Pounding on my door shocks me awake. I rush to the door and swing it open, adrenaline slamming through my veins.

“What? What’s wrong?” I demand, sweeping sleep-mussed hair out of my face.

“Good morning Bruiser," Bastien teases.

“Why are you beating down the door?”

Bastien smiles sweetly at me. “Because when I knocked on the door softly, you didn’t answer.”

“For fuck’s sake," I moan as I try to slam the door on him.

I turn and crawl back into bed. Seconds later, my covers are ripped away, and I groan an objection. “What about slamming the door in your face gave you the impression that you were invited in?” I mumble into my pillow. I hear two sets of chuckles but don’t lift my head to see who the other laugh belongs to.

“Come on Bruiser, wake up. We’re all waiting for you to go out and play.”

“What are you, seven? I’m not interested in babysitting today. Thanks anyway.”

I reach for my phone, and the light of the clock blinds me.

“Bastien, it’s not even eight yet. What the fuck’s with the early morning harassment?”

“We got woken up early, and if we can’t sleep in, then you can’t sleep in. Didn’t Lachlan tell you the rules of the house?”

Without warning, I grab the pillow next to me and fling it at Bastien’s head. He catches it, the quick fucker. Bastien holds it and does a belly flop onto my bed, bouncing me around.

I register that I’m only in a tank and undies, but I elect not to care. I start playfully kicking Bastien in the side, trying to force him off my bed. I look over and discover a guy I don’t know is looking through the books on my bookshelf.

“Uh, who are you?”

He looks up bashfully. “I’m Sabin.”

Sabin’s voice is a smooth baritone, and just like the other guys, he’s sex on a stick. He has a trendy crew cut that’s combed to the side. It looks medium brown and wet, or maybe he has product in it. He has masculine eyebrows over gorgeous forest green eyes.

His nose is straight and a defined cupid’s bow slopes into luscious lips. His ears are gauged with small black plugs. My attention is drawn to a full sleeve of tattoos on his left arm. I can make out trees and what looks like a full moon, but I’d have to get closer to take in all the details. Sabin smiles at my obvious inspection of him, revealing a set of dimples.

Everything about Sabin screams heartbreaker. Great, let’s just add one more temptation to the overfilled plate that is my libido. I look away from him and notice that while I was distracted by sexy motherfucker number five, Bastien has grabbed my ankle and is now pulling me off the bed.

I feint a kick with my free leg towards his crotch, and he let’s go of me to protect himself. I get my feet under me and launch myself onto Bastien’s back. I hook an arm around his neck and start to administer an epic noogie.

Bastien starts laughing and screaming “my hair, my hair,” in a high-pitched overly feminine voice. I’m laughing so hard I can’t hang on when he grabs my knee and swings me around to his front. Satisfaction with my new position sweeps through me, and my rational side clutches its pearls at the scandalous thought.

Bastien plants a raspberry on my neck, which makes me squeal and wiggle to get away from him. He lets me drop to my feet, laughing, and Sabin is staring at us with an unidentifiable look on his face. The saucy side I never knew I had is apparently out and proud because I wink at Sabin as I walk to the bathroom.

“Don’t tell Lachlan that I’ve relocated a chunk of his library," I tell Sabin as I close the doors to my bathroom behind me.

“Don’t shower, Bruiser. We’re going to play outside, so wear a swimsuit. The skimpier, the better.”

I roll my eyes and then laugh. It looks like Bastien’s saucy side is out to play too. I clean up and use my magic to remove all the unwanted hair on my body before I put on a bright purple bikini. It has a crochet racerback and crochet details on the sides of the bottoms. Over that, I throw on a white V-neck tee and some jean shorts.

I slip into some old beat up black chucks, and I put a towel and some flip flops in a canvas crossbody bag. Lastly, I put on some aviators and head out. I make my bed, giving it the necessary appreciation for my awesome sleep before I rush down the stairs. Birdie bids me good morning and hands me a smoothie and a breakfast sandwich. I give her a quick side hug and sit at the island to quickly chow down.

“The boys are in the garage," she tells me with a playful glare after I win the battle to clean my cup. She still snagged my plate, so it’s not a total win, but I’m making progress.

I walk through and find the guys in the middle set of garages amongst a ton of toys. I spot jet skis, snowmobiles, camping equipment, ski and snowboarding equipment and a plethora of other things I can’t identify. They are loading up several ATVs with a couple of bags and a cooler.

