by Lexi Blake
Crap, he wanted to be back in The Club. Things had been easier there. He’d known there was no way he’d be allowed to step out of line. He could spend his evenings working with subs who never lied or tried to cover anything up. There wasn’t anything to cover up. Besides the occasional scene, he had no real ties to any of those subs.
That had been fantasy. This was real life. In real life, he could fuck up all he wanted and people would help him along. In real life, in real relationships, he had to deal with the fact that he was going to get angry and irritated even with the best-behaved sub. Because she wasn’t merely a sub. She was a woman, and women were irritating and aggravating and the only thing that made life really worthwhile. Fuck, he was in love with her.
He was going to spank her ass red.
He shoved the truck in park and got out. Now that he knew how serious it had gotten, he agreed with Bo’s plan. “Liam, I need you to find out everything you can on the kid who shot at her. If he was the same person who spray-painted my truck, I want to know.”
“I’m already on it.” Li looked up at the sign. “Now this is more like it. Why didn’t you take me here in the first place? I think better with a beer in me hand.”
Li strode in.
Trev hung back, Leo standing beside him.
“So we go in, kidnap Bo, and get out.” There wasn’t a hint of worry in Leo’s voice. It was as though he wholly approved of the plan. “You know, I always did think Julian put far too much faith in contracts. A good kidnapping followed by some time on the rack. That’s what some subs need. A claiming. Everyone loves a good claiming. Lexi’s right about that. Now the whole ‘Dom submits to the sub to prove his love’ stuff is complete crap, but she’s right about the claiming part.”
Trev stopped and faced his mentor. He was a pain in the ass sometimes. “I’m not claiming Bo.”
“Really?”
“Not in that way. I’m not taking him home and fucking him. It’s not going to be that way.”
Leo shook his head. “That’s what you all say. Then the butt sex starts.”
Trev turned. Leo was utterly obnoxious at times. This was one of those times. “I’m planning on talking to him.”
Leo slapped him on the shoulder as he fell in step with him. “That’s your first mistake. I don’t think talking to Bo is going to help. If you want your very own crazy three-way, you’re going to have to make it happen.”
“One of these days, Leo, you’re going to end up in a crazy-ass threesome, and I’m going to laugh. I’m going to sit back and laugh.”
Leo shook his head. “Not going to happen. A. I’m not even close to bisexual. B. Not interested in sharing.”
“I’ve met your brother. You have the same taste in women.” Wolf Meyer would probably have been all over Shelley, too. The Meyer brothers were incredibly different, but the same in some ways.
They reached the front steps. Trev got a little sick to his stomach. It had been years since he’d been inside a bar, and now he was going into the belly of the beast for a man who might hate his guts.
“I’ll kill myself before I share a woman with my brother. Wolf is intolerable. He’s my brother and I love him, but I want to kill him half the time. He has no organizational skills. He throws his clothes everywhere. He’s a slob, and he still eats like a five-year-old. I can’t live with Wolf much less share a woman with him.” Leo was looking at him with an outraged expression. It was actually slightly prissy.
All of his fear fled. He’d managed to make big, tough Leo Meyer look like a prissy schoolmarm. He could handle this.
Trev strode through the doors of The Rusty Spur certain everything was going to be fine.
Chapter Eleven
Nothing was ever going to be fine again.
Bo scrubbed a hand through his hair as the bartender set another whiskey in front of him. Someone sat down next to him and ordered a beer, but Bo didn’t turn the man’s way. He stared at the glass in front of him. He wasn’t so far gone yet that he couldn’t think, couldn’t see Mouse’s pretty face turned up to his telling him they couldn’t be together. He wasn’t sure anything would obliterate that sight.
He pushed the drink away. He was drunk enough. It was probably time to figure out how he was getting home.
“Hey, Bo.” Clarissa slid on the barstool next to him. Her blonde hair was tucked under a fashionably crushed, pink cowboy hat. Her breasts were practically hanging out of her tank top. “Sorry about last night. That Brian can get mean when he’s drunk.”
