Pucking Road Trip (Bay Rebels #3)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Tide Cottage, Freedom

R obyn

“Then that jerk threatened to send D’Angelo back to the minor leagues.” I flick my wine glass, imagining that it’s Colton’s ass.

Satisfying.

The glass clinks , and the red wine sloshes dangerously close to the rim.

My brother, Cody, rushes across his kitchen in Tide Cottage to steady my glass.

“Let’s not take out a coach’s assholery on my kitchen, Ryn,” Cody pleads. “I need to remind myself of that rule most days.”

I bet.

I smile sheepishly, clutching the wine to my chest. It’s too precious to spill.

This is one of those rare nights, when my men are exhausted enough to collapse into bed without needing me as a stuffie to hug between them.

I need a quiet evening with my brother in his cottage on the coast to unwind.

My beautiful rebels can’t get up to too much trouble, while they’re asleep, right?

Everybody loves an optimist.

When Cody pulls me into a quick hug, he’s the one who almost spills my wine, this time down the front of my comfy One Direction sweater and joggers.

“Code,” I protest with a laugh.

Cody pulls back, laughing as well. “Whoops. You’re drinking too slowly. You need to catch up with me. I’ve already opened the second bottle. It feels like a second bottle night.”

“A three bottle night.”

Cody is two years younger than me. He’s so athletic and sun blushed, however, by his time spent surfing that he could still be a college student.

He’s handsome with neat brunette hair, freckles across the bridge of his nose, and russet eyes. He’s dressed in a pastel blue sweater and matching boardshorts.

I’ve always been close to my brother.

Until he married his husband, Michael, Cody had no one to stand with him and love him unconditionally.

Dad fucking didn’t.

David Bowie’s glam rock “The Man Who Sold the World” is playing on repeat.

Cody loves David Bowie so much that he has one of his songs as his ringtone.

I settle myself more comfortably on the window seat.

I glance out of the window.

The beach is remote with sea stacks, which rise from the swelling waves.

Above, the cold moon plays across the sands like silver water.

Being close to nature like this, as well as being surrounded by my brother’s easy love and affection, is why I come here.

Cody and I share a past and childhood that connects us in a different way to anyone else.

I regret every day that my ex, Wilder, kept me apart from Cody. I won’t let that happen again.

The kitchen is cozy with exposed beams and wide-planked wooden floors. The walls and open shelves are painted sky blue.

Cody’s surfboards are stacked against the far wall, and the tangy brine smell wars with the sweet scent of fresh bread.

I raise my wine in a salute to Cody, before draining it. “This is me draining Colton.”

Equally satisfying.

“ Lost Boys style vampiric draining. Awesome revenge.” Cody wanders back to the butcher block countertop at the back of the kitchen.

He has a cheese platter laid out with freshly baked bread and cake.

My brother’s famous for his baking skills.

The cheese platter is probably Michael’s influence. It’s the type of thing that he’d like, since he’s into classical music, hummus, and golf.

D’Angelo is the only one who can casually deal with what my best friend, Neve, calls Michael’s boring old guy shit.

Of course, Michael is also hot and a perfect husband for my brother.

He takes Cody, who’s a bundle of energy, out to bars to dance and sing, despite the fact that he doesn’t enjoy singing or dancing himself.

He may be exhausted after a twelve hour shift at work but he still makes time for Cody.

Michael works in ER at Freedom Heart hospital, where he’s a doctor.

Both men are lucky to have each other.

Cody snatches up the almost empty wine bottle, playing the waiter.

He strolls to me. “Madam?”

I hold out my glass. “Go on then.”

I’m catching a taxi home. I deserve one night of letting down my hair, before things get serious.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling that they may already have become serious.

Cody pours the wine with a flourish and doesn’t stop, until the wine is at the brim of the glass and the bottle is empty.

He winks. “Look at that, we need to open the second bottle.”

“How’d that happen?” I take a sip of the fruity wine. Then I sigh, and the tension bleeds from my shoulders. “It was D’Angelo and Shay who looked like they’d been drained, when they came back from the rink earlier. Perhaps, Colton’s the vampire.”

Cody’s eyes widen. “Fuck, that’d be a scary horror movie.”

“Ice hockey vampire romance. Quick, make us some garlic pizza to protect us from that mashup genre being discovered.”

“Will French garlic cheese work?”

I lick my lips, glancing at the cheese platter on the side. “How about we try it, Code? For the sake of our lives?”

“See, my food saves lives the same as my husband does.”

I hope that he doesn’t actually say that to Michael.

Unfortunately, I’m not exaggerating about the state that D’Angelo and Shay returned from the arena in the late afternoon.

