Chapter 4
Noah flopped down on the sofa next to Andrei and heaved a heavy sigh. After disappearing for the day on the Jet Skis, he and Rowe had drawn cleanup duty for after dinner. He was half convinced that Andrei had dirtied dishes and silverware just so they’d have to clean it up, but he couldn’t complain. Steaks, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and salad that didn’t taste like it came out of a bag—the man wasn’t a bad cook at all.
“Admit it,” Noah started, grinning over at Andrei. “You’ve been getting lessons from Ian.”
Andrei’s head dropped back against the back of the sofa as his laughter rang out. “I take it that dinner was okay.”
“Those steaks were perfect.”
“Fucking perfect,” Rowe added as he stepped out onto the rear patio of the main deck. He stretched his arms over his head, letting his fingers brush against the low ceiling as he sighed in satisfaction. His T-shirt rode up, revealing a glimpse of flat stomach and the hint of red hair disappearing under his shorts. Noah was pretty sure that his view at that moment was fucking perfect. A part of him wanted to drag Rowe back to their bedroom and stretch the man out on their bed, but he stayed seated with Andrei, enjoying the peace and quiet of the lake. He’d drag Rowe later.
“But seriously…cooking lessons?” Noah teased.
Andrei gave Noah a shove with his forearm, still smirking. “Yes, Ian has been giving me some pointers. He knows that Lucas is helpless in the kitchen but apparently, I’ve got a chance at learning a few things. He may have gone to the grocery with me to pick out the steaks.”
Noah shrugged. “I was thinking of sharing my recipe for ribs with him in exchange for learning how to make that cowboy caviar thing he makes that drives Rowe insane.”
Andrei just shook his head. “I had to get my mom to cough up a new Romanian recipe in exchange for a lesson on how to make cowboy caviar. Love that stuff. And Lucas likes it when we do Taco Tuesdays.”
“Speaking of…” Rowe drawled, running both his hands through his hair. “Where’s our boy at?”
Andrei nodded over to the far corner of the patio area that was largely cloaked in heavy shadow. “Facetiming with my mom,” Andrei said.
“Really?” Noah squinted and leaned forward so that he could now see Lucas sitting against the railing, his phone horizontal and raised so that the faint glow revealed an intense expression.
“It’s my parents’ anniversary. Thirty-five years. I called to say ‘hey’ and my mom ended up sucking Lucas into the call.”
“He gets along with your parents?”
Andrei rolled his eyes and groaned. “My mom loves him. He’s still adjusting to my parents. They can be a bit much.”
Rowe snorted. “Yeah, well no one can top Jude’s mom, Anna. I’m pretty sure that woman just wants to wrap Snow up in cotton and feed him endlessly.”
Noah looked over at Lucas again to find that the man had lifted his eyes up from his screen and was looking at them. The dim light did nothing to conceal the scorching heat in his gaze. The intensity of that gaze sent a flush through his body and Noah suddenly struggled to swallow.
“Are you sure he’s still talking to your mom?” Noah asked.
Rowe and Andrei looked over at Lucas, but the other man’s attention was back on his phone. Rowe shrugged and silently walked over so that he was standing behind Lucas’s shoulder. It took only a second before Rowe’s cackle echoed across the lake. Lucas jerked the phone away as Rowe attempted to grab it and glared up at him.
“Is this what goes on at work?” Lucas snapped.
“Oh fuck,” Andrei groaned, sinking a little lower on the sofa next to Noah. “I was really hoping he wouldn’t notice that damn video.”
“What video?” Noah demanded, his eyes darting from Andrei to Lucas and back again.
“Someone posted a video of our sparring session.” Andrei turned a little so that he was facing Noah more, his eyebrow lifting. “You didn’t see it?”
“Sparring session?” Noah paused as he searched his memory for any sparring he’d done with Andrei in the past several months. Andrei spent most of his time training the newbies…and then laughed as the memory hit him. “You mean that time where you kicked my ass for a solid twenty minutes and then let me crawl away?”
“Yes, that sparring session,” Andrei mumbled. “I didn’t even think about freaking YouTube or Facebook at the time. I need to be more aware of Lucas’s image.”
Noah snorted as he watched Lucas push out of his chair, his eyes locked on Andrei. The damn man was radiating enough heat to set the boat on fire, and all his attention was focused on one person.
“I don’t think he’s really worried about his image,” Noah drawled.
Andrei looked up when Lucas stopped in front of him and swallowed hard, his hand slipping down to unconsciously adjust himself in his loose shorts.
“Let’s talk,” Lucas said, his voice barely more than a growl as he took Andrei’s hand and pulled him to his feet. He kept pulling until Andrei’s chest crashed into his, snagging his mouth in a commanding kiss that had Andrei moaning. From where Noah was seated, he had an all-too-clear view of Lucas’s large hand grabbing Andrei’s ass and pulling him in closer so that they could grind against each other while he wrapped his hand up in Andrei’s dark hair. Noah debated trying to slip away from them and to another part of the boat before someone started losing clothes, but Lucas suddenly broke off the kiss and tugged Andrei toward the bedrooms.
Rowe’s laugh followed them through the boat, but neither man looked back at them. They were lost in their own world.
Rowe crossed the deck and started to claim the empty seat next to Noah when Snow stepped out onto the deck, a bottle held aloft.
“Ward! Drink with me. I found the tequila,” Snow declared.
Rowe smiled broadly at Snow and then it slipped away as he looked down at Noah, clearly torn. Noah refused to touch tequila. Too many drunken nights and wretched hangovers the next day had forced him to swear off the stuff permanently. But Noah knew that Rowe loved drinking with the surgeon.
