexiest pose I can conjure up without feeling like an idiot.

  It’s still awkward, and I’m glad there’s not a mirror around to show me what an idiot I probably look like.

  “Nah. I’ll be up for a bit. I’ll take the couch, and you can take the bed,” he adds, shattering that plan of attack just like that.

  Clearly I need lessons in how to be seductive. Or maybe Kai Wilder already lost interest.

  Frustrated, I walk into his room and lean against the door as I shut it, letting my head thump against it.

  Why the hell am I trying so hard for a fling?

  Wild Ones Tip #282

  Don’t bother arguing. We take our peer pressure seriously.

  Chapter 11

  KAI

  *******

  “I already told you I couldn’t go,” I gripe to George Malone, who is the biggest pain in my ass right now.

  “That girl can wait five days. It’s tradition. You can’t break tradition,” George argues.

  “Tate gets to break tradition,” I point out.

  “Tate shot me in the ass twice,” George grinds out with his predictable argument.

  I can’t say much. I made the same argument a few days ago.

  Piper is on my couch and wearing my sweats. Tonight’s the night she’ll finally give me some sort of cue to kiss her. I just know it.

  “I’m not going,” I tell him more firmly.

  He’ll back down. Everyone backs down from me.

  “Your momma is on her way out here to clean up your place. I’ll let her deal with—”

  “That’s low,” I grind out, narrowing my eyes as the prick smirks.

  “Tradition is tradition. We’ve been doing this since you boys were old enough to carry your own guns,” he fires back.

  “Don’t let me stop you from doing something you’ve already planned,” Piper calls from the couch.

  George grins.

  I shove by him and shut the door, deciding to level with him, since he’s using Ma against me.

  “She’s here for less than a month, and she’s the first damn girl who’s shown any interest in me in a long damn time,” I say as quietly as I can.

  “She’s also way out of your league, and you boys are both getting attached to girls who aren’t gonna stick around. I think it’s best if you not look so desperate,” he states with zero apology in his tone, quirking an eyebrow as though he feels sorry for me.

  I bristle, not liking that look one damn bit. I happen to enjoy my pride, and now I feel as low as Krysta Nickel.

  Damn Piper. Why is that girl in my head so much? And why does she have to play so hard to get?

  “I just want to enjoy her while I can. It’s rare I find someone who doesn’t annoy me,” I state in recovery.

  He pushes me out of his way and pokes his head inside. “Hey, Piper, we do this five-day hunt every year. Care to tack on an extra five days so Kai will go without worrying about how much time he’s wasting?” he calls out.

  I close my eyes and swallow a groan. If he hadn’t been sneaking around with my mother for the past several years and making her happy, I would lay him out right now. As it is, Ma would kill me.

  I think George knows that I know that he’s Ma’s secret boyfriend. I’ve dreaded this day for too many years to bother remembering. It’ll change the dynamic of our relationship if he admits he knows that I know.

  He’s already effectively using Ma against me to get his way without being obvious about it.

  “Um…I think Reese must have already decided that for us, since I just managed to get a text from her that she apparently sent a couple of hours ago. Along with thirty others that are demanding I respond, so…sure. I guess.”

  George gives me a disappointed look as he shuts the door again.

  “Hale Vincent has her sister wrapped around his little pinky, and you’re getting, ‘Sure. I guess.’ Your mother is going to be so disappointed in you,” George tells me with the most serious expression he can muster.

  I see the fucking humor dancing in his cruel eyes though.

  My own eyes narrow on his, and I head in, slamming the door in his face. I hear a pained grunt escape him, which means I managed to nail him with the door at least.

  Silver linings are hard to find in this situation.

  Piper peers up at me from the couch, and I go to drop down by her side.

  “I’ll pack my shit. Go get the others and come back for me,” I yell loud enough for him to hear me.

  “Fair enough,” he says as he raps the door in acknowledgment.

  My gaze shifts to Piper, and she puts her purse down as she props her head up on her hand, smiling over at me.

  “You were going to skip an annual hunting trip to watch movies with me? That doesn’t sound too wild,” she informs me.

  “Girls don’t like it when I’m wild. Someone always ends up hurt. Look at your sister—Hale broke her arm on the second date. Your eyes almost bulged out of your skull when you saw us playing darts with knives. I’d have to ease you in. You chicks are frag
ile,” I explain.

  Her grin only grows.