D’Angelo could barely walk. He was shaky and pale.

Shay pulled Eden and me aside.

“Jude won’t tell you this.” Shay looked guilty. I didn’t understand why. “He stood up for me to Colton. Back talked him. The bloody bastard made Jude skate laps, until his legs buckled. He puked four times.”

I could have kneed Colton in the balls.

Eden and I nodded at each other, agreeing to end our day and take care of our family.

We spent hours giving both D’Angelo and Shay baths, massages (Eden insisted on doing this one-handed, instead of me; I don’t know why), and wrapping them in blankets, despite D’Angelo’s constant insistence that it wasn’t necessary for him .

D’Angelo needs to learn that he deserves to be cared for too.

He’s good at doing it for others. But he sucks at accepting care for himself.

Eden cooked one of D’Angelo’s favorite meals, spaghetti Bolognese, as his offering to make him feel better without needing to say anything.

Then before I came out tonight, Eden decided that D’Angelo and Shay’s aching muscles was an excuse for payback.

After he collapsed because of his concussion, Eden was under doctor’s orders for no strenuous exercise, including sex.

D’Angelo set up a scene, where Eden needed to watch, while D’Angelo fucked me.

Of course, Eden still jerked himself and got off.

I love Eden’s growing confidence because it was him who insisted that D’Angelo and his brother weren’t well enough to join in and needed to rest…on doctor’s orders.

He pointed at the antique chair in D’Angelo’s bedroom.

Bristling like a cat, D’Angelo settled in it, before pulling Shay onto his lap. Then he deftly undid Shay’s pants and pulled Shay’s dick into his hand. He held it like a toy without stroking it.

Eden shared a nod with D’Angelo.

Then Eden fucked me harder and faster than he has before.

It was the perfect end to our day together.

It was made more intense by knowing that the other two men were willingly sitting — unmoving — in the chair.

Watching me.

I was putting on an exhibitionist performance to drive my lovers wild.

D’Angelo’s jaw was clenched. His gaze was firmly fixed on me, burning and feverish.

Eden’s eyes were dark.

He kissed and stroked every inch of me, while his twin was unable to touch me, whining like he was in pain.

Shay was flushed. His hands tightened on his lap.

His cock was hard in D’Angelo’s fist.

When Shay tried to look away, D’Angelo grabbed him hard by the jaw and forced his head back.

“Eyes on your goddess,” D’Angelo commanded.

At last, D’Angelo’s hand began to move on Shay’s cock in time with his brother’s thrusts into me.

Fast and hard.

Shay’s desperate, longing gaze never left mine, as he was worked to a hard, painful orgasm that seemed to tear his soul from him as well as a scream.

Can it be called payback, however, when we all derived such pleasure out of it?

If so, I’ve decided that I love revenge of the kinky kind.

Now, Cody crosses the kitchen and picks up the wooden tray with its crusty, buttered rolls, peanut rum cake, and selection of cheese. “Time for my lifesaving cheese.”

My stomach growls. “And bread.”

“I charge extra for the bread.” Cody waggles his eyebrows.

Cody bakes everything from scratch. I’ve never tasted anything as delicious as his fresh bread and pastries.

“Are you exchanging recipes with Eden yet?” I ask. “He’d love it. And he’s too isolated. He’s an incredible baker like you are. So, he’d probably have some good tricks.”

Cody’s eyes light up. “Yep, we set up that Bakers of Bay Rebels online Whatsapp chat like you suggested. It’s been a good way to get to know him as a friend. Plus, steal his English recipes because I’m jealous of his buns.”

“Is that a euphemism?”

“Yes and no.”

“Does he…?” This is hard to say. “Do you think he understands that you’re his friend?”

Cody’s brow furrows. “He is my friend, Ryn. That’s what matters.”

Cody strolls across the kitchen, sitting on the window seat next to me.

He places the tray on the floor between us.

The scent of fresh bread and garlic cheese wraps around me. It’s warm and as easily relaxing as my brother is.

My mouth waters, as I select a roll, before using a knife to smear on some of the strong cheese.

When I take a bite, I can’t hold back the moan.

“Good?” Cody asks.

“Vampire ice hockey coach repellent good,” I mumble around my mouthful.

I have freshly baked bread in one hand and good wine in the other.

I’d be happier with a beer and chocolate. But this is Michael’s idea of heaven, and I’m coming around to it.

Cody reaches down and snags himself a roll as well. “You know that you can drop around here any time, Ryn. It’s no problem. Michael and I love seeing you. When things are stressful, it’s good to have somewhere that you’re safe to go. I wish you’d known that with Wilder. But I won’t make that mistake twice.”

