“So you admit you’re fucked up but refuse to do anything about it?”
“Some shit can’t be fixed, I can admit that,” he said, sounding like he didn’t have a care in the world, let alone what had amounted to the horror show of serving in the military, losing part of his body and his ‘boys.’ I didn’t know a thing about military culture beyond what I’d picked up over the years, but I knew that those who served together for a long time, especially in dangerous regions, often developed a bond that was difficult to break and painful when lost. “And maybe some of ‘em are like that too, but the others who leave the way they came? They’re just stubborn...or scared. Reachin’ into your head and tryin’ to make shit work again is scary as fuck, I know that, but they won’t do it.”
“And what’s the second way they leave?”
“Realizin’ that they were stubborn and blind, and that there was plenty of shit they didn’t deal with that they needed to. They’re usually the ones that come back with a different way of doin’ things and ready to listen.”
“And you think I’m one of those men?”
“Shit, I’m just guessin’ here. I don’t know you from some random fuck I met yesterday,” he said with a laugh. “If I was good at knowin’ people, I’d be workin’ here by now. But all I can do is what I can do, ya know?”
“I...suppose I do,” I admitted, unable to help but relent to the logic. I suppose when it came down to it, sometimes all you could do was exactly that; what you could do.
Not that it helped me a lot, but it was pleasant to find simple wisdom in unexpected places.
“Hello?” another voice called from somewhere behind Cade. “Rowan, are you back here?”
“Oh, it’s the virgin,” Cade said.
“The...virgin?” I wondered, a little startled. Although I wasn’t sold on the idea of Luka being my Guide or his abilities in the job, I certainly couldn’t picture him being a virgin. He was...well,his personality was the type that got along with most people, and he was definitely attractive enough that there was no way he had trouble finding someone to share a bed with.
“Yeah, he’s new and never got a...ohhhh,” Cade said with a laugh. “You’re taking his cherry.”
“Cade,” I heard Luka sigh, and I could see him moving closer through the steam. “No one’s taking my cherry, that’s been gone for ages.”
“Ages,” Cade said with a snort. “You can’t be that old.”
“I’m thirty-one.”
“Oh,” I said. “Christ, I thought you were younger than that.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Luka said dryly as he came close enough for me to see him and...swallow hard. He had a towel tucked tightly around his waist, but everything else was right there for me to see. I had been polite with Cade, but I felt my eyes linger on Luka’s body, from the chest that didn’t look that big in regular clothes, to the way water beaded on stomach hair that was so pale I wouldn’t have seen it without the water droplets. “Enjoying yourself?”
“I am,” I admitted, snapping my gaze away before I was busted staring at him. “Cade here has been very...informative.”
“He means I still don’t know how to shut up,” Cade said with a grin.
“Have you been here the whole time?” I wondered.
Luka shrugged, and I tried not to notice the way his chest bounced from the motion. “I was in the other springs. This one is the one most people use for quiet. We don’t label it that way, but that’s how it gets treated. I figured you might enjoy this a lot more if you didn’t have a dozen people you barely know around you talking about things you either don’t care about or know about.”
“Oh,” I said, surprised by the accuracy of his assessment. “I see.”
“You guys mind if I join you?” Luka said with a snort as he glanced in the direction he’d come from. “The locker room talk has started over there, and I’d rather not.”
“Aww, too much damage to your innocent ears?” Cade asked, patting the water. “Come on in and join us.”
“You know,” Luka said as he undid the knot of his towel and tossed it aside. “You have this idea that I’m an innocent soul. I could tell you stories that would ruin that imagerealfast.”
“But he isn’t the type,” Cade told me with a grin, probably expecting me to react.
Except I wasn’t capable of following the conversation since Luka had cast his towel away, revealing that he apparently wasn’t concerned about his naked body being seen. Even in the low light from the sky above, everything he had was on display as he slid into the water. From a dick that was comfortably soft as it lay against his thigh, to the curve of his ass as he turned to step down with more care before sitting. I knew I shouldn’t judge a man by their size, while soft, but if that was about half what it would look like hard, I had to imagine the sight of him naked, covered in sweat...or water in this case, and hard as rock, had to be a very?—
I cleared my throat and froze when both Cade and Luka looked at me. I realized they had been talking, and the sound must have made them think I had something to say. Except there was nothing I could offer that wouldn’t have been wholly inappropriate. “Just clearing my throat. The steam is doing wonders at clearing me out.”
“Oh, yeah, this place is great if you’ve got a cold,” Cade said, throwing his arm over the back of Luka’s neck. It was done with the sort of casualness that called no attention, and Luka didn’t even glance over at the touch. Either they were a lot closer than I guessed, or Cade was just that sort of person.
“Personally, I like spicy food for it,” Luka said, leaning back and using Cade’s forearm as a rest for his head.
