by Marla Monroe
“I–I…” Before she could say anything more, not that she knew what she was going to say in the first place, someone knocked on the door.
Roy took his own sweet time standing back up again and made no effort to hide the bulge outlined in his jeans or the gleam in his eye. She just sat there trying not to stare at the impressive hint of pleasure that taunted her at eye level. Roy chuckled deep in his throat and opened the door.
Instead of Angie, Denise poked her head inside. She took a long, slow walk up the man’s body with her eyes, making Cynthia instantly jealous and willing to unsheathe her claws on her best friend.
“Um, sorry. I didn’t know you had company, girl. I can come back later.” Denise smiled at her and started to back out of the doorway.
“No need to rush off on my account,” Roy said with a little more hint of Southern twang than he’d used with her. “I’m just leaving anyway.”
Denise looked from him to Cynthia with a questioning expression on her face. Cynthia wasn’t sure what to say. He’d effectively silenced her with that bold chuckle and those taunting words. He slipped past a drooling Denise but stopped just outside the door and looked back at her.
“I’ll pick you up Saturday night. You know what time.” Then he winked and walked away.
“Oh. My. Gawd!” Denise’s words pretty much summed it up.
Cynthia looked down and realized why her hands were numb. She was clasping them so hard they were white from lack of circulation.
“Who was that gorgeous specimen of masculine candy?” Denise asked, fanning herself.
“Hi, Denise. That was Roy. I seem to have a date with him on Saturday night.”
“What about Aden? I thought you were dating him?” Denise frowned. “Did something happen on your date?”
“I had one date with Aden, Denise. That doesn’t mean we’re dating. It means we went out once.” She sighed. “The truth is, I’m not sure what I’m doing.”
Denise settled in the chair Roy had sat in only moments before. “What’s wrong?”
“Remember when I told you about meeting Aden, how he and his friend kept me from falling on my face?” Cynthia asked.
“Yeah. You thought they were both cute, but the other one left and Aden stayed and asked you out.” Then her face lit up as it all made sense to her.
“The friend was Roy.”
“Does he know you went out with Aden Saturday?” Denise asked with an understanding look.
“Yes. In fact, it gets worse,” she admitted. “They both want to date me. They flipped a coin to see who would ask me out first. Aden won the toss. Now it’s Roy’s turn to take me out.”
Cynthia closed her eyes and rested her head on her desk. She really didn’t know what to do. Roy turned her on like a flood light. Aden’s charm was more subtle, but it still packed a punch. She wanted to wrap him around her and count the stars in the sky.
“Oh, boy,” Denise huffed out. “That’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” She sat up again and prayed that her friend would be able to help her think of something.
“I came over to ask you to go out with all of us Saturday night. We’re going to Hogg’s Upstairs Tavern and do a little dancing. Why don’t you ask Roy to take you since you’re going out with him anyway?”
“You’re no help. I was hoping you could help me figure out how to get out of this mess,” Cynthia said.
“Look. Personally, I don’t see it ending well, but you’ve got to see it through. What if one of them is your one and only? You know. The man of your dreams? You can’t throw away a chance like this, Cynthia. It might never come around again.” Denise’s smile was sad but genuine.
“I guess you’re right. I doubt I would sleep a wink if I didn’t see it through, but it doesn’t make things any easier.”
“So. Are you going to ask him to bring you by Hogg’s?” she asked.
“I’ll ask. I don’t know enough about him to know what he likes. He might not like the kind of music they play there.”
Denise gave her a fake look of horror. “Not like country and classic rock? Dump him, girlfriend. He’s not worth it!”
* * * *
“So. How did it go?” Aden asked.
Roy walked into kitchen where he friend was cooking something on the stove. It smelled damn good.
“Fine. I’m picking her up Saturday after work, just like you did.” At least he hoped he was. He hadn’t really given her an opportunity to say no.
“Good. That’s good.” Aden turned back to the stove to stir whatever was in the pot that had him salivating.
“What’s for dinner?” Roy opened the fridge searching for a beer.
“Just stew. We had left over roast from lunch the other day. So how did she act? Do you think she’s going to brush us off after your date with her?”
He jerked his head out of the fridge and stared at the other man. This wasn’t like Aden. He actually sounded stressed. Aden didn’t stress about women, or dates, or crap like that. He was one of the most controlled men he’d ever been around.
“Aden, what’s going on, man?”
He didn’t say anything right away. Instead, he settled a top half on the boiler and reduced the heat before turning to look at Roy. He saw it in the other man’s eyes. Aden really liked this woman. Fuck! He was screwed. He liked her just as much.
“Fuck!” Aden turned around and punched the wall next to door leading outside.
Roy winced. That had to have hurt like a son of a bitch. Aden hadn’t seemed to have felt it, though the wall sure as hell had. There was a nice-size hole in it now. Aden, on the other hand, just stood with his back to Roy, clenching and unclenching his fists. He could see the blood on the man’s knuckle and figured everything had finally come to an end for him. It sure as hell had taken long enough.
