CHAPTER 4

The first five laps pedaling the mile long paved trail around the little lake, was supposed to help me control my hormones. In theory. But watching both Ram and Vince running in front of me, did little to slow my hormone's roll. Their highly toned bodies, glistening with thin sheens of sweat, moved sinuously as their feet pounded the pavement, mile after mile. Also, the sight of them in tiny running shorts and no shirts, caused my heart to thump a bit faster than I wanted.

By lap seven, we had garnered a small crowd watching from their lounge chairs, cold drinks in their hands. Most were either middle age to older ladies, with a few younger women sprinkled in here or there. By the end of lap eight, the few younger ladies, swelled in size to now outnumber the older group.

Lap ten found the guys slowing to a walk, and their cool down. The majority of the older women folded up their chairs and headed back to their campsites, dragging their significant others inside their trailers for some smexy times. The younger women, found that they were now, as a group, by themselves. Hoping to catch either Vince or Ram, they resorted to shoving their boobs higher, sucking their stomachs in and fluffing their hair. The sight of two muscular, virile men can make a woman do some really eye rolling things to catch their eye.

After I handed over bottles of water, the guys guzzled them before dumping the remainder left in the bottles over the tops of their heads, causing their female audience to titter and sigh. Rolling my eyes, I pedaled in circles as they finished cooling down. Vince soon found himself surrounded by a group of six college aged girls. I wasn't quite sure if it was more amusing than pathetic the way they attempted to flirt with a man almost twice their age. Due to said age gap, it was seemingly difficult to find common ground, so they soon found themselves asking Vince all about a workout routine they clearly knew nothing about.

Ram shook his head and dropped a kiss onto my lips, garnering frowns from a couple of the ladies. It served it's purpose, deterring any of the girls from approaching him, but it just prompted the remaining ladies to add themselves to the group pestering Vince. He searched over the sea of heads to find me smirking at his situation. He mouthed the words, help me, a couple of times before I walked over and spoke over the chattering of the young ladies.

"Vince! Your wife just called. You didn't answer your phone. You need to call Anna." The ladies pouted, thinking he was off the market.

"Thanks, Princessa." He sighed in relief as the young women wandered away to their own campsites, clearly disappointed. Grinning at his now nonexistent fan base, Vince and I caught up with Ram and walked the rest of the way to Bertie.

~0~0~0~

Before slumping onto the couch, I checked on Rex dropping a couple of hamster crunchies into his tank along with a cheese doodle. A small black beady nose with whiskers, poked out of the open end of the soup can. Said whiskers twitched a couple of times before they retreated back into the safety of the can and refused to emerge.

Ram walked past me, rubbing the top of his head with his large hand. My dry throat clicked as I swallowed past the desire threatening to make it's presence known. Dressed in nothing more than a towel around his waist, I froze. His wide muscled chest was a work of art, in of itself. Every single muscle defined, moving lithely under his taut, toned, tan skin. Other than a small smattering of freckles across the tops of his shoulders, his skin was completely flawless barring a few scars here and there. My tongue longed to taste his sweat soaked skin, to run along each dip and furrow in his physique. Down girl!

Turning away from him, with as much stealth as I could manage, wiped away any possible drool from my mouth before turning back to find him grinning at me, eyes twinkling with mirth. "You okay there?"

"U yeah. Just checking to make sure I didn't have anything on my face after that bike ride." Smooth Steph, real smooth. If I could have given myself an eyeroll, now would have been the perfect time.

Standing in front of me, casually tucking and re-tucking his towel around his waist, Ram winked at me before stating, "So, uh... I'm gonna get a quick shower. I'll be out in two shakes of a lambs tail."

"Okay." Stop staring at his body! Good lord, what I wouldn't do to feel all that skin under my... "Huh?"

"I said, do you want to get a few things out to snack on?" His brow furrowed in confusion before smoothing out in understanding. "Are you alright Angel? You kinda spaced out on me for a minute there."

Shit! "Um, yeah, I'm okay. Just trying to collect myself after that bike ride."

"Right." His wide grin informed me he likely figured out the gist of what I had been imagining as he had been speaking. He turned on his heel and dropped the towel from around his hips giving me the most glorious view of his backside one could ever imagine. It took all I had in me to prevent myself from leaning forward and taking a bite out of the closest globe of muscle as he chuckled.