“He wasn’t the only one.” He hadn’t forgotten what she’d said about Mouse. Did she honestly think she could call his best friend a pathetic whore and he’d still sleep with her? Probably. That was his reputation. He’d take anything they dished out and laugh it off.
He was the pathetic one.
Her hand slid across his. “Don’t hold that against me. Every woman you’ve ever dated hates that girl. I don’t intend to be another of your girlfriends who takes a backseat any time Mouse Hobbes scrapes her knee. You can’t blame us for disliking her. I was mad that you were dumping me for the night. I had big plans. I still do. I get it now. You didn’t want Melody. You only wanted me.”
He nearly came off his barstool as her other hand found his thigh. He knew one thing for sure. He couldn’t have Mouse, but he loved her, and he wasn’t about to start up with another woman. Now that he knew he really loved her, he couldn’t accept what Clarissa was offering. “I don’t think so.”
Her cold, brown eyes rolled. She leaned forward, and her hand tightened on his thigh, dangerously close to his cock. Her voice was low as she leaned in. “Come on, Bo. Don’t be an idiot. No man turns me down. I’m not about to be made a laughingstock in this town. I won’t let anyone say Mouse Hobbes took a man I wanted. Now you’re going to get up off this barstool, and we’re going to get out of here. Or I’ll tell everyone here you’re just as queer as your brother.”
He froze. He didn’t have Mouse anymore. Did any of it matter? And he was starting to hate these people he’d thought of as his friends. But did he really want this fight? Would it do anyone a lick of good? He felt slightly frozen.
“Or you can take your hand off him before I’m forced to do something I don’t want to do.” A low, menacing voice cut through the thudding music.
Bo swiveled the seat around and saw Trev McNamara and Leo Meyer staring down at Clarissa. He was damn happy they weren’t staring at him. Both men looked ready to commit murder or something worse. Clarissa turned on her stool, her hand coming off his leg. She looked Trev up and down, her lips curling up. She didn’t seem to pick up on what Bo was seeing. He was pretty sure they weren’t sizing her up for a fun night.
“Damn, Trev, you look fine. It didn’t take you long to find your way back here. But then everyone knows Trev McNamara likes a good time.” She actually smiled and leaned forward, letting her hand trail down his chest.
“You get your hands off me right now.” There was no way to mistake the coldness in his tone.
She turned toward Leo.
Leo shook his head, dismissing her. “I’m not interested, either. Go find easier prey. And think twice before spreading rumors about Bo. I can make your life hell, and quite frankly, I would probably enjoy doing it. I get bored.”
Yep, Leo was one scary dude, and Clarissa seemed to finally get the point. She stood up, and a look of fury crossed her face. She opened her mouth.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Trev’s face was a stony mask. Maybe Trev was a little scary, too.
Clarissa turned on her perfect boot heels and strode away.
“Now you’ve done it.” He turned back to his whiskey. It looked like he was going to need it after all. He reached for it, but Trev’s hand whisked it away. He shoved it down the bar where Leo handed it back to the bartender.
“I think you can consider Mr. O’Malley’s tab closed until further notice,” Leo informed the bartender.
“Hey, I was drinking that,” he prot
ested.
“Not anymore you aren’t.” Trev sat down on the stool next to him. His face had softened.
“You don’t have any right to tell a man what he can and can’t do.” What the hell was Trev doing here?
“I’m exactly the person to listen to about this. That whiskey isn’t going to fix your problem. Let’s get out of here. We can talk about Beth.”
Fuck. Trev had obviously heard his message to Mouse. “I’m not going to talk about this with you. I’m not going to try to kiss her again if that’s what you’re worried about. She picked you. You win. I lose. Now leave me be.”
“What if neither one of us had to lose?”
Bo stopped. What was Trev saying? Fuck. He knew exactly what Trev was saying. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t thought of himself in the hours since he’d realized Mouse wasn’t going to leave Trev for him. How could he not think about it? He had living, laughing, loving proof paraded in front of him every day that a relationship like that could work.