He felt like he’d been gut shot and left to die a slow, agonizing death without a gun nearby to end the suffering. Everyone had always said he was an utter failure and come to no good. He’d managed to prove them wrong for sixteen long years. Looked like his time was up.
As much as he already liked and wanted Cynthia, he wouldn’t fight Aden over her. Not so much because Aden was his best friend, or because he thought she would pick the other man over him. He had nothing going for him, and even if she did fall for him and they eventually got together, he couldn’t take care of her like she deserved to be taken care of. Aden had the farm, a legacy, and the ability to keep a roof over their heads and food on the stove. No, he wasn’t just giving up. He was stepping down—and out.
Roy didn’t say anything. He grabbed a towel and wet it with cold water, then pulled another beer out of the fridge. After handing Aden the beer, he plopped the towel over the man’s bloody knuckles and walked out of the kitchen. There was nothing to say. What could you say to your best friend in a situation like this?
I should have fucking backed off from the start. Where was my head?
He snorted as he closed the door to his bedroom. He hadn’t been thinking. That was what the problem was. His cock had taken over and screwed everything up for all three of them. Now everything was all fucked up. Aden, who was always in control, had punched a hole in the damn wall, and he was sitting on his ass instead of picking a fight somewhere to blow off some steam.
He downed the rest of the lukewarm beer and tossed the can in the garbage. Did he go through with the damn date then leave, or go right now? Did it even matter? If it had been anyone else, he’d have just backed off, and it wouldn’t have bothered him one bit for Aden to have dated the woman. But this one? She totally blew him away. There was just something about her that made him want to do anything to see her smile. How fucked up was that?
He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting on the edge of the bed with his head down like a hound dog when Aden knocked on his door and told him dinner was ready. He grunted out a yeah and made himself stand up. They needed to talk about this and settle things.
He needed Aden to know that he wasn’t going to pursue Cynthia after the date. She was all his. He just wouldn’t mention leaving right now. That would come soon enough.
When he walked into the kitchen, the other man had already spooned up the stew, and a pan of cornbread sat on the bar with the butter. Roy threw his leg over a stool and settled in to eat. The tension in the room had his gut rolling. Earlier, the smell of dinner had him hungrier than a starving dog, but now he wasn’t sure he’d be able to choke any of it down.
“I’m not going to ask her out again after Saturday night, Aden. I’ll take her somewhere to eat and then right home.” Roy took a bite of the stew and promptly burned his mouth. “Fuck!”
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you to blow?” Aden asked, a slight smile slipping through the serious expression.
“What do I look like? A fucking girl?” he automatically chimed back.
Aden sighed and put his spoon down. “Look, Roy. You can’t just walk off like that. It’s bound to hurt her feelings if after one date you blow her off.”
Roy’s temper started to burn again. What the hell did Aden want from him? Did he expect him to fight for her then walk off? That was bullshit. If he was going to fight for something against his best friend, he damn well wouldn’t be walking away empty-handed. The price was too great.
“We both date her, together.” Aden’s intense expression when he looked over at Roy assured him that his friend wasn’t kidding.
Chapter Six
“What the fuck?” Roy asked, dropping his spoon into the bowl.
Aden knew what was going through the other man’s head like he knew his own thoughts. They’d been through too much together.
“Tell me you weren’t sitting in your room deciding whether to leave now or wait until after your date with Cynthia.”
Roy’s quick flash of pain and guilt didn’t last long, but Aden had seen it. He’d been right. His best friend was willing to walk away from the possibility of something amazing instead of trying to figure out a way to make it work. Never mind that leaving would have torn Aden up just as much. He didn’t buy for one minute that Cynthia hadn’t made as amazing an impression on him as she’d made on Aden. He’d seen Roy’s face. It had been like looking in a mirror and staring at the raw picture of his own feelings.
Roy closed down and pulled out his old Southern redneck persona like he always did when he was stressed or needed a distraction. Aden wasn’t buying it. Nor was he going to lose his best friend and a woman whom he thought he could see spending the rest of his life with. There had to be a way around it.
“Come on, Aden, man. She’d just be another piece of tail to me. To you, she’s important. Besides, what’s an ole backwoods redneck going to do with someone classy like her? I’d be embarrassing her left and right with her friends. I’ll see the date through and be on my best behavior. Then you can sweep her off her feet, and she’ll never know what hit her.”
Aden had to really grind his teeth to keep from punching Roy in the face. It wasn’t that he’d called her a piece of tail, but that he’d belittled himself like that. He wasn’t some country bumpkin that didn’t know how to use a fucking napkin. It had always pissed Aden off when Roy talked bad about himself and his background like that.
“So you’re saying you were never really serious about her in the first place?” Aden asked.
“Na. I mean she’s got a hot body and all. A man could spend days exploring those curves, but she’s not my style. You know me. I like them nasty. The dirtier the better. If I’d have realized you were really into her, I wouldn’t have screwed things up so bad.” Roy shrugged and went back to eating his stew.