A bottle of sunscreen is tossed to me, and I start to spray it all over. I catch Knox watching me, and I pause. When I don’t resume whatever it was that had him so enthralled, Knox looks up and realizes he’s been caught ogling. He just smiles at me with no shame. I shake my head and mouth pervert to him, which brings a chuckle from him and Ryker, who was apparently watching our exchange.

“You guys need any help?”

“Nope, I think we’re just about set," Valen tells me.

I step back and try to get out of the way, while I watch the organized chaos of their preparations. Bastien hands out walkie-talkies, and they all test that they’re working. The group suddenly starts playing roshambo, declaring best two out of three.

The final match is between Knox and Valen. Valen walks away victorious, and Knox wails dramatically. I’m laughing and getting ready to ask them what that was all about when Valen crooks a finger at me and tells me I’m riding with him.

“Did you just rock-paper-scissors for me?”

“Well not for you exactly, just to see who you’d ride with," Valen smirks at me.

“Maybe I want to drive myself.”

“Do you?”

I stare at him for a beat.

“I have no idea how to drive one of these things," I admit.

Valen shrugs. “I can teach you. Either way is cool with me; it’ll be your arms around me or my arms around you," he finishes with a faux dreamy look on his face, and I laugh.

I climb on behind him and position my bag, so it’s slung across my back. Valen starts to pull his hair back into a knot, and I follow suit. I secure my hair up into a messy bun and try not to drool over the rippling muscles moving along his back and arms.

“Do I hold on to you?” I ask, unsure if he was joking or if that’s legit.

“Yes, please. Nice and tight, wouldn’t want you to fall off.”

He looks over at the other boys, and I catch a couple of playful glares thrown his way. We take off with a burst of speed that steals a squeal from my lips and has me tightening my grip around him. The wind whips Valen’s laugh back to me, and my own laughter joins it.

We head down a trail through the woods that’s the perfect size for these four wheelers. It’s a gorgeous sunny day with boastful blue skies and not a cloud in sight. It’s hot out even though it’s only 8:30 in the morning. We speed through the trees and the air rushing by feels incredible.

I’m having so much fun that I have a perma-smile stretched across my face. I feel like I’ve laughed and smiled more in the past couple of days being here than maybe I have in my whole life. Something about all of this feels so natural and right. It’s like I can feel layers of sadness and loneliness peel away with each smile and laugh.

My life up to this point has required me to be so serious and vigilant, always looking for the next thing to come at me. But right now, with these guys, it feels like I can let go, be silly, laugh, and tease. I look behind me, each of the guys on their own ATV trailing in a line like baby ducks. I face forward just in time to see us plow through a little stream. The cool water splashes up at me from both sides, and I laugh.

I feel the vibrations from Valen’s back in my chest before the sound of his laughter reaches my ears. Between the vibration of his laughter and the coldness of the water, goosebumps rise up on my body and my nipples harden against his back. I wonder if he’ll notice and I find myself scooting back a little, separating my chest from his back so that I don’t make him feel uncomfortable. He hits the brakes suddenly, forcing me back up against him and someone behind us shouts their irritation.

Several more times over the hour that we’re driving, Valen seems to brake for no apparent reason. I start to suspect there are titillating motivations behind his actions and it’s cracking me up.

The trees around us grow fewer and farther apart as we approach a clearing and a lake. There’s a big tree with branches hanging over the water, and I can spot a couple of ropes tied high up in the branches and hanging lazily down.

I climb off the ATV, feeling a twinge in my muscles from riding in the same position for a while. I catch the shit-eating grin across Valen’s face, and it confirms my suspicions.

“Why are you all such pervs?” I ask with a laugh, slapping the back of my hand against his abs. “You all act like you’ve never been around a girl before. Bunch of Neanderthals.”

“What did he do?” Bastien asks, walking over to us.

“He’s been embracing his inner creeper," I joke as the others surround us. When I don’t offer any more details, they all look over to Valen and wait for him to supply some.

Valen looks a little sheepish as he brushes the strands of escaped hair out of his face.

“I may have used my brakes more times than were necessary.”

I hear a couple sounds of understanding, but Ryker looks at him still confused.

“Newton’s first law of motion, bro," is all Valen tells Ryker, and then he seems to get it. Sabin kind of growls at Valen and the noise surprises me.

“Way to keep it classy and respectful," Sabin throws out, and it washes any trace of humor from Valen’s face.

“Whoa, what just happened?” I ask, looking between Sabin and Valen. “I’m not upset, I was just busting Valen’s balls," I tell Sabin. “I realized what he was doing, and it didn’t bother me. It’s just silly fun.”

