“You think they’ll object?” Kane lays his hand on my arm.
“Not to me liking men, no. To dating two men at once… I think they’ll have trouble wrapping their heads around it at first, which I think is pretty natural considering I did the same thing.” I chew on my lip as I try to imagine how the night will go.
A pitcher and several glasses banging on the table pulls me out of my head. “How are the local celebrities doing?” Axel shoots Jace a playful wink.
“Don’t be a dick.” Jace flips him off.
“I’m not.” Axel holds his hands up innocently. “You three are the talk of the town, how are you handling it?”
“The talk is behind our backs.” I jerk my head over my shoulder. “You tell us how we should handle it.”
Lennon cocks his head to the side thoughtfully. “Well, half the people are saying they knew all along…”
“No surprise there,” I mutter. “Nona likes to believe she knows everything, and I’m sure her friends are claiming the same.” I don’t know if it’s an age thing or a female thing, but the elderly lady who owns the local market likes to mother everyone, which also means she thinks she’s all-knowing. It’s both harmless and annoying.
Lennon shoots me a wry smile. “Exactly. The other half are surprised they didn’t pick up on it since you never really had a girlfriend or whored yourself out like Cade used to and Deacon still does. And everyone, including the two of us,” he gestures between himself and Axel, “want to know if they make beds big enough for three people.”
Kane chokes on a sip of beer and Jace chuckles while I wipe a hand down my face.
“Seriously, do they? I bet Leni and I could make good use of a bed that big.” Lennon rolls his eyes at his boyfriend. “What?” Axel shrugs innocently. “Tell me you wouldn’t have fun breaking that in.”
That earns him a swat on the arm, and unfortunately, I don’t miss the flare of heat in his gaze that comes with it.
We sip our beers and make small talk for the next hour or so, mostly about the work projects we all have going on. Since we all consider our jobs to be more like play, it's less of a bitchfest and more of a brag session. I’m so engrossed, I totally forget about this being ourbig revealuntil I hear Deacon’s voice echoing through the room as he orders a round of shots.
“When are they ever gonna get tired of that game?” Lennon groans.
“Itispretty funny.” Jace faces me, waggling his eyebrows. “How come you didn’t try to pick me up with some sexy shots the first time I came through town?”
“Because I tried to pick you up with an offer for a massage instead, which you didn’t take me up on by the way.”
“I would’ve if we’d stayed in town.” He bites the corner of his lip suggestively. “Did you buy Kane a sexy shot?”
“Actually, I picked him up.” Kane gives Jace a little half-shrug when he gapes at him.
“You both picked me up in that bar. Best two nights of my life, until you both moved here permanently.” I sip my beer while astonished looks zing around the table.
“Wait – are you saying we picked you up back-to-back? As in the three of us narrowly missed each other in Utah?” Jace’s mouth drops open.
I press my lips in a straight line to hold in my grin.
Kane leans forward to see Jace. “Did you know he was that easy?”
Jace looks me up and down slyly. “Manwhore. Are we sure we want to claim this guy as ours, Kane?”
He taps a finger on the corner of his lip as he pretends to mull that over. “I’m sure.” He leans in to give me a shy kiss on the lips.
“Okay, fine. Me, too.” Jace tugs my head towards him and presses his lips to mine, soft and reassuring. Before we break away a hand slams down on the table, shaking the glasses and causing us to jump apart.
“So, it’s true?” Ryder half-shouts, half-slurs. “What other secrets are you keeping from me, Blake? You’re the one who broke Chase’s heart and forced him to move away, aren’t you?”
My jaw hangs open as I blink my eyes, trying like hell to make sense of what he’s saying. “What?”
“Admit it. You preyed on him then screwed him over. He moved away so he wouldn’t have to see you everywhere.”
Holding my hands up in surrender, I hold Ryder’s cloudy gaze. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ryder. I’ve never been with Chase. He was like a brother…”
“Don’t you say that,” he sneers. “He wasmybrother, not yours. And you drove him away. It took years, Blake. Years for him to get over you. But he did. He found someone and he was finally happy. I backed out of that trip so he could take his new boyfriend. Now he’s dead. He never would have moved from Katah Vista ifyouhadn’t screwed him over.” He thrusts a shaky finger in my face.
