Wilder (The Wild Ones Book 3)

by C. M. Owens

  However…I now feel as though I should have asked for more details.

  Kai grins over at me and wiggles his eyebrows, his flannel shirt unbuttoned and showing off all his very tempting upper body. He uses his body against me like a weapon these days. It’s frustrating when we can’t slip off to be alone.

  The honeymoon phase hasn’t come close to ending yet, and I’m left squirming in my seat.

  “The Wild Ones end up in the finals every year. Kai usually walks away with the crown in this event,” Greta tells me, winking very obviously at me. “May get my grandbabies started tonight, huh?”

  “I just threw up in my mouth,” Nila says with a disgusted, dramatic shudder. “Could you please not say things like that, Ma? It’s getting weird, even for me.”

  I nod in full agreement, but Greta just bats a dismissive hand. “I have to beat Penny. If she gets a grandbaby first, then she’ll get all the best gifts. People will be over it once the first baby is born, and my grandbaby will get the shaft! I’ll not have that!”

  She lifts a fist in the air, her voice growing louder there toward the end, as she stares heavenward.

  “Lilah’s married! It’s only fair she has a baby first!” Penny argues.

  Sally startles at the abrupt yelling fit the two women break out into, both of them redundantly arguing the case of why they should get to have the first Wild One grandbaby from this group.

  I’m still not sure I understand all of the competitive goals within this group, but it’s always entertaining.

  “Benson, knock her up! We keep getting stiffer competition! At this rate, Kylie and Liam are even going to beat you. You can’t keep those jack rabbits out of each other’s pants for five minutes! Time’s a wastin’!” Penny says, turning all her attention to Benson.

  “Benson loves my vagina. He’s not going to cave to your demands!” Lilah shouts back, as Sally’s wide eyes bounce like a ping pong ball from person to person.

  Benson sips his beer, not engaging, as he clamps an arm around Lilah’s waist to keep her put, since, as usual, she’s sitting in his lap.

  He smiles around the rim of his beer when Lilah snuggles up against him like she appreciates the fact he doesn’t ever take Penny’s side.

  “Why are you so cruel to an old woman? Can’t you see I need this win?” Penny harps.

  “I’m going to start lacing your food with weed until you calm down,” Greta tells Penny with a smile, as though she’s a genius for coming up with that. “Or lose interest.”

  “You dirty cheat! Don’t you dare!”

  From there, this argument digresses into spitfire insults, dredged up past competitions, and…I don’t really know what else.

  I get distracted again by Kai. He looks damn good even when he’s doing something as simple as rolling his sleeves up.

  “Ever considered doing a Wild Ones calendar?” Sally asks, twirling her wedding ring on her finger as she stares with a little shame at the flock of shameless men. “Asking for a friend.”

  “You’re married,” Reese reminds her.

  I almost want to accuse her of purposely selecting a happily married woman to shadow her. Though, I can only guess what her motives would be.

  “Yeah, married women got eyes too. It’s hard not to look, but it’s easy not to touch. Anyway, I said I was asking for a friend. My friend would purchase ten calendars—one for each room of her house,” Sally says distractedly.

  Killian is shirtless as he does push-ups on the ground.

  Some of the Malones are shirtless or have their shirt undone like Kai.

  “Shirts get in the way if they’re buttoned up,” Nila tells her, as though she’s figured out what has our attention and is explaining the functional purpose of half-naked, sexy men. “And ewwwwww! How can you drool over them like that?”

  Killian darts a glare toward the back of Nila’s head after she makes that comment, but he looks away before she returns her attention to the field.

  There are at least twenty round pieces of wood supporting one block of wood that is standing straight up, ready to be split into firewood.

  There are a lot of competitors—almost all the Wild One males. And Deacon—a non Wild One. Benson and Liam are two of the few who apparently didn’t make the finals.

  The semi-finals were last month…

  Each competitor is standing between two rows each. Surely they’re not going to try to split wood one-handed on each side. That’s impossible. It also seems inefficient.

  “What’s the purpose of this?” I ask. “And why are the semi-finals so far ahead of the finals?”

