by Marla Monroe
“Bet ice would be better for you.”
She just shrugged and walked back to the kitchen. He opened the freezer and pulled out an ice tray. She still used ice trays for crying out loud. She deserved so much better than this. He sighed and picked out two cubes and wrapped them in her cloth. Then he held them gently against her lower lip.
She looked up into his eyes, and he lost himself for a few seconds. Everything he wanted was there in her eyes. He wanted to go to sleep next to her and wake up with her each morning. He and Jayson had talked about how to approach her for years.
He focused on her mouth, and before he knew it, he was kissing her. It was just a gentle kiss, but he’d broken their silent promise to remain friends forever.
Jayson walked in and took one look at the situation and joined them. Joshua moved back to let his brother have his kiss. Jayson leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth that wasn’t hurt, licking across it before he moved back.
“W–What’s going on, guys?”
“Haley, we’ve wanted you for years. We’ve waited on you to be ready for us. I think you’re ready now.” Joshua cupped her cheek.
“But we’re friends. We always have been. We always will be.”
“You’re right. We always will be. But we’re going to be so much more, too, Haley.”
He replaced the ice on her lip and cheek. Then he led her over to the living area and had her sit on the couch. He and Jayson sat on either side of her. Jayson clasped his hand with hers and Joshua laid her head on his shoulder. He’d jumped the gun slightly, but it was for the best that she knew their intentions. Now they didn’t have to pretend to date her. They could just take her out and court her.
“Haley, we’re taking you out next Saturday night. We’ll go to eat steak and then go dancing somewhere else, so we don’t have to worry about Matt causing a scene.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to do that, Joshua.”
“I think it’s a very good idea.”
“We’ll screw up our friendship.”
“We’ll make it stronger. You’ll see. We’re not letting you go, Haley.”
She didn’t say anything. He knew she was thinking it over, trying to figure out a way around him, but he wouldn’t give her a way. They were claiming Haley once and for all.
“Let’s get her ready for bed, Joshua. She’s exhausted.” Jayson stood up and pulled Haley up with him.
Joshua agreed and helped him usher her back toward her bedroom. They helped her take off her boots. She didn’t complain as they began to unbutton her blouse until they actually started pulling it off.
“Wait! What are you doing?”
“Getting you ready for bed. You’re dead on your feet, Haley.” Joshua pulled her blouse off while Jayson unfastened her jeans.
“I can undress myself, guys.” She yawned.
“We know. You’ve been doing it a very long time, but we want to put you to bed tonight, Haley.”
Jayson pulled her jeans down, and she stepped out of them for him. Joshua unfastened her front closure bra but she put her hands up to hold it together.
“We’ve seen you before, Haley. We used to go skinny dipping together.”
“But we didn’t touch each other.”
“What do you wear to bed, Haley?” Jayson stood up.
Joshua could tell by how Jayson’s eyes had gotten darker that he had smelled her sweet pussy. He envied him that. But he would taste her soon enough. He pried her hands away from her bra and pulled it off.
“I–I sleep nude.”
“Good. So do we, baby girl.” Joshua kissed her forehead.
“I can’t take your panties off. I won’t leave if I do,” Jayson told her.
Joshua picked her up before she could stop him and Jayson pulled back the covers. He laid her on the mattress and pulled the covers up over her.
“Sleep well. We’ll call you tomorrow.” He kissed her gently on the lips then stepped aside so that Jayson could do the same.
“We’ll lock the door on our way out.” Joshua turned off the light and closed the bedroom door. He sighed at having to leave her but it was too soon to take her. They needed to court her first. He just hoped he had the strength to wait.
* * * *
The persistent ring of the phone the next morning woke Haley up. She rolled over to look at the clock and groaned. She grabbed her cellphone and answered it in a less than enthusiastic voice.
“Hello.”
“Haley. You bitch. I’ll make you pay for that stunt last night. The bastard broke my nose.”
“You deserved it, Matt. Don’t call me again.” She hit end and turned the ringer off. Then she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.
Thirty minutes of tossing and turning later, Haley gave up and climbed out of bed. She glared at the cell phone before stomping off to the bathroom. When she climbed into the shower, she sighed. It felt good to her stiff muscles. Maybe she would go for a ride this morning. She had plenty of time since she’d gotten woken up so early.
Then the events of the night before came crashing back into her mind. Joshua and Jayson. They’d undressed her the night before and put her to bed. They’d kissed her. God, what was she going to do? Everything was ruined now. She’d lost her best friends, her rocks when everything else in the world went wrong.
She couldn’t face them again. What was she going to do? How could she go over there and see Sugar Cube? How could she see them in town and not talk to them?
She scrubbed her face in an attempt to stop the tears. They just kept coming, though. She finally let them fall unchecked and leaned against the ceramic tile and waited for them to stop on their own.
Too much was happening in her life, first Matt, now her best friends. She desperately needed them and they were part of the problem. Why had they done it? Why did they want to ruin everything they had with sex? She wasn’t one of their usual conquests. She didn’t even look remotely like any of them. Where they were all willow small, she was large-boned with hips. She was too plump for their physical attention. What were they thinking?
