Sharkbait

Amy came out of the bedroom a few minutes after I linked her that it would be ready soon; she looked happy and freshly fucked. “How is Kai doing,” I asked.

“He’s still recovering, but that just means I do more of the work,” she said.

“Eww. Keep it down today.” She just smiled and got that dreamy look on her face again.

Kai came into the kitchen a few minutes later, sitting at the table. He looked exhausted, and I was sure they would be going back into their room after he ate.

I’d taken a third of the beef shoulder clod and shredded it, mixing it with BBQ sauce in the crockpot to heat up. My Unky Leo loved clod because you could get a twenty-five-pound shoulder, the part the butcher usually cut up into pot roasts, and end up with twenty pounds of meat. Wolves LOVED their proteins, and the long strands of beef with the smoke at each end were tasty. Kaiser buns, coleslaw, and baked beans completed the meal.

His three friends came in off the deck, stretching their bodies out as they did. I was watching the girls, as they checked the twins out while trying to hide that from their big brother. I tossed them Bodyglove T-shirts from my promo stash to put on before they sat down. “That smells amazing,” Larry said.

“Beef clod? That’s some home cooking, senorita!” Manuel smiled at Makani as he slid into the chair next to her, while Ricardo sat between the two. I prepared two sandwiches for each of the men, passing them to the table as the girls made sure their plates were full.

“I’ve always loved barbecue, and my Uncle taught me how to smoke meats. It was pretty common for us to plan road trips based on the barbecue joints we wanted to try,” I said. “We learned a lot of the regional specialties.”

Ricardo had taken cole slaw and stacked it on top of the beef. He took a big bite, nodding as he chewed. “Is this a homemade barbecue sauce?”

“I don’t trust the ones I can get at the Exchange, so I made my Uncle’s Texas Smoke recipe,” I said. “Is it good?”

“Vicki, all barbecue is good,” Manuel said. “I should have my dad hook you up with some sauce from the Mesquite Shack.”

“I’ll try anything once,” I said with a grin. “I don’t use much mesquite on my Traeger; it’s easy to use too much and overpower the meat. I like using oak for beef and cherry for pork.”

“With food like this, I’d marry you in a heartbeat,” Larry said as he moved on to his second sandwich. “You must have a boyfriend around.”

I felt a pang of loss but pushed it down. “No boyfriend. I thought I had a serious relationship in high school, but on Valentine’s Day, I found out he was a cheating asshole. I’ve dated since, but nothing serious.” He got a smile on his face. “And I don’t need a boyfriend now. I’ve got a busy summer, then Amy and I start college.”

Ricardo turned to Noelani, only to stop when he saw Kai glaring at him. “My sisters don’t need boyfriends either,” he said.

“You can’t control their lives from BUD/S,” Ricardo said. “They are young, kind, smart, and beautiful. Guys will be lining up for the chance to meet them.” The twins just smiled at his words.

“It doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he said. “Amy tells me you are training with a former SEAL instructor?” He was eager to change the subject, and we let him. We talked about what we were learning in the dojo and our workout routine. “It’s working; I have a tougher time pinning Amy down and having my way with her now,” Kai teased.

“KAI!” Amy smacked him and chased him back to the bedroom.

“We won’t see them until dinner,” I said as I watched them go.

“What is it like to be a swimsuit model,” Larry asked.

“I enjoy it, but there’s more work than you think,” I said. I told the boys about the long shoots, the constant pressure to be in top shape, and my growing fame. “Just going to the Navy Exchange is a two-hour trip now because of how many people recognize me.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” he said. “Fame can be fleeting, so get as much money and travel out of it while you can.”

“That’s what my Uncl told me. My dream is to finish school and study sharks; I’ve got eight or so years of school ahead of me, and modeling is going to pay for it all.”

Larry looked at the twins. “Are you two going to get into the business? Is that why you’re here?”

Noelani just giggled. “We’re here to help Amy while Kai is in training. We don’t have a modeling contract, but Mercedes, that’s the Bodyglove person Vicki works for, she has given us stuff knowing we get photographed in public with her. We don’t have Amy’s amazing ass, or Vicki’s abs and legs.”