A quiet "eep!" escaped my mouth when he turned around, towel over his shoulder and hands no so effectively covering his manhood. Good lord that man had huge hands and to physically see that they were not enough to cover what he was packing made me feel a little bit like Grandma Mazur as I wriggled my jaw side to side as I appraised him.

"Oh, grab the steaks out of the fridge so that can come to room temp before I grill them tonight."

"Yup. Sure." I responded not really caring what he had asked, more concerned with seeing more of what he had to offer a girl. He chuffed before turning and heading into the bathroom, cutting off my personal viewing of the Naked Ram Show.

I startled a bit as Vince flopped down next to me on the couch, drawing me out of my day dreaming. He leaned back into the couch, lazing himself out, touching all along my left side.

"Princessa, you have fun?"

"Oh, yeah, it was a blast watching those ladies watching you two the entire time." I sassed, still jealous at the unintended thirst trap the guys had offered our fellow campers.

"Jealous?" He grinned as he slid my hand into his interlacing our fingers. As he began gently tracing the tops of my fingers with the tips of the fingers of his free hand, I hunkered down to his level and settled in, enjoying the closeness.

"Would it be weird if I admitted it?"

"Naw, I'd be jealous if the roles were reversed, to be honest." He freely stated, his fingers starting to work themselves up my arm beginning at my wrist.

"Well, it was hard watching those women fawning all over the two of you. I mean I have no say in the matter, but it was awkward none-the-less."

My eyes refused to look at him. I was finding it was much easier to talk about what was going on in my head if I didn't have to look the other person directly in the eyes. In fact, it was freeing, to be able to talk to those who wouldn't be judgmental or scoff at my thoughts or feelings. It was something I was unused to with anyone except Mary Lou, but certainly something I welcomed into my life. It was an opportunity for me to grow and mature.

Before I could go any further down the rabbit hole my brain was running hell bent toward, I felt a finger turn my face and the light touch of warm, soft lips upon my own. Closing my eyes in pure enjoyment, the kiss grew deeper, a soft groan of appreciation from Vince made my lady bits sit up and pay attention. A some point, Vince turned us both, his arms wrapped themselves around my shoulders, pinning me under him.

His incredibly tender lips kissed and nipped their way down my jaw and neck, finding the shallow indent of my collarbone where his tongue slipped out and carefully licked and sucked his way back up. A low throaty moan let my lips unbidden and uncensored. My hands tangles themselves into his thick mane of hair, fingers curled, holding him in place as I ravaged his mouth with as much vigor and emotion as he was giving me in return.

The quiet snick of the bathroom door closing eventually broke us apart, both breathing heavily, eyes half closed, lips swollen. Vince's hair stood on end where my hands had wrecked his careful styling this morning, as my shirt was rumpled from his roving hands. I sat up, mortified that Ram had caught us in such a compromising position, though he hadn't said a word.

Vince just pulled me close and kissed the side of my head possessively before heading to the back to grab a towel for his shower. I just sat there quietly, watching out the window as the two men switched places. The door closed behind Vince as a fully dressed Ram flopped down taking much the same posture as Vince had before we had kissed, relaxed and nearly melting into the couch next to me.

"You forgot to take the steaks out." He teased, running his fingertip along my arm, garnering goosebumps all along where he touched. "It's okay, they can still warm up while we wait for the grill to heat up."

"Sorry. Vince had me... distracted," I tried to explain, but ultimately feeling that it was inadequate for the situation.

"No worries, Angel. Things will work out the way their supposed to." I had a feeling that statement meant less about than steaks and more about whatever I had brewing with Vince. He kissed the side of my head right where Vince had left his and headed for the refrigerator.

0o0o0o0o0

Laughing myself silly, Ram recounted the story of how Vince caught his finger in a crack in a wall while on a recon mission in Fallujah.

"He thinks he can use the crack in the wall to hoist himself enough to get his foot onto a small ledge in the wall a little way up so he can climb up onto the roof. Dumbass doesn't realize that the homeowner had sprayed an industrial glue into the crack to seal it. Needless to say, after sticking his hand into the crack and trying to climb up for over ten minutes, his hand was stuck fast in the crack. We ended up having to bust down a larger part of the wall to get his hand out and then he ended up having to pay the homeowner for repairs."