Haley finally climbed out of the shower when the water had turned cold and dried off. She chose an old pair of jeans and a ratty T-shirt that was comfortable to her. She didn’t have anywhere she needed to be today since it was Sunday. She would stay in and figure out what to do.
Someone knocked on the door. She hesitated to see who it was in case it was Matt. It would be just like him to show up and harass her some more. When the knock came again, she gave in and looked out the window. Jayson and Joshua stood there dressed in faded jeans and button-down shirts. They looked entirely too good. She’d made sure she never noticed that before. Now she couldn’t stop noticing.
She laid her head against the door and drew in a deep breath before opening it. She plastered what she thought would be a solid smile on her face.
“Hey guys.”
“Haley, we came to take you out for a ride.” Joshua leaned against the door jamb so she couldn’t close the door now.
“Thanks, guys, but I was planning to stick around the house today and watch movies.”
“We need to talk, Haley,” Jayson said.
“There’s nothing to talk about. Last night was just a fluke. I’d had too much to drink and Matt had gotten out of hand…”
“You only had two and a half beers in three hours. That hardly touched you. Yeah, Matt got out of hand, but that had nothing to do with how we feel about you.” Joshua shouldered the door open wider and stepped in, backing Haley further into the room.
“Please, guys. Don’t do this. I need you too much to lose you.”
“You’re not going to lose us, baby girl. We’re not going anywhere.” Joshua continued to back her across the room.
Jayson stepped in and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the kitchen and began to rummage around.
“What do you want from me? I’m nothing like your other women. You aren’t really seriously talking
about dating me.”
“No, you’re nothing like them. You’re the real thing, Haley. We’ve wanted you for what seems like forever.”
“Where do you keep your coffee filters?” Jayson called out.
“What?” She looked back and forth between the two men. “They’re in the third cabinet on the right behind the coffee cups.”
“Why do you think we made that crazy bet last night? We wanted to take you out.”
“I don’t understand. Why now?”
“We’ve been hinting around for a long time, Haley, but you’ve either been oblivious to us or ignored us. We don’t want to wait any longer.”
“What happens when it’s over? We can’t just go back to being friends as if nothing ever happened.”
“Maybe it won’t end, Haley. Have you thought about that?” Jayson leaned against the bar. “Coffee will be ready in a minute. I’m sure you can use a cup.”
“What are you doing up so early, anyway? We figured we’d get you out of bed. You always sleep late on Sundays.” Joshua’s brow furrowed.
“I couldn’t sleep anymore. I got up and took a shower. I was just coming in here to start the coffee.”
“Let’s get some coffee in you, and then we’ll go for a ride.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, only half interested.
“We thought we’d ride out to the lake.”
Joshua walked over to the kitchen and took the cup of coffee Jayson had poured. He walked back across the room and held it out for her to take. She hesitated for a second, and then took it from him. A spark tingled her fingers where they touched his. She jerked back, sloshing some of the hot liquid over her hand.
“Jayson, get a cold cloth. She’s burned herself.” Joshua took the cup from her hands and looked at where the coffee had scalded her.
“It’s okay. It didn’t hurt that bad. I did it to myself.” She tried to pull her hand away, but Joshua held on to her wrist.
Jayson hurried over with a wet, cold cloth and gently laid it on her hand. Joshua backed her up until the back of her legs hit the edge of the couch. She sat down and both of the men followed her, sitting on either side of her.
“I hope it doesn’t blister up.” Joshua took the cup he’d set down and handed it to her, holding it until she had a good grip on it this time.
She sipped at it and closed her eyes. She had needed this. While Jayson held the cloth over her other hand, she enjoyed her coffee and pretended that they weren’t there at the moment. She was so confused about them. What she needed was for them to leave and let her figure it all out.
“How does your hand feel now?” Jayson asked as he lifted the cloth and looked at it.
“It’s fine. I told you it was fine to begin with.” She knew she sounded ungrateful, but she was a little on edge and needed some space.
“Looks a little red, but it’s not blistered.” Jayson took the cloth back to the kitchen.
“Let’s go, Haley. We’ll get you something to eat on the way out of town.” Joshua stood up and held out his hand.
“You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”
“We need to talk.”
She sighed and let him help her to her feet. Then she took one last sip of her coffee and handed it to Jayson. He poured it out in the sink and rinsed the cup out. She smiled. They were always thoughtful like that.
“Let me get my purse and phone. I’ll be right back.” She left them in the living room while she gathered her things and drew in a steadying breath. This was a conversation that would change her life forever. She wished it would be in a good way, but she was scared it wouldn’t.
Chapter Four
Haley finished off her sausage and biscuit before they arrived at the lake. Joshua pulled into a clearing and parked the truck. The men climbed out of the truck then Jayson reached for her, helping her out of the truck. She wasn’t sure what to do. Despite having done this with them a hundred times over the years, this time was different.
Jayson turned and looked at her. “Are you coming?”
