“You…” I began, not sure why I was surprised. I had worked with Cait for years, and I knew that as sharp as her mind was, her tongue was even worse. “My mother has Alzheimer's, and you’re being a bitch about it?”
“And you’re being a dick simply because you breathe, such is life,” she said with a heavy sigh.
I opened my mouth before letting out a bark of laughter and flopping back in my seat. “Consider me properly chastised, alright?”
“Mmm, we’ll see if you’re that gracious the next time I need to give you a verbal slap upside the head,” she said wryly.
“So, good feelings for this one?”
“So far, but he and Jake came in looking like they’d been swallowed by a muddy creek and spat back out. So I gave him the brief tour of the areas that would matter the most to him and sent him and Jake into the showers. Figured I’d let him settle in and get to know the men before I threw more at him. And by more, I meant you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Dramatic.”
“I should remind you that you’re known for being a hard ass. Not ‘harsh but fair’, not ‘rough around the edges but a heart of gold’, but a hard ass. And I’ll also remind you that you’ve earned that reputation. So I would say that treating you as something to be introduced to is perfectly reasonable.”
Alright, maybe there was something to what she said, but I knew better than to agree with her. The only thing worse than Cait being told she was wrong was Cait being told she was right. The aura of smugness didn’t dissipate for days.
Before I could say anything, I heard her growl. “Excuse me, I hear Jake trying to talk Reno into something, and I… Jacob! I heard that! So help me God!”
The line clicked off, and I sighed, rubbing my face and debating whether I should back her up or let her handle it on her own. Leaving her to deal with things alone was a good way to piss her off, but helping was a good way to pissmeoff. The men at the outpost were all good, capable men. I could trust them not just to do their jobs, but to bust their asses well beyond what was expected.
That was on the job, though; otherwise they were a pack of idiots who fought over a single brain cell. Some days it felt like they were fighting to have their turn with the brain cell, and other days it felt like they were doing everything they could to never have to use the brain cell again.
Sometimes I wondered if maybe it was time to take that offer of an office job. I had the experience to be effective riding a desk, but the idea of sitting behind one for the rest of my working life had the same appeal as week-old roadkill at the height of summer. I was too restless to be a desk jockey. That and I couldn’t imagine the trouble these jackasses would get into without someone around to keep them in line, or keep Cait sane because she needed someone who understood how irritating these fools could be.
I grabbed my phone and my shirt from the back of the chair. The one-room cabin I used as personal housing and an office was warm from the fireplace; the sole source of heating. I stretched the warm shirt over my shoulders, turning to make sure there were no stains before grabbing my boots. I could have dressed a lot faster, but I was hoping to find that precious middle ground where I showed up to help if Cait needed it, but without being in the thick of things.
That might piss Cait off, but of the two women currently, if technically, in my life, if I pissed Cait off, she wouldn’t try to take me for what I was worth. The thought of my soon to be ex-wife made me grimace again, and I wondered if my buddy from the Army ever worried that his husband might do something like that to him. Then again, it didn’t matter if it was a straight or gay thing; the bastard had been happily married for years and I’m sure the thought had never entered his head.
Lucky asshole.
Snagging my coat, I wrapped it around me and threw up the hood before stepping out into the tumult that was the weather. Igrimaced as a wave of rain slapped me in the face without mercy, forcing me to bow my head and walk the familiar path. The lighting was terrible, and the occasional flashes didn’t help other than glimpses, but I knew the path from my cabin to the main building’s rear entrance by heart.
Reaching the door, I opened it, closing it behind me and giving it a wiggle to make sure it stayed closed, though that wasn’t really necessary. Unlike the normal door we used to enter and exit the outpost, this one didn’t come loose in storms. Grunting, I yanked my jacket off and hung it up while wiping my feet before going left toward the sound of Cait’s voice, not quite shouting, but not happy either.
Sighing, I figured that was my cue to provide support, only to stop when I heard running water. I scowled when I saw the locker room door had been left open and steam rolled out, meaning someone was once again soaking up all the hot water. Trevor was the most likely candidate because he was the one who’d forced me to bring back the limited shower time rule. He was supposed to be out until later tonight, but maybe the storm had driven him back early from his perimeter inspection and the little shit thought he’d drain our water.
Pushing the door open, I saw more steam and made my way carefully to the shower area. Maybe if I scared the shit out of him while he was naked and vulnerable, he might keep it in mind the next time he sneaked in a longer than allowed shower. I was glad kids had always been something Mona and I had agreed weren’t for us because taking care of these morons was enough of a job without throwing kids into the mix as?—
I stopped short as I rounded the corner, mouth opening to bark…well, I didn’t know what I was going to bark because it wasn’t Trevor, but someone I didn’t recognize. Logic would have concluded it was our new hire because I knew everyone else.That logic, however, came to a grinding halt because the stranger was facing me, eyes closed and his hand wrapped around his?—
My stomach twisted as I heard myself say, “What the fuck?”
His eyes snapped open, and they were bright, both in color and shock. Thank God his hand stopped, and I didn’t have to fight to decide where to look. The movement was clearly distracting, and that was all there was to it. No need to worry about anything else because who the hell expected to walk in on a total stranger jerking off in a communal shower?
“You must be Xander,” he said, and I almost stopped right then to gape at him in total shock. If it wasn’t for the fact that his face turned a bold shade of red, I might have blown my top at the sheer absurdity of acting so casually when I’d just busted him.
“And you must be a fucking idiot!” I barked, fighting and winning, to keep my eyes on his face, which was more red than pale. “You’ve been here for what, thirty minutes at most? And you’re already jerking off like you own the place? Jesus Christ on a stick, get your ass into some goddamn clothes and get the fuck out of here. Are you shitting me?”
“Right,” he said, pressing his lips together so tightly they disappeared. I was just glad he wasn’t so hard that I felt like I was being stared at by his… “I’ll do that.”
“Good,” I growled. “Congratulations, you earned yourself cooking duty for the night, and the cleanup. And if I don’t see you out there with the rest of us, without your dick out, in the next three minutes, I’ll add scrubbing the entire building…including this fucking shower room.”
Before he could say anything else that might piss me off, I turned and left. I was eager to wipe away the memory of finding some strange guy jerking off in the shower, that was for sure. You got used to seeing different states of undress with guys in this job and after years in the Army, and with the latter you got used to occasionally walking up on a guy taking care of things.
Didn’t mean I wanted to see it now.
With a huff, I shoved the image and thoughts from my head and walked to where Cait was coming back with a scowl on her face, Jake and Reno standing uneasily in the doorway to the kitchen. She saw me, stopped, and raised an eyebrow. “What?”