“I don’t like men.” That was why it couldn’t work. He wasn’t bisexual. No matter what his father said. He didn’t begrudge his brother and Lucas. Hell, Bo loved Lucas like a brother himself. Lucas was part of his family, but he didn’t view other men as sexual objects.
Trev sighed. “I don’t have sex with men, either. I know it seems like I’ve done just about everything decadent the universe has to offer, but I haven’t done another dude. I don’t have a problem with it. I’m simply not intrigued. Rest assured, I’m not after your dick.”
Bo finally looked at Trev. “Fine. I don’t like you.”
Trev seemed nonplussed about that fact. “We got along once. We could get along again. For Beth’s sake.”
Crap. His cock twitched at the thought. Hadn’t he had enough to drink that his cock should be asleep now? He had a sudden vision of Mouse, her gorgeous pale form surrounded by their tanned skin. She would be so fucking small in between them. They could turn her from one to the other, kissing her at will. She would be a pretty doll between them. They could lavish her with pleasure in a way one man alone couldn’t.
“I don’t think Mouse would go for that.” No way was this going to happen. And even if she did want it, would he be able to do it? After what Trev had done? What had Trev truly done? He’d closed a door in Bo’s face. And Bo had walked away. That was what he always did. He always walked away. And he never really tried. He expected that it would all go bad. He expected that if he fought, he would lose.
Wasn’t that what he’d done with Mouse?
His head was swimming with alcohol and possibilities.
“You are going to call her Beth. I won’t allow you to call her by that nickname anymore,” Trev said, his tone stern. “Her name is Beth. That’s one of the rules.”
Rules? There were rules now? “I think I’ll call her whatever I like.”
He tensed as a big hand went around his neck, and he was hauled off of his barstool.
Trev looked down at him, his eyes narrow and his face as hard as a rock. “You will show her some goddamn respect. Whether you end up accepting my proposal or not, if I ever hear you call her by that demeaning name again, I will beat the fuck out of you. You can’t take care of her while you’re putting her down. And you sure as fuck can’t take care of her until you start taking care of yourself.”
Bo put a hand on the barstool, trying to regain his balance. The whole world felt like it had tilted, and he wasn’t sure where he was going to land. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“What were you about to do with Clarissa? Tell me what your solution to that problem was.” Trev said the words like he already knew the answer. Bastard.
There was nothing that said he had to be honest. “I was about to tell her to go fuck herself.”
The man who had been sitting beside him chuckled. “No, he wasn’t. He’s lying. I watched the whole bloody thing.”
O’Donnell was here? Wasn’t he supposed to be out there investigating that Austin kid? “Hey, I thought you were working for me.”
O’Donnell hefted his beer. “I’m off the clock, mate. And I’m excellent at reading people. You were going to leave with her to keep the peace, and you would have ended up sleeping with her for the same bloody reason.”
“I was not going to sleep with her.” He damn straight knew that. “I wasn’t going to touch her.”
“You weren’t going to stand up for yourself, either,” Trev said, letting him go.
Bo took a quick step back. He rubbed the nape of his neck. “I wasn’t going to sleep with her.”
Leo crossed his arms over his chest. “I doubt that. I believe you would go into the situation thinking that. But would you honestly be able to make the decisive effort it would require to put her off? She’s an aggressive woman. Would you be able to tell her effectively that you didn’t want to sleep with her? Or would you fall into the situation because it’s easier to do what she wants than it is to piss her off?”
“I wouldn’t have slept with her.” He said it with a stubborn bent to his words, but he could see some truth to what they’d said. He didn’t like to admit it, but a whole hell of a lot of his life had been about keeping the peace and fitting in.
It had cost him Mouse. Beth. Her name was Beth.
What would have happened if Beth had made the first move? Would he have gone along with it? Would they be together now? Would he be happy?
Trev’s hand came down on his shoulder, though this time there was an air of almost fraternal affection in the gesture. “It’s all right. It’s like anything else. Standing up for yourself is something that has to be taught in some people. I can help you.”