My eyes smart. “Thanks, Code. I hope you know that it goes both ways.”

Cody takes a bite of his roll. “Last time I did that, I saw a naked butler in your kitchen who threatened me with a spatula.”

I choke, and Cody pats me on the back.

To be fair, D’Angelo had been wearing an apron and he’d been polite enough to invite Cody to stay for breakfast.

Cody smirks. “But what an ass he had. I asked Mike for my own naked butler, but he growled in a possessive way that no one was allowed to be naked in front of me but him. Then he demonstrated, which was fun.”

“Why are you talking about naked butlers again?” Michael says, dryly, as he walks through the lounge door. “I thought that we’d established I’m too possessive for us to get one.”

“Shame. I’d look pretty in an apron.” Cody stuffs the last of the roll in his mouth, before jumping up.

He bounds to Michael. “Are you just back from Freedom Heart?”

Michael nods.

Michael is in his late thirties. He’s hot but stern with ebony skin and salt and pepper hair. He’s dressed in a casual tan suit that’s open at the neck.

Michael slings his arm around Cody’s shoulders. Cody relaxes against his chest, happy and secure.

I smile seeing them together.

“I’m sorry that I missed dinner again.” Michael sighs. “I couldn’t drag myself away from all the—"

“Saving lives?” Cody quirks his brow.

“Blood, vomit, and in one unfortunate case, explosive diarrhea.”

I scrunch up my nose. “That’s why I didn’t become a doctor. Along with the whole being shit at science.”

Cody levels his stare at me. “You could have become anything that you wanted. I was the screw up in the family. I worked my ass off to achieve my first job in Bay Rebels. I don’t think dad ever expected me to be anything but a dropout.”

Michael’s expression is grim.

He tightens his hold on Cody. “Then he’s a fool not to see your talents. My husband is also achieving his dreams. You’re a remarkable physiotherapist.”

Cody flushes with pride. “You don’t say that when I need to practice my physiotherapy on you, Mike.”

“God, no. But then, I don’t come home after a long day and give you an enema or stick you full of needles.”

Cody gives him a coy look. “Well, outside of a scene…”

I flush. “TMI, Code.”

I knew that Michael was Doctor Kink.

Michael gives my brother his patented stern look, which is enough to take him gently in hand.

Cody leads Michael to the window seat.

“What were you two gossiping about, apart from naked butlers?” Michael asks.

“Vampires,” I reply, eating the last bite of my cheese smeared roll.

The guys are already asleep, so I don’t care about garlic breath.

That’s a tomorrow morning concern.

“If you’d have said zombies, then I’d have been worried.” Michael settles himself next to me, and Cody kneels in front of him. “But with vampires, I have a whole blood bank at the hospital to appease them with. I’m safe.”

Sometimes, Michael says thinks so dryly, it’s hard to know when he’s joking.

Cody carefully cuts a large piece of peanut rum cake onto a cheerful plate with I’VE GOT A LOT OF PATIENCE PATIENTS written on it and passes it with a dessert fork to Michael.

Their hands brush.

Of course, Michael would be one to insist to eat with a dessert fork.

“My extremely hungry stomach thanks you, Code.” Michael smiles at Cody, who beams back. “This smells delicious.”

And it does. I can smell it from here.

It’s nutty but also fruity with a hint of rum. It weirdly reminds me of happy Christmases before Cody and I lost Mom.

When I lean over a little too close to get an extra sniff of nostalgia, Michael arches his brow. “Shall I simply pass mine over now?”

Cody laughs. “I made enough for us all. I’ll cut you a slice, Ryn.”

I flush, sitting back. “In actual fact, we were sitting here complaining.”

“And now we’re sitting here eating cake.” Cody passes me a slice.

This time without a fork.

See, that’s called sis knowledge.

We smirk at each other.

Michael stabs at his cake with his fork. “Complaining and eating cake. It sounds like just before the French Revolution.”

My eyes light up. “I’m up for that. Join us in the rebellion.”

“Vive la revolution!” Cody cries, bouncing on his knees.

“Hmm,” Michael hums, considering. “That depends. Who are we guillotining? Who is losing their head?”

I take a large bite of my cake.

My eyes flutter closed at the delicious taste, which somehow manages to pull off the exact memory from Cody and my childhood, before everything went to hell.

My chest feels tight.

Can you have a taste memory?

It’s faint. But it’s there.

This must be one of Mom’s recipes.

Mom didn’t bake often.

My brother would have been too young to remember much of that time because she grew sick and then stopped baking for much of his childhood.