  “People need firewood, since most people around here still have wood-burning fireplaces as a main source of heat,” Benson tells me, gesturing toward it with his beer bottle. “Not everyone can cut their own anymore, so this competition puts out a lot of firewood people can use without feeling like a burden. After five rounds spread out over five days between, along with the extra firewood from the last collection, it supplies those in need, while also giving someone bragging rights. It’s a Tomahawk thing.”

  He smiles to himself, reminding me how much he loves this town.

  I admit, I fall a little more in love with it every day. It feels more like home than the home where I spent most of my life. Even on the weird days.

  “The calendar thing would give those in need some extra cash. Just sayin’,” Sally states absently, tilting her head when Jared Malone sheds his shirt. “Okay, now I feel like I’m looking too hard, and that makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong.”

  With a regretful sigh, she turns her attention to Reese.

  “I don’t know how you’re single and not looking. I wonder if you’ve forgotten how to use your vagina. What’s happened to you? I used to respect you so much more,” she tells my sister, who glares at her like she’s a traitor.

  I almost feel a little replaced, but I’m glad Reese has someone looking after her in my absence. She doesn’t like being alone.

  Sally’s husband travels a lot for work, so she’s a good fit for Reese.

  Lilah darts a curious look to Reese, but she jerks her head away the second my sister turns back around.

  See? Uncomfortably awkward and tense.

  “I don’t get how all these guys are single,” Sally goes on.

  “Don’t worry. It’ll make more sense by the end of the competition,” Krysta Nickel states in a bored tone, eyeing Deacon’s back as he steps up to his row of wood. “What I don’t get is why I’m still single when I’ve made it abundantly clear I’ll do whatever that beautiful, gentle man asks.”

  She sighs dramatically, slumping in her seat.

  “Maybe you should play it more cool and aloof instead of so…aggressive and…desperate,” Reese states with a notable amount of hesitation.

  When Krysta bounces out of her chair, Reese squeaks out a worried sound, but the Wild One just walks by us without saying a word.

  “Five minute warning. Finish warming up!” Vick, the lone town cop, says as he checks his watch. “This time, everyone behaves,” he warns, pointing a finger at Kai like he’s singling him out.

  “He’s got his girl back. He won’t be so bad this time,” Greta calls out. “Cut my boy some slack!”

  “You stay out of this. Wilders break more rules than any other Wild One family,” Vick tells her, moving that pointed finger toward her, as Kai grins like he’s been complimented. “How many times have I told you to leave that cat at home?”

  Cougar rolls over on her back, staring over at the scene like she’s a docile kitty playing a part. She even gives an almost adorably playful swat, acting all innocent and stuff.

  She’s terrifyingly intelligent, if I’m honest.

  I get why cats are called cunning now.

  Fortunately, she seems to have warmed toward me this past month. I still don’t even try to pet her. I’m too scared, and supposedly animals can smell fear and like the scent.

  No thank you.

  Ea
ten by my boyfriend’s pet isn’t the way I want to go out.

  “Cougar has her own mind. You can’t control a wild animal, you know?” Greta argues.

  Vick groans, massaging his temple as he paces back and forth.

  I’ve noticed that he’s scared of Cougar too, but he tries to pretend he’s not.

  “Lumberjack physiques, pretty faces, adorably inexperienced, giving and thoughtful, and able to tame wild, lethal cats into sweet kittens,” Sally says. “I’m still not seeing why they’re all so single.”

  “Just wait for it,” Benson quips without missing a beat.

  “One minute!” Vick shouts.

  Suddenly, a shirt slaps my sister in the face, and she just sits there with it on her head, not moving. I glance over, watching Hale smirk as she pulls it off, still refusing to look at him.

  She drops the shirt to her lap, pretending it never happened, and stares down at her nails.

  “What is wrong with you?!” Sally gripes, shaking Reese from behind. “That drop dead gorgeous one just threw his shirt at you! Stop playing so hard to get, or he’s going to lose interest! Please, for Pete’s sake, do this for me!”