He’d heard that before. “Yeah, I’m not buying the shit you’re shoveling. I bought it once. Not again. I might not be the strongest man around, but I’m sure not a fool.”
Trev’s face fell. “Can we talk about this? I don’t remember what I did to you. I was a different person. I’d like to talk this out for Beth’s sake. Can’t you see she’s going to be miserable without you?”
“Fine, then you can leave, and I’ll take care of her.” Even as he said the words, he realized how selfish they were. Mouse…Beth deserved better. And how would he take care of her? According to his brother, Beth needed more than he could give her. Beth needed a Dom. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew about the books she read. She was interested in the lifestyle. How could he say he loved her when he wasn’t even willing to explore something she needed?
Trev took a step back. “I’m not going anywhere, and you know it. And I don’t have to be here. I have the girl. I don’t have to share her. She’s mine now, and she’ll stay that way. But I lo—care about her. It’s my job in this relationship to make sure she has what she needs. I think she needs you.”
Leo had taken on a distinctly professorial tone. He was more relaxed and infinitely more grating on Bo’s nerves. “Bo, Trev is trying to be giving. Maybe we should take this someplace quieter and have a session. I think there are a lot of emotions here that need to be talked about.”
“Are we in couples counseling?” The idea horrified Bo.
O’Donnell spit out a mouthful of beer, he was laughing so hard.
Trev threw Leo a look. “Can you stop?”
Leo shrugged. “You’re the one who wanted to talk to him. I told you it was a mistake, but if you insist on talking, we should do it in a professional setting. I can probably make do with Aidan’s office. Oh, we could even have a talking stick. You’re not allowed to speak unless you’re holding the stick. It forces you to really listen to the other person. Although easily distractible people play with the stick.”
“Don’t make me go with him.” He did not want to end up in some weird therapy. Trev suddenly seemed like the safer bet.
And there it was. Trev was right. He would have gone with Clarissa. He would have allowed himself to fall into a situation that was bad for him. Hadn’t he been doing that all his damn life?
“Don’t listen to L
eo.” Trev shook his head. “He’s being obnoxious so you’ll turn to me. He’s a manipulative son of a bitch.”
“The bastard has a PhD in manipulation,” O’Donnell said with a nod.
“That’s fair,” Leo allowed. “But I believe I just proved my point. Bo, Trev is offering you something most people in your position never get. Do you love Beth?”
He nodded, unable to say the words.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but she needs more than you can give her right now,” Trev said, his voice gentler than before.
“Because she’s submissive.” He hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it because he couldn’t be her Dom. He knew it. He also knew how Lexi and Lucas had blossomed under his brother’s care. He’d seen the way Mouse…fuck…Beth had clung to Trev after a single night with him. “I don’t understand it.”
“Are you willing to try?” Trev asked.
If it meant not losing half his heart? “Yes.”
Trev smiled. “Then we’ll get through this. But we should have that talk first. I don’t understand what I did to you.”
“Are you really off the drugs?” He had to know. If Trev had fought his way back, maybe he deserved to be heard. He wasn’t sure if he could trust the man, but he’d said he was leaving in a year. He’d told Beth he was leaving, and he wouldn’t be taking her along. What if Trev could bring them together, help him be what she needed? He didn’t have to love the man. Hell, he didn’t even have to like him. He only had to listen.
Trev scrubbed a hand across his face, a weary look in his eyes. “I’ve been sober for two years. This is the first time I’ve walked into a bar since the day I stopped drinking. Contrary to what the shrink over there believes, I don’t even want a drink right this second. I honestly want to get out of here. The smell is bugging me.”
Bo stood for a moment, really looking at the man. Was he lying? Why the hell would he lie? What did Trev gain from any of this? If he was telling the truth, then what did Bo lose by at least talking to the man? He stood to gain everything he wanted. “All right. Let’s get out of here. I probably shouldn’t drive.”