“I–I, yeah.” She blew out a breath and walked between them to their spot by the lake.
Joshua spread out a blanket under a tree and they sat down. The two men leaned back like always. She couldn’t do it. It wasn’t like any other time they had been out there. She continued to sit upright staring out across the lake. An early morning mist was just rising off the tranquil waters. Here and there a fish jumped. The normal sounds around the lake belied the innocent atmosphere.
Joshua sighed and sat up. “Haley, relax. We’re not going to jump you. We just want to talk.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not having your world turned upside down. Everything I’ve ever known about us is mixed up now.”
“Nothing has changed really. We’re still best friends. Now we want to move it a step farther. We want to become closer to you. Give us the chance to show you how much you mean to us.”
“Let us date you, Haley. That’s all we’re asking right now,” Jayson spoke up.
“I still don’t understand why you want to date me. You’ve always dated model-thin women with polish and sophistication. Not someone like me who is independent and definitely not model thin.”
“They were only for show, Haley. We always planned to make you ours.” Jayson reached over and took her hand in his. “They never meant a thing to us.”
“You’re more woman than they will ever be.” Joshua leaned in and kissed her gently on the edge of her mouth.
Haley closed her eyes and tried to think of all the reasons that it wouldn’t work, but after that tiny little kiss, her mind had gone blank. She knew in her soul that they were good men, perfect men, really. Oh, they had their faults like anyone did, but all in all, they were the best. Why did the thought of becoming more with them upset her, then?
“What about dating us scares you so much, Haley? Is it that there are two of us and you’re worried about what other people would say?” Jayson asked.
“No! I could care less what other people think. Hell, a lot of people already think we’re sleeping together. It never bothered me what they thought.”
“Are you scared of becoming intimate with us?” Joshua turned and looked her straight in the eyes. “Because if that’s the problem, I can assure you that we would never hurt you. We’ll go slow if that’s what you want.
“I–I don’t know what exactly it is. I just know that it’s a bad idea. Someone is going to get hurt.”
“If you didn’t date because you might get hurt, Haley, you never would date at all.”
“I know.” She covered her face with her hands and growled. “I don’t know what to do.”
“That’s easy,” Jayson said. “Go out on a date with us Friday night, and we’ll go from there.”
“If it doesn’t work you’ll back off?”
“I guess that depends on whose opinion it’s based.” Joshua smiled at her.
“Somehow I was afraid you would say that.”
“Lie back and let’s talk like we always do. We could always share what was going on in our lives out here. Go on, Haley.” Jayson urged her back on the blanket.
The three of them looked up at the light-blue sky with its airplane trails crisscrossing the air. Nothing was said for a long time. Then Joshua spoke up.
“We’re having trouble with one of our bulls. It keeps getting out and tearing up fences. We had to put fifty stitches in the old bastard earlier in the week.”
“What’s on the other side of the fence he keeps demolishing?”
“Just a couple of old cows that we’ve let go to pasture. They’ve thrown good calves over the years.”
“I’d say he’s in love with one of them. I’d let him reside with them except when you need him.”
“I worry about him impregnating them. They’re really too old to have more calves.”
“Yep, you’ve got a problem.”
Joshua chuckled. “Thanks for your help, Ha
ley.”
She shrugged.
“What about you? What’s been going on with you?” Jayson asked.
“Not much really. We’ve been really busy lately. Ever since the bosses have started taking some clients in Billings, we’ve been overrun with work.”
Haley’s phone vibrated in her purse. It made a god-awful noise buzzing on her compact. She dug through her purse and looked at the number. Matt. She tossed it on top of her purse without answering it.
“Why don’t you answer it?” Joshua asked, frowning.
“It’s no one I want to talk to.”
It buzzed again. Before she could stop him, Joshua picked up the phone and looked at caller ID. She cringed at the anger in his eyes. She hoped he wasn’t angry with her. There wasn’t anything she could do about it.
“Ah, hell.” Jayson grabbed Haley before she could react.
Joshua answered the phone.
“Matt, you don’t need to ever call her again. Do you understand me?”
He listened for all of five seconds before he lit into the man again.
“She is of no concern to you anymore. If you continue to harass her, you will have me to deal with.” Then he pressed end and held on to the phone for a few seconds before handing it back to Haley.
Haley had the feeling that he wanted to throw it in the lake but had refrained from doing it.
“Who all has your phone number? I want you to change your number, Haley.”
“That’s not necessary, Joshua. He’ll get tired of it all and stop calling. It’s a hassle to change my number. I’d have to notify everyone that has my number and I’m not even sure I can remember everyone.”
“I think it is necessary. I don’t want him calling you anymore. He’s dangerously obsessed with you.”
“I’ll think about it.” She didn’t plan on doing it. She was sure he would stop calling her.
“You have a bruise on your cheek and a busted lip from his obsession last night. What more is there to think about?”
She touched her lip and thought about it. He had never hit her before. She wouldn’t have stood for it. Maybe Joshua was right. Maybe Matt was more than just an annoyance. He had been bothering her for over a month now.