  “I’m not that fragile,” she argues, though it’s a weak attempt.

  She’s wearing my sweats. Half of these movies are chick flicks. I’ve got champagne chilling in the sink. Tonight was the night. Damn it.

  I hate George fucking Malone right now.

  “I didn’t even know they still made VCRs,” she states idly. “In fact, I forgot they ever made them at all.”

  “Livestreaming is a bitch with all the buffering that goes on out here,” I point out, eyeing her lips.

  Three days, and this is all the progress I’ve made.

  “Yeah…that doesn’t explain the VCR. You skipped some technology between those two points.”

  I watch her, not even remembering what we’re talking about, when she bends over and a sliver of skin shows at her waist. It shouldn’t be so distracting when a girl is just putting on her shoes.

  I hate to say it, but I’m starting to think I don’t know the first damn thing about women. Hale Vincent has probably been tangled up in a fuck-a-thon, since the last we saw either of them was when her sister was straddling him in the Jeep like she’d had all she could take.

  Life is cruel when you start feeling inferior to Hale fucking Vincent.

  I’m scared Piper will run if I move too fast, and I really don’t want her running. I like having her around, and she’s been around a whole lot since three days ago when her sister and Hale disappeared with each other.

  She even slept over last night. I slept on the damn couch.

  “So George is your unofficial stepdad, right?” she muses.

  “Ma still thinks we’re idiots who haven’t figured it out. I think Nila is the only one who hasn’t figured it out. Or maybe she has. It’s hard to tell with her,” I answer, really not wanting to talk about my family right now.

  I know it’s a fool thing to do to get close to a girl like her, but damn if I don’t find it easier and easier to give two shits less.

  “Shouldn’t you be packing?” she asks me, eyes on mine as she sits back.

  “I always have a bag packed for emergencies. I’ll just take it. It’s got all my hunting gear in it anyway,” I tell her, raking my eyes over her face.

  She ditched the makeup, the hair supplies, and the fancy clothes for the day. I didn’t realize how much more I’d like her this way. Maybe we’ve spent too much time together and it’s jacking my head up.

  At the end of the day, George isn’t wrong. She’ll be gone soon, and I’m driving myself insane to get closer to a girl I know is leaving.

  I already hear them pulling back up, and I sigh heavily as I stand.

  “I’ll let myself out,” she tells me as she stands as well.

  I turn, walking toward her to abandon caution, push her against the wall, and kiss her like I’ve wanted to do since that first night. Instead, I stop short, bite down on my fist, silently count to ten, and lean over to grab my bag.

  I hear her talking outside as I grab my favorite hunting rifles, tucking them into their own individual cases.

  When I step out, I spot a very pale version of Liam as he leans over the Jeep’s hood.

  “Worried a Malone is going to shoot you dead and make it look like an accident?” I ask him as I toss my stuff in the back of my own ride.

  “I’ve never been so scared in all my life,” he confesses, which almost causes me to smile.

  I didn’t want to like Liam. He’s such a pansy. But he’s so honest about it that I can’t help but like him. Fucker. I’ll never tell Kylie that. She drives me insane. Almost as insane as Krysta drives me. Lilah’s my favorite, and that’s only because she’s terrified of me.

  Meanwhile, Piper thinks I’m laidback and boring.

  Ironic.

  “Cougar!” I call out.

  She comes barreling out from around the corner, and Piper practically leaps into my arms, shaking from head to toe.

  I love Cougar. I call Cougar a lot when Piper’s outside.

  The result is always the same.

  My arms go around her, as she straddles my waist and halfway strangles me, still trembling all over.

  Nuzzling the side of her neck causes her to go completely stiff in my arms, so I sigh and say, “I’ll see you when I get back.”

  She clears her throat a few times, and she finally nods.

  Cougar climbs up in my passenger seat, and Piper keeps her arms around my neck. I’ll probably have to carry her to her ride, because Cougar brings out her flight response to danger.

  Keeping her legs strapped around me, she doesn’t argue when I begin walking her toward her rental. Everyone is chattering and loading back up, but I don’t pay them much attention.

  Five days isn’t a big deal. Hell, I barely know the girl. I’ll look like a schmuck if I bail on this trip to chase her around when she still acts like she’s just looking for a friend to pass time with.

  “I’ll give your clothes back to you when I see you,” she tells me as I lower her to the ground.