I tried to shield Cody, as much as I raised him after Mom’s death.

Dad preferred to pretend that my brother didn’t exist, if he wasn’t punishing him, but I wonder now…

Perhaps, Cody remembers more than I think.

I don’t know if that’s a good thing.

I drop the sticky cake back onto the plate and lick my fingers. “Colton.”

“Who’s that?” Michael asks.

“The Assistant Coach at Bay Rebels,” Cody explains. “As much as we really were complaining, this asshole called Shay a whiner . Then he put Shay and D’Angelo through hell on the rink today.”

Michael snorts. “Shay doesn’t whine. He’s as bad as his twin. Those two could have their legs hanging off but still insist that they’re fine and just need to walk it off.”

Cody holds up his hand. “I vote: off with his head.”

I raise my glass. “Seconded. Off with his head!”

“Wait a moment.” Michael grips Cody gently by the chin, directing his attention back to him. “This man isn’t bullying you as well, is he? He’s staff, right? The hospital consultants can be hard for me to handle sometimes. They certainly don’t hold back, if someone makes a mistake. Last week, they made one of the nurses cry for a simple error that was easily fixed. These are high pressure environments, and staff often get the brunt of that.”

“Stick No Carrot, as he’s known, isn’t bullying me.” Why does Cody look uncomfortable? “But he is giving Noah a hard time. Noah is a nurse and a fucking good one. But Colton is a jerk to most of the staff. I didn’t think that it could be worse to be singled out for praise at how well I’m doing my job, straight after he’s ripped the person next to you to shreds for being shit at theirs.”

I narrow my eyes. “You are great at your job. But it’s probably a tactic to make the others feel worse and divide the staff.”

Michael sweeps his fingers up from Cody’s chin to his cheek in comfort.

He doesn’t like public PDA, but the gesture is still achingly tender.

Cody leans into his touch.

“Luckily,” Cody gives an easy grin, “most people still like me because I bring the fun. I’ve promised to as well on the staff bus. Plus, the drinks and the donuts.”

“Cody,” Michael says, warningly.

It’s usually all he needs to say to rein in my brother.

Cody pouts. “I’ll behave.”

He squirms around to sit next to Michael’s feet, leaning his head against his thigh. Michael rests his hand lightly on Cody’s head.

“Of course you won’t.” Michael’s eyes dance.

“I’ll miss you.” Cody turns his head to kiss Michael’s knee.

“I’ll phone between shifts. You can always contact me, even at the hospital.” Michael looks pained. This will be the first time that they’ll be apart since the wedding. “And you’ll be with your sister.”

“I’m traveling separately with D’Angelo, Shay, and Eden,” I point out. “Dad wants me to keep them in line and away from the press, twenty-four seven.”

“Poor guys, under house arrest even on a road trip.” Cody pulls a fake sad face.

“I know. It’s so challenging for them to be handled by me. A serious hardship.”

Eden was handled by me in bed earlier, and all of the guys were seriously hard .

“You’ll need quiet toys to pack with you,” Michael points out. “I’ve advised Cody on what to take, while I can’t be with him. If you don’t already have them, make sure to go with the best quality, with silicone covers and ones that have built in dampening technology. Also, order lube that has noise-dampening particles. Plus, you could go for suction clitoral vibrators or vibrating anal beads.”

I should have guessed that Michael would have researched the science.

Noise-dampening technology and lube exists?

It would have saved me from hiding under blankets to muffle the noise, playing the radio loudly, and blaming the sound of my vibrator on my razor in my teenage years.

“Okay, Doctor Kink.” I take another bite of cake.

Did I just say that out loud?

I called my brother’s husband Doctor Kink to his face.

It’s true, but still…

Can I blame the wine?

Cody smothers his laughter on Michael’s knee.

Michael turns his stern face on me.

Shit.

“I’m honored to have earned a new doctorate.” Michael’s eyes twinkle. “Although, I’d have thought that it was D’Angelo who was Professor Kink.”

“Touché.” I take a sip of wine, before realizing that my head may be swimming just a little.

My loose tongue is definitely the fault of this being a two bottle night.

Pissed Robyn can’t be responsible for what she says.

That’s fair, right?

Cody’s expression becomes devilish.

I swallow.

I forget how dangerous he can be.

“How about a bet?” He leaps to his feet, excitedly. “Your Professor Kink vs my Doctor Kink? I bet—”

“Code,” Michael shakes his head, “no bets, when you’re both pretty drunk. I can tell, I’m a doctor.”