Sabin looks at me.

“Vinna, we all just met you, none of us knows you well enough to navigate what could be a fine line between silly fun and making you uncomfortable. None of us should be crossing into that territory this quickly.”

“Sabin, I appreciate that you’re looking out for me, but I told the guys yesterday that they can be touchy-feely with me and if anything makes me uncomfortable, I’ll tell them. It may sound weird because, you’re right, we all just met each other, but I like the dynamic so far. I like the joking and silliness… and the affection," I finish awkwardly.

“From what the guys tell me, you’ve been through a lot in a very short amount of time. We should be helping you feel safe and secure, not pushing boundaries. Caster females deserve to be protected and respected," Sabin declares.

It sounds like he just recited a slogan of some sort, and I’m not sure what to say. I just told him I could handle myself, but he’s decided I’m wrong. I can protect myself just fine you presumptuous fucker.

“Sabin, you can turn your dad mode off," I suggest, a little irritated.

I hear Knox snicker and then cough to cover it up.

“I can’t speak for other caster females, but I can speak for myself, just like I can protect myself. I don’t need anyone to do that for me.”

I look around the group and continue.

“How they’ve been treating me, it makes me feel like I belong, like I’m part of the group. I like it, it makes me feel safe and secure, and with everything I’ve been dealing with, I need that more than anything. I’m comfortable with what’s happening. Like I said before, if I have an issue with something I’ll speak up, I promise.”

Sabin doesn’t say anything else, but I can tell he still doesn’t really agree with me. That’s fine. He’ll get to know me more and realize that I mean what I say. I smile at him and squeeze Valen on his shoulder. Bastien breaks the silence with a loud clap and starts tossing out instructions to the other guys about what to unload.

“Do we want to swim before or after food?” Bastien asks the group.

“I vote for both.”

“I’m with Vinna I vote for both," Knox agrees.

The rest of the boys all make affirming noises and start stripping off shirts and shoes, and I find myself completely absorbed in watching them do it. I giggle to myself, see, I fit right in… I’m a perv too.

“Whatchya smiling about, Bruiser?”

“Wouldn’t you love to know,” I challenge, batting my lashes coquettishly at Bastien.

I mentally file away the image of these half-naked examples of perfection, to be reviewed at a later, more private time. I kick off my shoes and take my bag off. I start to unbutton my shorts when Bastien grabs me and throws me over his shoulder. He starts running toward the water.

“Bastien no, let me take my clothes off first!” I squeal.

He ignores me and wades thigh deep before he throws me in. He is one strong fucker because it feels like I fly ten feet before I hit the water. My air time gives me plenty of opportunities to take in a big deep breath before I’m submerged.

I hold my breath, getting my bearings and swim stealthily back towards Bastien. I hear a surprised yelp when I grab his foot and yank on it. He loses his balance and falls back into the water. I break the surface laughing, and rush away from him.

I run out of the water and take off my now sopping clothes. I find the t-shirt that Bastien was wearing and lay it flat in the grass. I put my wet shirt and shorts on top of it, giggling at what his reaction will be when he realizes what I’ve done. Ryker and Sabin both watch what I’m doing, and I wink at them conspiratorially.

The twins and Knox are all splashing each other but suddenly stop when I’m walking towards the water.

“What? Are you waiting for a Baywatch moment?” I jest. “Because I’m not going to slow-mo run for you. Especially you, Valen, you’ve had enough boob action today.”

They all start laughing, and I even wrench a chuckle from Sabin before he shakes his head like he’s mentally chastising himself. I wade back into the water with Sabin and Ryker behind me. I look back and catch Ryker focusing on my lower half.

“Not you too Ryker?”

He looks up, and a blush spreads across his cheeks and neck. “I swear I was just looking at your runes.”

Ryker holds his hands up in a gesture of innocence. Sabin passes me, mumbling something, and I turn to watch his hot, grumpy ass dive into the water. I feel Ryker’s chest against my back, and he leans in, his mouth next to my ear.

“I guess it’s lucky for me that you have runes on your ass.”

I gasp in fake outrage and swat Ryker’s ass as he walks by me laughing.

“Uh oh, Vinna has opened the ass slapping door," he announces to the other guys. “She just swatted my butt, so hers is fair game now.”

I put my hands over my butt cheeks and laugh, sinking into the water.

“I don’t make the rules, Vinna I just follow them," Ryker adds, faux innocence dripping from his words.