He glances to Vince as he shifted the steaks on the grill, avoiding periodic flare-ups, "All while this is happening, Ranger keeps radioing us trying to find out where we were and what the hell happened. I kept telling him we had a situation and I'd explain it after we got back to base, but he wasn't having it. We caught up to Rager a few minutes later, glue and a chunk of wall the size of a volleyball still hanging off Vince's hand. It was hilarious watching him try to salute Ranger with that chunk of wall stuck to that hand." Ram was doubled over, face bright red, wheezing as he finished his story, "Ranger made us both double our watch duties for the rest of our time there, thankfully it was only about another three weeks."

"Fuck you, you fucking fuck!" Vince retorted, a scowl on his face, clearly searching his memories for embarrassing stories about Ram for revenge. "It took almost two days to get that shit off of me."

I reached over and lightly slapped the back of his shoulder in good fun. "Aww, poor Vincey-Poo."

"Did I ever tell you about the time Ram got the name Floppy Smurf?" An evil smirk graced Vince's face as Ram's fell in fear.

"Oh man, really?! You're going to tell her that one?" Ram seemed nervous and tried to talk his way out of it. "Come on, I'll do your laundry for a month. Two months! And I'll take over a couple of monitor shifts when we get back."

"Sorry man. You asked for it and she seems awfully interested in the story." Vince stated, drawing out the last bit. "I'd give in but as far as I'm concerned right now, it's every last man for himself. Sorry Dude."

"Ok, I have to know." Ram hung his head and just went back to silently tending the steaks and seasoned halved zucchinis on the grill.

"So, we're on the different deployment that he talked about, but we were stationed in the same place as before. Ranger wasn't there this time, but we had a different Major over our us, Major Kingstel. She was no bullshit and by the book all the way." He takes a quick swig of the frosty beer in his hand, "She ordered no Halloween bullshit, no one out of uni and certainly no additional shit like headbands or anything like that. Same ol' day to day shit."

"So Dipshit over here gets the great idea that so long as Kingstel doesn't see his costume, he can't get in trouble. So dumbass decides he's going to paint himself with blue spray paint and snapped on the end of it a partially unrolled condom for a hat, making himself into a fucking smurf!"

Ram was completely red from the top of his head to the tips of his toes at this point and refused to look either of us in the eyes, so full of embarrassment.

"After he was able to get a hold of himself for a minute, he finishes the story, "He proceeds to hide in the Porta-John until he hears us headed past him to the chow hall. He drops his pants, throws open the door and starts to helicopter his pecker singing the Smurf song, 'Lah la la lah lah laaah lah la lah la laaah...' his floppy blue pecker swinging when he looks up right into Major Kingstel right in the face and stops dead in his tracks before he snaps to attention with a salute. She looks down at his sad little Smurf, tilts her head and says, 'At ease Floppy Smurf'. She shakes her head and heads out to the chow hall leaving the rest of us dying laughing. Dumbfuck Ram over here, is just standing there blue junk flapping in the breeze, eyes all wide like, knowing his ass is going to get handed to him after she finishes eating."

At this point I have fallen over and am literally rolling on the ground holding my sides laughing myself silly. Tears are streaming down my face, I'm coughing violently and trying not to get sick all over myself. Vince is almost as bad as I am, pounding his fist on the table as he's roaring in laughter telling his story.

"Yeah, well fuck you and the horse you rode in on." Oh, Ram was cute when he got mad like that.

0o0o0o0o0

I shoveled into my mouth the first, of many heavenly bites of grilled steak perfection. I had no clue Ram was such a savant when it came to all things grilled. I wasn't the only one enjoying myself, both the guys were quiet, busy mowing through their plates as fast as I.

Patting my distended stomach with a heavy hand, I sighed, quite content. The guys sat back sipping on their beers and enjoying the tail end of the meal when a cold gust of wind came from behind Bertie, chilling me. I turned my head to see that what was a calm and beautiful evening was quickly going to turn south in a hurry.

"Uh guys, I think we better get this stuff in the RV quick, there's a wall of rain headed our way and it doesn't look good."

They turned to see dark green tinted storm quickly making it's way right for the campground. "Shit!" Vince gathered up the plates and silverware, as I threw all the rest of what was left into the large bowl that had held the large green salad. I threw open the RV door and slid the stuff inside as Vince did the same while Ram put out the charcoal. I made it into the RV as the first huge blast of wind rocked Bertie, making me uncomfortable. She began to rock side to side as the winds and rain buffeted the side of the RV, it almost felt as if we were on a boat.