  She doesn’t know about Hale…

  Reese hasn’t told her…

  Why hasn’t Reese told her?

  “Sally, will you please get me something to drink?” she asks her, her tone flat and emotionless, as though she needs a break, now that Hale is preoccupied.

  Sally groans, stomps her feet, and hops up.

  She’s three months pregnant, so you can’t really tell it yet. Still, just telling Greta and Penny about the pregnancy has really upped the baby chatter. My womb had never been the topic of so much conversation before I came to Tomahawk.

  “Why are you being so cold?” I decide to ask Reese.

  “Because it’s better not to lead him on in any way when I come to visit you. It’s best to set boundaries starting now. He’ll grow to hate me, and then he’ll move on instead of hoping I’ll be as romantic and carefree as you. He doesn’t understand what jaded girls are like, and he doesn’t know what’s best for him,” she answers a little too honestly, staying really quiet.

  “Reese, don’t say—”

  “Go!” Vick shouts.

  We both startle when the immediate sound of crunching and splitting starts, and my eyes go so wide that I’m worried they’ll pop out. I also worry that I’m going to need a cold shower or a lot of time alone with Kai before this competition even ends.

  Kai slams down one axe, splitting the one on the right side with just one strike. He quickly repeats the action with his left hand, taking out that chunk of wood just as easily and efficiently.

  “Pace yourself, boys!” Greta shouts to her sons.

  “Get em, boys!” Penny shouts to the Vincents.

  “Don’t you dare let Hale Vincent get that far ahead of you!” Kylie shouts to one of her cousins.

  “Hoooooooorayyyy! Let’s chop some wood today! Hooooooooorayyyy! Let’s make Mother Nature’s blessing fruitful and meaningful on this blessed day!”

  Reese and I both arch an eyebrow at the Nickel mother, who is all smiles and a little…spacey. I can’t think of a gentler way to put it.

  She stands and starts dancing, singing the cheer over and over again.

  This is the first time I’ve met her, so I’m just as confused as Reese.

  I snap out of the distraction, my eyes back to hungrily raking over Kai as he gets pretty far ahead of the others. Yep, I’m going to have to drag him out of here.

  “Sorry, Reese. We’ll have to eat later than planned,” I tell her.

  “No worries. I get it,” she states, her eyes on Hale’s back.

  She looks away and clears her throat, and I sigh, wishing I knew what the hell to say. She’s not exactly the type who likes getting pushed.

  Kai clears his two rows first, sweat glistening on all the exposed skin of his body by the end. He drops the axes, smirking over at me.

  No doubt it’s written all over my face that I’m planning to steal him away. He’s less oblivious these days.

  “The race is on for second! Don’t quit yet, boys!” Penny shouts.

  “Get the lead out of your ass, Wilders!” Greta shouts to her remaining two sons. “This is our event!”

  “Don’t you dare let the Vincents beat you!” Kylie Malone snaps, jumping up and down.

  I’m not even sure when she and Liam returned. Then again, my eyes keep going back to my distraction, so I’ve probably missed more than I realize.

  “Wind and air and earth and rain! Life brings us closer; we’re all different and the same!” Mrs. Nickel…sings…while doing some weird dance.

  Her husband is Native American, and he watches her with fond pride. She doesn’t look Native American at all, and I’m almost positive that’s not a Native American song or dance…so I’m…still at a loss.

  Hale crosses the line next, and Kylie drops to her knees, covering her face, as she screams, “Noooooooo!”

  Reese almost smiles, but she wipes away the expression while quickly looking away from Hale just as he turns to look over at her.

  “Race is on for third!” Vick shouts, but immediately after one of the Nickels crosses.

  “Now you’re getting beat by a Nickel?!” Kylie asks in a way that suggests she can’t believe she’s having to say that.

  “Shut it! You haven’t won a single event ever!” Jared snaps just as he finally crosses the line seconds before Hunter Wilder.

  From there, everyone is seconds apart, crossing the line, as Kylie mock sobs into her hands.

  “That was cold,” she whimpers. “I don’t have muscles.”