“Go!” Noah laughed, delivering a quick kick to Rowe’s ass. “Just don’t fall off the boat, because I’m not saving you.”
Wrapping his arm around Snow, the two men stopped in the kitchen long enough to grab limes and a knife before disappearing to the upper deck. Jude stepped onto the deck and dropped into a chair across from Noah.
“Not a tequila fan?” Noah asked in surprise because he could have sworn he’d heard a story about a tequila-fueled night of debauchery between Jude and Snow.
Jude shook his head. “I don’t mind tequila. The General just needs some time with Rowe.” His voice dropped closer to a whisper when he continued, “Rowe and Mel’s wedding anniversary is coming up in a week.”
A knot formed almost instantly in Noah’s chest at the reminder of that upcoming date. It had taken Noah two days of dealing with Rowe’s grumpy ass to get him to admit that the anniversary was approaching and then another three days to convince Rowe that they should go for a picnic with the dogs, Rowe’s sister-in-law Gretchen, and her daughter, Melody Rose. Rowe needed to spend more time with his niece and he could spend some time reminiscing with Gretchen about Mel. It seemed like a good plan.
“Did you know her?” Noah asked.
“I saw her a couple of times, I think, at the hospital, talking to Snow.” Jude paused and lowered his eyes to the deck. “I was also one of the first paramedics who arrived at the wreck.”
Noah gasped, his hand slapping over his mouth as if he could pull back the question. He’d asked all Rowe’s friends separately for memories of Mel over the past several months. He was aware that Jude had known Snow before they’d actually started dating, but…
“Fuck, man…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay.” A half-smile pulled up one corner of Jude’s mouth. “What I saw of her…she appeared to be just as much of a smartass as Rowe.” Jude’s smile slipped away and he stared quietly at Noah for a long moment. “What about you?”
Noah snorted and shook his head. “I knew you were about to do that ninja mind thing that Andrei does.”
“What?” Jude said with a chuckle.
“You know, that thing where Andrei just stares at you for a second and says that one thing that cuts through all the bullshit. His ninja mind reading skill.”
Jude laughed again, seeming to relax even more in his seat. “Yeah, I think I have seen him do that a few times. It’s kind of creepy.”
“Rowe’s had him handling all the bodyguard interviews and even some new client interviews. He’s convinced Andrei’s got master bullshit-sensing skills like some Zen ninja monk.”
“Except where Lucas is concerned.”
Shaking his head, Noah shoved some hair out of his face. “Yeah, well…we’re all stupid and blind when we’re in love.” He smirked when Jude continued to stare at him. “Even me, but I’m good. Rowe and I are good. I’ve had more problems adjusting to all this…” He threw his hands out to his sides to encompass everything around them. But he didn’t mean the extravagant houseboat or their remote vacation, and he had a feeling Jude would get it.
“Being a part of the family?” Jude said, his grin stretching wide across his face. He laughed softly and rubbed his head, leaving his hair standing up in different directions. They were all a bit sweaty and windblown, but not one of them cared.
“Yeah!” Noah sat up, shifting so that he was balanced on the edge of the sofa, only a few feet separating himself and Jude. If anyone would understand, it would be Jude. He was an outsider like himself. “I mean, within a couple of months of Rowe announcing that I was officially living with him—permanently—I got the key to the penthouse and then the spare key to your house. All these phone numbers were added to my phone. We’re meeting up with someone or all of you for a meal at least once a week and then there’s the endless group texts about the weirdest shit. And then Snow and Lucas are always arguing about something. Then if it gets quiet, Rowe stirs shit up to get them started again. And then Ian is secretly demanding Snow check Lucas’s cholesterol like the man isn’t going to notice Snow taking his blood like a goddamn vampire.”
Jude’s deep belly laugh stopped Noah’s list and pulled a grin out of him. “I grew up with a big family. I’m used to there always being so many other people in your business, telling you what to do or giving advice you don’t really want.”
“But it’s more that than…” His voice drifted off as he searched for the right words. He opened and closed his fists, reaching for the right words. “It’s like I can feel this weight on my shoulders. That I’ve sneaked into something so big and important, and there’s a part of me just as terrified of fucking this up as I am of fucking up my relationship with Rowe.”
A ninja Zen expression crossed Jude’s face, reminding Noah too much of Andrei and he was really starting to hope that he got that same ninja mind reading skill these two men seemed to have mastered. “There’s no sneaking into this family.”
And there it was. Noah flopped back on the sofa, lightness bubbling up in his chest, pushing that weight back off his shoulders. He knew what Jude said was the truth. There really was no sneaking into this group. You earned it through love and loyalty and selflessness. No matter what, these men—his new family—would have his back and he would fight for them too. No questions asked.
Above them, Rowe and Snow’s laughter was punctuated by a splash and the patter of water hitting the deck above them. Apparently, the tequila brothers had found their way into the hot tub.
Jude pushed to his feet and winked at Noah. “I’d say that marks the halfway point of the tequila bottle. I think I’ll go round up the General and see if he wants to make some noise.” He started to turn away from Noah and then stopped. “And if you want the lube, I hid it under the apples in the bottom drawer of the fridge.”
“You?” Noah gasped, pointing at Jude. Both he and Rowe had been one hundred percent sure that Snow had been the one to raid the houseboat for all the lube.
Jude just chuckled as he headed for the stairs, but Noah barely heard it over his own laughter. They might all be crazy, but it was a good family to be a part of.
Shoving to his feet, he headed straight for the kitchen. He’d grab some lube and then see if Rowe was interested in making some noise of his own.