“Well, I think you are perfect,” Ricardo said as he put his hand over hers.

“We should clean up,” I said as I tossed cold water on the budding romances. “Why don’t you guys hit the hot tub again? You look like you could use it.”

“Good idea,” Manuel said. “We’ll help you first.” With the boys clearing the table, it only took a few minutes to put things away. We kept the crockpots with the meat and beans on low in case anyone wanted more later.

As I watched Ricardo and Manuel rub their partner’s necks and shoulders while they sat in front of them in the hot tub, I realized that I couldn’t get in the way of romance. They were big girls and knew what they were doing. I drew out more of their backgrounds as we soaked. Ricardo and Manuel wanted to be SEALs since they were six years old. Three-sport athletes in high school, they turned down scholarship offers to play soccer. Both graduated a semester early so they could get through boot camp in the spring; otherwise, they couldn’t have started BUD/S until next year.

Larry had joined the Navy to get away from his dead-end hometown after his parents lost their ranch. He wanted to be the best of the best, and to him, that meant being a SEAL. He’d finished a year of college before deciding that wasn’t for him.

We’d cooked in the tub long enough, I thought. “You should join us for our afternoon yoga session,” I challenged them. “It will help stretch you out and get your muscles to recover faster.”

“They won’t be able to keep up,” Makani said.

“Yeah, they aren’t as limber as we are,” Noelani said.

“We’ll be fine,” Manuel said as he looked at his brother. The three of us were laughing over the link as we set up the mats on the open portion of the patio, the lounges moved aside. We had to put three mats in front and three behind, and of course, the guys had to be behind us so we could teach them the positions. They tried hard to keep up, but it was harder than it looked.

Every time I looked at their damp swimsuits, I could tell exactly how hard it was.

The twins and I teased them mercilessly, both with our words and our bodies. I could hear the groans of frustration every time we went into “downward dog” or “standing straddle forward bend.” After thirty minutes, the guys were begging for mercy. “Thank God, you three aren’t instructors,” Larry said as he sat down, his hand covering his excitement. “I’ve never hurt so good in my life.”

“Why don’t you take showers and change,” I said. “We can hang out and watch a movie or something.”

“Sounds good,” he said as he practically ran away.

“Those boys will be fantasizing about us all week,” I said.

“I don’t care what Kai says or threatens, I like Manuel, and if he asks me to be his girlfriend, I’m going to say yes,” Makani said. “He’s not my Dad, and he’s not my Alpha.”

“Same for me. Ricardo is a great guy, and there’s something about him that makes me think this isn’t just a fling.”

I could just see Kai’s explosion when he found out. “Two things. Don’t let it get serious until you come of age, and you have to tell your parents before Kai does.”

“You’re right,” Noelani said. “We’ll call Mom and Dad while the guys are asleep. If they won’t allow it, there’s no point in telling Kai what we think.”

I had to keep reminding myself that although I was Alpha blood, I wasn’t THEIR Alpha. Sure, I was in charge of the home, but I needed to respect the Three Sisters Pack. While they were talking to their parents, I would ask Luna Carolyn for her advice on how to handle this.

The guys went down for their naps after the showers, and I went back to my bedroom to call the Luna. Her advice was simple; don’t get involved. “Let the parents be parents,” she said. “They aren’t of age, and you aren’t a surrogate mother. The girls aren’t doing anything illegal, immoral, or unethical, are they?”

“Of course not! We’ve been training hard and enjoying the summer,” I said.

“Then let them have fun. You should have some fun as well, Vicki. It’s easy to end up lonely and alone when recovering from rejection. You have to make an effort to make friends, to be social, and to have fun yourself. When was the last time you asked someone out?”

“It was junior year in high school,” I said.

“You are jetting around the world, and you don’t make time to have fun and enjoy it unless it swims. You don’t have to live a spinster’s life. If you like a guy, go on a date with him! It won’t kill you.”

I just snickered, I’d had dates that might. “I’m sure they’ll love a date where I bring my security detail along.”