  “You only even compete with Lilah because you can’t hang with me and Krysta,” Nila tells her friend with a wicked smile.

  Krysta slaps five with Nila on the way by, and then she starts flipping through…is that a dictionary?

  “What are you doing reading a dictionary at a time like this?” Greta asks Krysta, looking truly baffled.

  “Looking up what aloof means,” she tells her.

  Reese coughs in surprise, and I smile to myself, looking away from Krysta and back to Kai. He’s propped against a tree, eyes on me like he’s been watching me the entire time, lips curved in a sly grin.

  He’s way better at seduction than I am.

  “Oh, come on, Eric! You let Benson’s pretty-slash-city boy twin beat you! Even Liam could have done better than this. At least I lose to quality competition!” Kylie shouts.

  Deacon turns an incredulous look toward her as he pants for air.

  “No offense,” she adds like that makes it less insulting, giving him a thumb’s up.

  Liam clears his throat from behind her as he gives her a disapproving look.

  “No offense to you either,” she says, grimacing. “Maybe I should stop talking.”

  He bends, lifting her off the ground, and I return my attention to Kai like there are magnets attached to my eyes.

  He’s still staring, and for whatever reason, I feel flushed. The weight of his gaze eventually wears me down worse than anything else he does.

  It’s intense to have all his attention. Being Kai Wilder’s official girlfriend means I get a lot of that intensity. Even if I hadn’t been in love when I came back, it would have taken me less than a week to fall hard.

  It’s probably best I didn’t jump in with both feet from the very beginning, because I’d have been in over my head from the start. I’d have never left, and I wouldn’t have known how mundane life seemed outside of Tomahawk. I now have a healthy appreciation for this slightly crazy town full of nosy, quirky, and occasionally reckless people.

  The race comes to a complete halt, and the firewood starts getting collected by some of last month’s competitors who didn’t make it to the finals, according to Bill.

  “Here,” Sally says, thrusting the soda at Reese without looking away from the sweaty, exhausted men.

  “What took you so long?” I a
sk her curiously.

  “I dropped the first one when this competition started. I wasn’t expecting it to be so…calendar worthy. Now it’s over, and I really, really don’t know why these guys are so single,” she tells us, never looking away.

  “Wait for it,” Benson says, standing with a sleeping Lilah in his arms, carrying her off like he’s finished watching.

  Lilah fell asleep?! How is that even possible?

  “I got twenty-fourth!” Porter Nickel angrily shouts, drawing our attention.

  “No the hell you didn’t! I got twenty-fourth! You’re twenty-fifth!” Eric Malone shouts.

  “Are they really arguing about the second-to-last and last place?” Reese asks like she can’t believe it, even though she spent five weeks in this town and around a lot of these people.

  “Don’t!” Vick shouts just as the argument escalates quickly.

  They both ignore him when Porter tackles Eric at the waist, and it knocks Tate into Hunter. Hunter and Tate proceed to shove at each other, and that bumps someone else into someone else…

  The domino effect takes hold like a quick plague, and axes go flying out of the way, as most of the competitors quickly devolve into all-out brawlers.

  Fists fly, and some of them even laugh as they start wailing on each other like this is good fun.

  More axes fly…

  Sally screeches as she runs away, screaming as she covers her stomach like her child’s life is in danger. The axes didn’t get that close…

  Or maybe I’ve just gotten desensitized to all of this.

  I’m suddenly yanked out of my seat, just as two guys crash into it, never letting up as they fight like barbarians over nothing at all.

  Reese scrambles away, and Hale grabs her, tugging her out of the way of another set of stray brawlers who’ve gotten carried away.

  “Every damn time! Every! Damn! Time!” Vick shouts, throwing his hat, stomping his feet, and then…he takes a deep breath and starts massaging his temples.

  “Too many Wild Ones in one place for too long!” someone shouts like they’re explaining the problem to him.

  “Fuck off, Chester!” Hale shouts, as…Reese hurriedly slips away while he’s distracted.

  Hale looks around, and his shoulders sag with defeat. I feel sorry for him, but…I think he actually broke her heart when he blindsided her with that abrupt breakup.