“Yep, it’s a doctor superpower.” Cody crosses his arms. “But most of our bets have been when we’re pissed.”

Michael chuckles. “And you’ve won all of them. I’m standing up for sober Robyn, who’ll wake up tomorrow with a sore head and serious regret if she takes your bet.”

“It would have been an awesome bet.”

Not for me.

I usually end up dressed in a tutu and dancing on tables singing ABBA as a forfeit.

“This road trip isn’t going to be all vibrators and anal beads. Sadly.” I scrunch up my nose. “Although, the plane with the players may be. It’s going to be more like frat bros on tour, when Grayson and Lucas get together. But Dad’s been working hard to make it sound like the trip of doom. He’s got this antsy energy about him like there’s a huge mystery. I can’t work it out. But I have this feeling that if I don’t, then it’s going to seriously bite me in the ass.”

Cody looks concerned. “That’s not like Dad.”

“He’s worried about some dark secret from our pasts, which is connected to the trip.”

Michael holds out his hand, and Cody clasps it.

I love seeing the easy way that Michael takes his husband’s hand.

Dad would often summon Cody to his study after Mom’s death.

Cody was younger than me, and the one thing in my life that I could cling to and protect. I never wanted him to go to the study because I knew that his being summoned meant punishment.

A punishment that was way out of proportion to whatever chore he’d forgotten to do.

I’d be flooded with fear. Cody would tremble.

We’d clutch each other’s hands.

Yet Dad would bark, “Be a man.”

Despite the fact that Cody was still a kid.

Then he’d yank us apart, before dragging Cody inside the study by the ear. I’d be left outside.

I’m haunted by the sound of the study door slamming.

It’s the sound of my failure to protect my brother. The sensation of being torn apart from him. Of letting go of his hand.

Of knowing…yet not knowing…what happened to him in that study.

As often as I can now, I hold Shay’s hand to prove that I can.

It causes a joy, which makes my eyes burn with tears, to swell through me that Cody’s married someone who frequently and easily holds his hand with pride.

And it doesn’t make either of them less of a man .

It makes them better men.

Suddenly, Cody pales. “Fuck, I should have realized.”

Michael looks alarmed.

Anxiety spikes through me, sobering me up. “What?”

“The three teams that you’re playing. They’re the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks—”

“And the Anaheim Ducks,” I finish. “What? As a surfer are you scared of the sharks? Don’t worry, on a rink, the water’s iced over.”

“I’m more scared of the ducks.” Cody wrinkles his nose. “Huh, that sounds like I have a quacking phobia. I’m actually scared of their coach.”

My palms feel sweaty, sliding on the stem of the wine glass. I carefully place the glass on the floor, wiping my hands on my jeggings.

“Who’s the coach?” My heart speeds up.

“Larry Gibbs.” Cody bites his lip. “He took over last year. I never lost track of where he was because…”

He trails off, ducking his head.

Yet I understand. And it shatters my heart.

Larry Gibbs is the man at the middle of the scandal that haunted our childhoods.

We were innocent but the press never cared about that.

I spent too many hours wondering what Dad would have been like, if he hadn’t lost his temper on the ice and attacked Gibbs.

Dad owns what he did.

On the other hand, he’s labeled Cody a troublemaker for standing up to my bullies in high school, who beat the hell out of him for months, because he was scared that Cody would wreck his life like he did.

Dad’s also worried that Shay is similar to him with his anger issues on the ice. It’s why he’s tough on him.

Sometimes, it feels like he’s kicking his own ass.

When Gibbs was still a huge star, and Dad was a player who’d just beaten him in the Stanley Cup, Dad made the biggest mistake of his career.

Gibbs talked shit on the ice about Mom.

Dad lost it.

He did a head shot that would be illegal today, and it gave the other player concussion.

It could have killed Gibbs.

Dad’s lucky that it didn’t.

Dad has been making up for that ever since.

It ended both their careers in a blaze of publicity. And in many ways, it screwed up my life along with my brother’s.

I become ashen. “This will be the first time that Dad’s team will be playing Gibb’s. Have they spoken since that incident?”

Cody shakes his head.

Michael tightens his hold on Cody’s hand.

I bang my head against the window’s glass, as the joy of the evening is sucked from me. “ Fuck . It’s not only Dad. He’s turning up with a team that includes his son and daughter. More than that, he’s doing it in a year where he’s a triumphant underdog, riding to victory against the big boys…like Anaheim. Talking about provoking the man. Gibbs is going to want to fucking slaughter us. And the press will be buzzing with the rematch rivalry. It’s gold dust for them. They’ll dig up our pasts, every ghost, and destroy us publicly.”