Aden didn’t say anything for a few minutes. He wasn’t sure what to think. He knew his friend. Knew him like his flesh and blood brother. Cynthia was exactly the kind of woman Roy would look for. Yeah, she was classier than they normally dated, but it was still there, a wild streak that lurked just below the surface, like the way she wore that sexy lingerie under those unpretentious clothes.
“So why are you planning on leaving?” Aden asked without looking over at the other man.
“Who said I was planning on leaving?”
“Can’t lie worth a fuck, Roy. You never could.”
“Yeah, well. You can’t have me hanging around like some poor relation when you bring her home. I’m not crazy Uncle Fred who needs someone to take care of him so he doesn’t forget to eat or take a bath.” Roy finished his stew and stood up. “I’ll have the tractor back running by Wednesday. Picked up the part while I was in town.”
“I don’t care about the damn tractor, Roy,” Aden snapped.
“Well what the fuck do you care about?” Roy barked back as he jumped up from the bar.
Finally. He’d gotten what he’d wanted. Roy at the core of who he was. Aden could deal with his friend like this, where they’d both be brutally honest with each other. Normally they didn’t have to resort to pissing each other off, though.
“Us, man. I care about us,” Aden said in a near whisper. “There’s been just you and me for so long now that I don’t know how I could handle any other way of life. I need you, man.”
Roy picked up the stool he’d turned over and grabbed his bowl. It was obvious that he didn’t plan on talking about this any longer, but Aden wasn’t backing away. Too much was riding on their ability to get past this. He wasn’t lying when he’d said he didn’t know how he could function without that other part of him that was Roy. Aden was stubborn, if nothing else. He refused to let this destroy them.
“Yeah, well, I’m not all that into you, bro. I’m sure you can pick some dude up to handle that itch you have.” Roy loaded his bowl and silverware into the dishwasher.
When he turned around, Aden had him blocked in so that he either had to stand there and listen to him or climb over the bar to get away. Aden was counting on Roy being too stubborn to run.
“Stop with the damn jokes, Roy. You can’t cover up how you feel with raunchy humor and snide digs at my manhood. I know I’ve got a big cock.” Aden jabbed his hands on his hips and drew in a deep breath to calm down some. “You know and I know that if Cynthia didn’t already mean something to you, then you wouldn’t be acting like this and planning on leaving.”
“What? You suddenly know what’s in my head? Hell, Aden. Half the time I don’t even know what’s in my head. Don’t fucking try to psychoanalyze me. You might not like what you find out,” Roy snarled.
“I don’t have to psychoanalyze you to know what you’re thinking because you’re more of a brother to me than my own blood. I know you, Roy. You like Cynthia. You like her a lot. I know once you’ve gone out with her, even if you do act the perfect gentleman, that you’ll fall as much under her spell as I have. There’s just something about the woman. You can’t fight it. I don’t want to fight it.”
“Then let me the fuck alone and go after her. She’s all yours. I’m not standing in your way.” Roy had stepped back and was now leaning heavily against the counter.
“And when I do, you’ll leave. That’s not acceptable. You can’t leave.”
Aden didn’t know what to say to make the other man stay. He ran both hands over his head in frustration. He didn’t have the words because those sort of words were reserved for the type of relationship you had with a woman. As much as he loved Roy, it wasn’t that type of love. Saying them out loud to another man was just all kinds of wrong.
“What are you saying, Aden? That you’ll walk away from her, too? Where will that leave us then? We might continue to get along for the most part, but one day you’ll wake up and hate yourself for choosing me over her. You’ll hate me even more.” Roy shook his head. “This is fucked up. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I know.”
He watched as Roy lifted his head and looked up at the ceiling as if he’d find the answers up there. Then he drew in a big breath and let it out in a rush.
“Look. I won’t leave—for now. I can’t
promise how long it will be before I have to, but I’ll stick around for a while.”
Aden felt the tension singing through his muscles slowly release. He felt almost light-headed from the adrenaline drop.
“If it turns out that I like her even half as much as I think I will, I won’t be able to watch the two of you together all the time. Not your fault, and it’s not mine. That’s just how it is.” Roy brushed past him and walked out of the kitchen in the general direction of his room.
“Hell, fire, and damnation.” Aden cleaned up the kitchen on automatic then found himself climbing up on the roof over the garage liked he’d done a thousand times as a kid.
The long-dead stars provided no relief from the ache building inside of him. He lay back and focused on how massive the blanket of twinkling lights appeared when all he could see was the immense night illuminated by their tiny sparks. He could almost imagine he was anywhere in the world when all he could see was the sky above him. He could even be back in Afghanistan, the hot roof against his back not unlike the unrelenting ground he’d often slept on. Some nights it was hot and dry, while others it was downright freezing. Where had everyone gotten the idea that the place was a huge desert?
More often than not, he’d end up in the tall grasses, praying he didn’t step on an IED, improvised explosive device, after the harvest season in May was over. Most of the world’s supply of opium used to make heroin came from that area. It was the main source of income for the populace. Without it, they’d have nothing, which was why they supported the insurgents and not the government. It was also the reason so many had lost their lives serving over there. Once the harvest was over, hundreds of IEDs were plugged back in under the rich soil of the fields.
