“You really love him,” Ian said softly. He reached out and touched Snow’s face. “I’m so happy for you, Ashton.”
He looked up at Ian and as always, his heart swelled. This sweet, incredibly loving young man had instantly crawled into his soul when he’d first met him and he’d just nestled in and claimed a spot all his own. Snow couldn’t imagine life without Ian and he didn’t want to. The car accident had not only taken one of their own, but it had nearly taken this beautiful human being who deserved everything life had to offer. He came up on his knees, grabbed Ian and hugged him tight. “I love you,” he whispered.
Ian froze, obviously surprised—Snow knew he was stingy with the love words—then hugged him back so hard, his spine made a cracking noise. “I love you, too. I love you all. So much.”
Snow pulled back, feeling the heat on his face.
Ian only reached out to wrap his arms around him again and laugh. “You guys are my family and nobody on this earth is as lucky as I am. Nobody.”
Snow should have said something, but his heart was so full, he couldn’t speak. They were the lucky ones. Ian had no idea how much. He’d turned their solid friendship into a family.
“Hey General,” Jude called out from the water. “I want to see you jump!”
Never one to resist a challenge, Snow let go of Ian and stood up. He gave the younger man a stern look. “No jumping. I mean it.”
“Not this time, no,” Ian agreed. He got up and put his arm around Snow’s waist. “But I’ll walk you to that crazy rock.” He kissed Snow’s shoulder. “Then I’ll do nothing more than tread water.”
“Good.” Snow kissed the top of Ian’s head and held his breath until he was staring down at a grinning Jude below him. Jump, hell. Snow loved the look of shock on Jude’s face when he dove in headfirst.Chapter 4Jude stretched his feet into the Red River, the cool water lapping at his ankles and even higher as Snow and Andrei took turns trying to outdo each other as they jumped off the rock. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he watched the showboating of both men. They’d moved from the smoothest entry to the biggest splash to who could splash Lucas more, as the millionaire bobbed in the middle of the river watching their performances and offering up stern words of warning.
Shaking his head, Rowe waded through the shallows over to Jude, water running down his lean, sun-kissed body as he approached. Rowe was definitely a good-looking man and his tattoos were eye-catching, but he could see what Snow had grumbled about when they’d first reached Jump Rock and Rowe had taken off his shirt. The man had lost some weight. He looked thinner than Jude remembered him in the winter but not necessarily unhealthy.
Not that Jude could blame him. His eyes darted back over to his general as he launched himself off the rock and into the water, torquing his body in such a way to send a concentrated spray at Lucas—or rather it would have if his target hadn’t dove under the surface first. For a couple of heartbeats—as he had every time Snow had jumped—he held his breath until Snow’s head popped above the water again. Jude had jumped several times from that rock and he knew that the water wasn’t shallow there and he’d encountered no stray rocks lurking to harm the men, but it didn’t stop the fear that rose up to steal his breath each time. He didn’t want to think about what he’d do if Snow was hurt…or worse.
“If I didn’t know better,” Rowe started as he dropped onto a large flat stone next to Jude on the bank, “I’d say Andrei had no idea how much he was torturing Lucas.”
Jude snorted. There was no way he didn’t know. Lucas had been shouting warnings and then threats each time Andrei and Snow jumped. He’d even had a few choice words for Rowe the two times he’d jumped. The only ones who hadn’t gone off the rock were Ian and Lucas, but the younger man was treading water out past Lucas and scoring Andrei’s and Snow’s jumps.
“Has Lucas always been like that?” Jude suddenly asked.
Rowe ran his hand through his hair, pushing drops of water off his forehead. “Yeah, Lucas is a worrier,” he said with a chuckle, then he shrugged. “It works for him. He’s also a brilliant planner. He’s good at figuring out how shit can go wrong and then coming up with an easy way around it.”
Jude nodded, his eyes on Lucas as he waited for Andrei to surface after his latest jump. As soon as his head was above water, Lucas wrapped one arm across his chest and started to backstroke with his free arm away from Jump Rock. He could see the wide grin across Andrei’s face as he leaned his head back against Lucas’s broad shoulder, allowing himself to be carried away. Maybe Lucas wasn’t the only one who was a brilliant planner.