scape, leading me in the right direction. Adrian holds the axe over his head, bringing it down hard, cutting into the dead tree.
“Hey,” I say, walking up. I rummage through my pack for the extra water they’d radioed for and place them on the ground. “Looks like you’re making progress."
“A little,” Holden says, kicking the tree. Ants swarm out of a rotting hole. I wrinkle my nose. I’m not a big fan of insects. Adrian takes another swing, dislodging another chunk.
The two guys fall silent and I glance up. “What?”
“You’re really not going to tell us what happened with you and Sierra last night?”
It’s the first time we’ve been together—all in the know. All on the same page. All lovers of the amazing woman that let us into her home.
“As you know, she ran off and I took off after her. I called Robbie and he asked Katie if she’d heard from her. She had, and I found them down at the lake at a bar.”
Adrian wipes his forehead. “And?”
“And I apologized and told her what I wanted.”
“Which is…” Holden prompts. They know I hate sharing shit like this, but we’ve entered a new territory, and I’m going to have to adapt.
“Her. I want her, and I’m okay with everything else.”
Holden smiles and claps me on the back. Adrian smirks. “So, you two…”
“Yeah, we did.” I fight a smug grin. God, it had been perfect.
From the looks on their faces, they get this. It’s a strange sort of solidarity, having this understanding with other men. But they aren’t just men—they’re my brothers. We’ve been through a lot of shit together. Good and bad. There’s no reason we can’t take that higher.
“Should this be weird?” Holden asks, reaching for the axe. “Because it doesn’t feel weird.”
Adrian runs a hand through his sweaty hair. “It doesn’t, but then again, none of us has ever been conventional.”
“That’s the damn truth.”
Holden hefts the axe and takes a swing, ending the conversation. There’s not much else to say. We’ve all fallen for the same girl and instead of fighting it out and destroying our friendship, we’ll share.
It’s kind of fucking amazing.
27
Sierra
The roller squeaks with each pass, coating the walls in a pale gray. I’ve got the music cranked to level ten, pouring out of the speakers across the room. After cleaning out Adrian’s things, I decided to paint Dexter’s bedroom first. It’s the room that holds the least emotional history for me and seemed like the best place to start. Two hours later, I’m thinking this was really an awful idea.
Painting is the absolute worst.
I pull my damp tank away from my body. I opened the windows to ventilate the room and with the sun beating down outside, I’m sticky and hot.
My phone buzzes midway through the second wall, interrupting my fantasies. I glance down at the screen.
Adrian: You home?
I wipe my hands on my overalls.
Sierra: Yep
Adrian: Wanna unlock the door?
Sierra: Did you forget your key?