Ram shouted to Vince from inside, "Set the anchors! Set the fucking anchors!" Vince dropped the stack of dishes into the sink with a clatter, rushing to the driver's seat. He primed Bertie before cranking her over. Once she was running, his hand slapped down into two separate sets of buttons engaging the anchors. I could hear two loud pops and quick vibrations before Bertie settled an refused to move side to side, front to back any longer. She was as stable as I had ever felt her. Ram was struggling to get the last awning retracted before he came rocketing into Bertie, winds chasing him in from the storm.

"It's gonna be a rough night. I could see lightning far off in the distance and it's headed straight for us. I've never seen a storm look this bad. Limbs are already coming down all over, good thing we picked without tree cover."

I was headed to the window as both men retracted all the slide-outs and busied themselves rummaging for the flashlights and emergency radio. The moment my fingers touched the blinds, the power went out, plunging us into an eerie darkness, now that the clouds blocked most of the light from the sunset. I screamed as a crack of thunder rumbled through Bertie, making me duck and cover my head with my hands in deference to my childhood fear of thunderstorms. Tears fell unchecked as I cowered under the blankets on the bed, unwanted whimpers escaping my lips.

A warm hand gently rubbed my back as I shivered under the covers, one of the guys lending me their strength. It was most appreciated, given the circumstances.

"Mama, you okay?" Vince slid in with me, allowing me to burrow my face into his chest for comfort.

"Not really. I've always been scared of thunderstorms ever since I was a kid."

"Me too, Angel, me too." I could feel Ram get into bed behind me, sandwiching me between the two of them.

After a few minutes of listening to the winds howling and branches breaking all around us, I recalled one of my memories. "I remember when I was little my dad was gone on a fishing trip with Uncle Joe Juniak and a few friends, leaving me home with my mom and Valerie. In the middle of the night I woke up to the flash of lightning and a horrendous crash of thunder. It felt like the storm was right over the house. I freaked out and jumped into Val's bed only to be pushed out and yelled at. She told me to stop being such a big baby and to grow up. I couldn't have been any older than four."

Ram's arms wrapped around me tighter as another crash of thunder rattled the RV.

"I... I cried begging for her to let me in and to protect me, but she just rolled over and went back to sleep. I then ran into my parent's bedroom and tried to wake my mother up, but she just wouldn't get up. Now that I can see it through adult eyes, I can see the nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels sitting on the nightstand and my mother's loud snores. I couldn't get her to wake up, so I hid in their closet, light on, holding onto one of my dad's shirts."

"Aww, Mama. I'm sorry." Vince empathized, softly kissing my forehead in comfort.

"My mom found me in the morning, half-awake, terrified to fall asleep. I had to hear all about how Florence Tucci's daughter didn't hide in her parent's closet from a little storm. How I was an embarrassment of a daughter. Then she gave me a massive spanking for ruining her ironing handiwork when she saw me clutching my dad's rumpled and now tear stained shirt. Ever since then, I've hated thunder and lightning. Now, I put in ear plugs and hide under my covers for the night."

"I'm so sorry, Angel. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. A mother should be there to comfort and protect their child."

The sound of the increasing winds put me on edge, I worried about the possibility of a tornado, as slim as the chance was, it was still terrifying. Loud thumps and crashes near Bertie had me burrowing my face into Vince's chest once again, seeking comfort. Work toughened hands brushed their way down the side of my face, along my exposed shoulder and the length of my arm, gently lulling me into a calmer state of mind before I eventually drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I awoke, groggy, wrapped up in the light-weight blankets, hearing not the sound of the wind or the cracking of limbs, but to the sound of chainsaws and men's boisterous laughter. Leaning over to peek out the blinds, I couldn't believe the damage that the storm had wrought. Downed limbs, leaves, sticks and even whole trees lay strewn about what I could see of the campground. A massive limb as thick as a man's thigh had fallen across the road a few campsites away, blocking the roadway and bisecting a picnic table neatly in two.

A quick glance across the road from our campsite, found a small tow behind trailer nearly crushed flat from a fallen tree. I worried that the people inside had been injured. A moment after the though crossed my mind, I saw Mac and a couple, who I guessed were the occupants of the trailer, watching Vince and Ram sawing through the tree with chainsaws, lobbing the tree chunks to the side. Scrambling to my feet, I threw on clean clothes before bringing our first aid kit, and our entire pot of coffee, with a handful of mugs across the way to those poor people.