“You’re a celebrity. Meet people, go to parties, and be seen doing so. Mercedes will love you showing up on the gossip pages.”

She would. “Thanks, Luna. You’ve been a big help.” I thought about Larry; he was a good guy, but I felt nothing for him. He was a friend because he was Kai’s classmate, and that was all. It wasn’t the end; I bet Kai would have a LOT of friends wanting to come over on weekends.

The twins didn’t get quite as much encouragement. Their parents didn’t forbid them from seeing Manuel and Ricardo, but they wanted to meet them first. It was a good thing they would be arriving in the middle of next week before I left for Boston.

The rest of the weekend went well. The girls spent all their time with Ricardo and Manuel, learning about each other and falling in love. Kai and Amy eventually joined us for more than just meals, and we did a group outing on Sunday. I didn’t want to have the guys nervous around a former instructor or their Base Admiral, so I didn’t call either for the dive. Instead, we hooked up with a diving charter in La Jolla, renting gear for the guys while we brought our own. The place we dove was remote, an area in the Marine Sanctuary named “Seven Central” for the seven-gilled sharks often seen there. Visibility wasn’t bad, and the depths of five to twenty-five meters meant experienced free-divers like us could have a lot of fun.

I asked everyone to take and post photos, which the charter operator was more than happy to do. The shots were better in skin-diving gear, as the tanks and straps didn’t cover so much. I was in my whale-shark pattern wetsuit, while Kai and Amy were wearing their matching Tiger Shark pattern.

Kai dove with Amy for the first hour, getting her comfortable underwater again. She was hesitant at first, but she could tell the bottom from the surface. Once Kai had her along the bottom, she could feel her way along the sand and the rocks. Once again, the mind-link we had was a blessing as we were able to talk to each other underwater.

When it came time to dive the deeper waters for the seven-gills, I had the charter divers bring their scuba gear and cameras as I took Amy as my partner. None of the guys could stay under as long as Amy and I could.

The seven-gilled sharks were plentiful, and it was a new experience for me. I’d seen broadnose seven-gills in aquariums, most recently at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, but never in the wild. Our presence didn’t spook them, with a half-dozen swimming around us when we reached the bottom. We were able to spend about two minutes at a time before returning to the surface to breathe. I used the link to describe everything, and the charter guys got some great videos.

Amy was both thrilled and disappointed as the boat returned from the dive spot. “I love being out here again, but it’s so different when I can’t see clearly,” she said. “I could feel them swimming by, even though they were a dark spot. The bumps were wild.” That wasn’t always good, as bumping was done by sharks to decide if you were food or not. The sevengills ranged from five to eight feet in length and could become aggressive towards divers, but we didn’t see that. I spotted a bunch of leopard sharks, one nurse shark, schools of small tope sharks, and a couple of blue sharks. We also saw sea turtles, sea lions, and a lot of other marine life.

One of the charter boat instructors sat by me on the boat run home when he figured out I wasn’t with any of the guys. He was a nice guy, and he asked me out on a date. I gave him my phone number but told him I’d be out of town for a while. That led to a talk about my Shark Week filming, diving around sharks, and diving places I needed to visit. “Any time you and your friends want to dive, call me up,” he said. Amy and I took pictures with them all and signed a poster for the dive shop before we left.

Early on Monday morning, there were sad faces as we dropped the guys off at the base again. I gave Larry a friendly hug after he thanked me for everything. “Take care of your buddies,” I said. “Everyone makes it through.”

Manuel and Ricardo got more than just hugs from the girls, though their makeout session couldn’t compare to Amy’s. “Next weekend,” Kai promised. They all walked away with big smiles on their faces, unlike some of the others who looked like they dreaded the return. Hammer told us that a few students every class make it through Hell Week just to ring the bell on Monday morning.

Our guys would never ring the bell. We’d make sure of it.

“I love you,” Amy said, staying motionless as the men walked away. I could see the tears going down her face, and I waited until they were gone before I led her back to the car. “Come on. We’ve got stuff to do,” I said.