My brothers in arms had become my family, and I believed they had my back. And yet, they all decided to conspire against me when it came to Zoe. They’d all turned into lovesick fools. Claiming they knew what I wanted and that what I wanted was what they had, but I was “too stubborn” to admit it. Whatever.
It’s not that I wouldn’t mind having a sexy, curvy woman in my bed every night. But during the day? No thanks. I’d never been interested in domestic life. Content with the life I’ve made up here on Pineville Mountain. It was hidden off the main road, but not so remote that I couldn’t pay a visit to the lodge. Or to my sister and nephew’s place, especially when she made my favorite meal, chicken and dumplings.
But not once had I been compelled to turn in my freedom card just to be led around by an opinionated, talkative female, no matter how sexy she may be. So why was I even spending my time thinking about a woman who shouldn’t mean anything to me? I’ve never wanted someone to belong to me, be dependent on me—for anything.
Even my cat doesn’t really belong to me. He shows up to be fed, and I feed him. Occasionally, he’ll hang out by the fire when Mother Nature decides to show us mere humans who really owns the mountain; especially this time of year.
Although he’s been around a lot more lately since he knocked up Ridge’s cat. Apparently, Thomas wasn’t interested in joint custody, and I’ve been ducking Addy, and her not-so-subtle hints that I “adopt” the remaining offspring she couldn’t seem to part with.
My snort filled the great room at the memory of her last argument. She’d pawned off the others to friends, but the last one was proving to be difficult to find a home for. I just don’t have time for another living creature in my life. At least with Josh, I could send him home. Man, that kid was smart. Almost too smart and he reminded me a lot of myself at that age. All legs and arms, towering over his classmates, and socially awkward. Hell, I was still socially awkward.
I did my best to be a supportive and positive father figure for Josh. He was a good kid, but in a couple of years when his hormones hit, I definitely saw trouble on the horizon if I didn’t step up as an uncle to give him some male guidance. So, I had no time for a serious relationship. Not with anyone and not with the ever-tempting Zoe.
The morning flew by as I shaped and welded and rummaged through my stack of scrap metal to shape the moose’s skeleton. Eighties rock blasted and sparks flew. I was in the zone, only stopping to guzzle water and kick the cat out of my way.
It never failed that when I was deep into this stage, the feline chased the glowing embers created from the spatter. The knucklehead tried to catch the particles as they flew around me and the sculpture.
“Do I need to be concerned that your cat is eating pieces of hot metal?” Lars and a man who had to be related to the Nordic nuisance stood next to my now silent boom box. As a music purist, I still preferred listening to my favorite bands via my vinyl records and compact discs. Yet another topic that brought about endless teasing.
“You forget the rules again, Olsen?” Setting aside the welder, I tossed my gauntlets onto the closest surface and sent the men an irritated glare. Not that Lars ever once cared about my rules now, or when I was his superior when we were active duty.
“Have you ever heard of locking your doors if you don’t want visitors?”
“Ever heard of ventilation asshole?” Ah, I missed this. My head had been inundated with middle school slang and angst lately, and I welcomed the good old-fashioned adult banter, even if my creative flow had been interrupted.
Ignoring my question, Lars walked around my project. “Nice butt joint here.”
My eyebrows rose at the high praise. He had his own workshop next to his cabin behind the Triple R. In fact, all the men did. Lars’ specialty was woodworking. He had a hand in every board foot and piece of cabinetry inside the lodge. He was now using his expertise as a finish carpenter to teach interested veterans during their stay.
“Just stopped by to introduce my brother, Victor. He’s the baby in the family.”
“I may be the baby, but I’ve been told by the ladies I’m the better-looking Olsen.” Victor smirked.
Lars cuffed his brother on the back of the head. “Don’t mind him. It’s an old joke. At least I’m not the one without a woman. All that matters is that Dylan thinks I’m handsome.”
Victor held out his hand, ignoring Lars. “I’ve heard so much about this place I thought I’d check it out. See if maybe I could lighten things up with my music. Great choice of albums, by the way. It was GNR’s best, in my opinion.”
I shook the younger Olsen’s hand. “Right? Finally, someone else who appreciates true rock. There’s no one better than Guns and Roses and Slash’s superiority on the guitar. Nice to meet you.” The dig was aimed directly at the oldies rock listening former Ranger.
“He’s come to torture me, as you can see. Just got out of the service. Don’t be nice to him, he’s a Marine.” Lars pushed Victorback a step before the younger Olsen could pay him back for the dig.
“Torture? I call it loosening you up.”
Ignoring his much different sibling, Lars continued. “Bringing Victor to meet you isn’t the only reason I came up. I drew the short stick, and I’m here to make sure you don’t get so wrapped up in your project that you don’t show up on time for the play tonight.” He made a show of looking at his naked wrist. “Shouldn’t you be sprucing yourself up for your big debut tonight? You wouldn’t want to disappoint that cute teacher now, would you?”
Victor’s eyes widened in interest at his brother’s comment. “Cute teacher, huh? Tell me more.”
Not in this lifetime, Marine. My memory kicked in, and I remembered Lars talking about his siblings and how the youngest brother had a knack for charming single females into letting go of their inhibitions. Yeah, I wasn’t letting him within fifty yards of Zoe.
Good taste in music aside, Victor could forget about any more friendly conversation from me. Ignoring his too-handsome face, I removed the rest of my gear. “You’ve done your duty. You know the way out.”
“No problem. We’ll see you later at the party, right?” The men and their wives, mainly the wives, had been itching to hold a community event. They’d conspired with Astrid to have a celebration for Josh’s classmates and parents after the play. Turned out that quite a few of them were former military and current first responders.
Sure, it was a nice gesture, but that didn’t mean I had to attend. In fact, I’d planned on not attending just so I wouldn’t be around Zoe in a less structured environment than the rehearsals, even though we’d been surrounded by twenty-eight chaperones.There’d been little chance of flirting. But tonight would be different. I felt it, and so I would bail.
A party with good food and adult beverages just opened up the possibility of seeing her as less than off-limits and after many nights of picturing myself doing more than kissing the lovely Zoe which would lead to an eventual ending and possibly hurt feelings, I’d decided it would be best if the last time I saw her was at the play tonight.
CHAPTER EIGHT