  She sways a little. I assume the altitude is a problem for her, because she does that from time to time when I have to put her down.

  She stares at me like she expects me to say something else, and I hold up my fist. She blinks a few times, but she finally bumps it.

  “Don’t let my sister take you anywhere,” I tell her as I turn and head back to my Jeep.

  “O…kay. Be…safe. Have fun,” she calls back, though I hear her mutter something else too low for me to hear.

  When I turn around to ask her what else she’s said, it’s too late, because she’s already shutting the door and cranking her car.

  “What’d she say?” I ask everyone else as she starts driving away.

  “She said you’re an idiot,” Hunter states with zero hesitation and borderline sarcasm.

  When I just glare at him for a minute, he shrugs.

  “That’s what I’d say if I was her, so call it an educated guess,” he adds.

  When I take a step toward the grinning bastard, George steps between us, eyes rolling. “Slug it out when we get there. You and Hale have already made us late. Let’s go have our epic five day journey!”

  I snort at that.

  He forgets from year to year how much he hates this trip by the fifth day when he’s ready to kill us all.

  Liam only pales that much more when George shoots him an evil grin.

  I don’t bother telling Liam that he’s safe. George is more scared of his daughter than I am of my Ma.

  Wild Ones Tip #232

  When our minds go on vacation, our mouths work overtime.

  Chapter 12

  KAI

  *******

  “If I have to tell you two to stop fighting one more time, I’m going to shoot you!” George threatens once again.

  “It’s just an empty threat if you never follow through,” Hale points out as George’s face turns thirty shades of red fury.

  Five days is too much. We say this every year.

  “It’s his fault we all ran out of gas! He siphoned it to make that explosion and set off that avalanche on purpose!” Hunter shouts before he tackles Shade.

  I sidestep them as they roll around, arguing about whose fault it really was.

  “You did the math wrong, and you helped me siphon the gas, you hypocritical son of a bitch!”

  I can’t be too mad, even if it is delaying my reunion with Piper and finding out if she missed me or not, because it was my idea to initiate Liam with a good scare. Obviously I didn’t know they’d take it so far as to start an avalanche.

  Once we all survived, it was funny as shit though.

  “Fuck’s sake, we have two miles left to Tomahawk! Can you two stow it for that long?!” George snaps, temper shot all to hell by this point.

  We all ran out of gas five miles outside of Tomahawk. Fortunately, they’ve plowed the roads at last.

  Carrying my gun across my shoulders, I set a fast pace that Liam manages to kee
p up with, even though he still looks slightly traumatized.

  I didn’t realize he was quite that soft.

  I’m not sure how he’s a good fit for Kylie if five days is all it took to send him into a stupor like this one.

  “I’ve never seen an avalanche in real life,” Liam states in that zombie-like tone he’s had ever since yesterday when he fainted and I had to carry him back to the cabin. “It was so fast. So much faster than it looks in the movies. And louder. So much louder. I’ll never forget that sound. It was like being stuck in the heavens during a hardcore thunderstorm,” he drones on.

  I groan, mostly because it wasn’t even that big of an avalanche. I’d call it a baby.

  “Stop fighting!” I hear George shouting from way behind me.

  Cue four gunshots.

  As if that’s going to make them stop. Just shooting into the ground doesn’t do much for this bunch anymore.

  Normally I’d join in, but I’m in a hurry.

  Hale catches up when I finally leave Liam behind, his footsteps growing sluggish as he continues to stare absently ahead. Kylie’s going to kill someone.

  It isn’t until Hale passes me, holding his phone up above his head like he’s searching for something, do I realize that he wasn’t trying to keep up with me.

  “What the hell?” I ask him when I see him jumping up and down, still staring at his phone.

  “Trying to get signal so I can call Reese and get her to meet me. I haven’t been able to get signal this whole fucking time. I never knew we didn’t get signal out there,” he gripes.

  I learned it pretty early on. I’ve never wanted a phone, but I tried using everyone’s these past five days. No. Signal.

  None.

  Not once.

  Not even a little bit.

  She better have fucking missed me.

  “You just met the fucking girl and you’re acting like an embarrassment to all mankind,” Killian dryly points out, shaking his head as he falls into stride beside me.

  “Some of us don’t give a shit if we look pathetic,” Hale quips, flipping off his brother. “At least I’m not pretending to be a badass while secretly hoping the girl comes to me.”