Second Chances (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
Page 7
Tavis turned his attention to Kendal. “And you’re a dancer. What kind of money you make doing that?” He honestly didn’t care but was just curious, he had heard they could make a fortune.
Kendal smirked and his eyes twinkled. “Depends, on a good night close to one grand, bad night three to five hundred. On a really good night anywhere between one or two grand,” he offered with a shrug of his shoulders.
Klea dropped her fork and stared openmouthed at him. Tavis tapped the underside of her jaw and laughed. “Great, I think you just stole her heart,” he joked, pecking her on the temple. “Not ever getting up there for you,” he warned.
Klea straightened out. “Well shit, pardon my language, Mag, but when you’re done with him, send him my way and I’ll put him to good use,” she offered.
Jariko chuckled. He liked Mag’s daughter-in-law. She was a lot more open and so spontaneous compared to the little harpy Dane. His laughter grew at the look coming from Kendal. A cross between hell no and absolutely hell no not going to any other woman!
Tavis laughed. “She’ll have you broke in a week,” he warned.
Klea laughed, slapping Dane’s arm. “Las Vegas here we come!” she sang. Dane grunted. She scowled at the two men sitting at her mother’s dinner table. She was not having anything to do with this stupid banter. Didn’t Klea know she was just encouraging the two idiots? Oh and she just couldn’t believe her own brother was being so damn calm about the situation. Surely he knew there was something kinky and wrong going on here!
Kendal smiled. “Not all that rich…stupid youth, although Vegas sounds fun,” he admitted.
Jariko itched to reach out and caress Kendal’s hand at the slight tremble in his young voice. Hurt had been a part of all of their lives, but Kendal had been young and alone through his. At least he and Mag had had some experience in life on their side. “The whole being found in the alley situation?” he asked softly.
Kendal laughed. “Yeah…apparently I walked smack dab into the wrong club and snorted the wrong man’s blow.” Kendal shrugged his wide shoulders. He supposed it went something along those lines. He remembered walking into that club. Sitting at that table, casually picking up the rolled bill, grinning like an idiot at the scumbag sitting on the other side of the table, and arrogantly snorting his coke. He supposed that was how he ended up out in the alley near dead.
Tavis, Klea, and Dane all stared. “You’re a drug user! Mom doesn’t like those kinds,” Klea uttered, speaking for Mag’s children.
Kendal laughed. “No. I made mistakes, I am learning.” His gaze darted to Tavis. “Ever have someone you thought you could just not ever live without? Then have that someone out of your life?”
Tavis frowned. Not really. He shook his head.
Kendal looked at Dane. “You…?”
Dane shook her head. No way would she ever let anyone get that close to her. She had watched her mother fall apart after dad died. She had listened to her mom cry at night when she thought she and Tavis were asleep. It had hardened her, scared her that when she grew up she would be left all alone if she ever allowed herself to love as openly as her mother had. It was safer this way.
Jariko watched both kids’ expressions. “But you did lose someone close,” he whispered.
Kendal cleared his throat. “I didn’t lose the person…Some days I wonder if it would be easier if he died…” He furrowed his brows. “I lost touch with him…” He glanced at Jariko, not sure of how to describe it. His gaze darted to Mag, a lightbulb lighting. “You ever tell your parent something that they just wouldn’t accept?”
Tavis shook his head. “Our parents accepted all that we chose.”
Kendal sighed, hand coming to rest over his heart. “Lucky you…My father slapped my face then punched it till I was on the ground. The last thing I remember of him is his dirty work boot coming at my face.” He looked at Dane and Tavis. “You will never know devastation till the only two people you can trust—should be able to trust, and go to for anything—do that to you.”
Tavis reclined back in his seat, arm draping over the back of Klea’s. That was sucky to say the least. But the guy obviously only grew stronger from the experience.
Dane stared at him, sadness in her eyes. “Your dad did that to you? Why?” She couldn’t imagine a parent doing that to their own flesh and blood. Her mother had had some hard days with them and still she sat them down, talked, and then hugged them and told them she loved them.
Kendal smiled. “Dancing was like me going home with a man and saying here, meet my boyfriend,” he offered, glopping sour cream on his potato. It had been years ago and he had tried contacting his parents, but they would not have anything to do with him. He had broken their hearts in choosing that line of work, choosing to have men as lovers as well as women. He supposed they saw him as a dirty, unfaithful creature.
Tavis snorted. “My dad hated gay guys…but he would never turn me away because I made a lifestyle choice like that,” he replied.
Mag smiled. Tavis’s father most certainly wouldn’t have turned him away because of a lifestyle choice. “I may have,” she replied.
Tavis smiled. “Only because you want grandbabies,” he replied.
Mag smiled. It was true.
* * * *
Mag watched her kids clear the table, Klea more of a hindrance than anything, tossing food at Tavis as he tried to wrap the food, followed with the odd butt slap, poke to his ribs, and pinch to his thigh.
Jariko leaned close. “Had to be hard watching those two,” he whispered, hand brushing her shoulder, his arm draping over the back of her chair.
Mag shook her head. “My son’s in love. Klea’s in love. I love watching them,” she assured.
She cleared her throat. “Coffee?” she asked. Jariko accepted, and Kendal declined as Tavis tossed him a beer, leading him out onto the deck. Jariko stayed with Mag in the house as the others went out.
The sun was setting when Dane left, Tavis and Klea shortly after her. Mag glanced around her empty kitchen. Jariko and Kendal were out on the deck reclined in loungers. She pulled out three more beers. Crap, they were gonna end up spending the night…she wasn’t sure if she liked that. She wanted it, but a person shouldn’t always get what they wanted.
Jariko accepted the beer, pulling her down into his lap. Kendal scooted his chair closer, grabbing up a foot and starting on her arches. She melted in Jariko’s arms.
Kendal stared at the two of them. “Dane is a bit of a snob,” he murmured.
Mag laughed. “Putting that lightly, Kendal, biggest snob I’ve met to date…and one of the meanest people I’ve met,” she finished.
Jariko laughed. “She gets that from you?” he asked, arm draped across her chest, relaxed.
Mag laughed. “Yes…the snob’s from her dad…wait, no that’s me, too. Shit, poor girl is screwed. Next she’ll hate people and turn into a recluse.” She slumped. “That doesn’t sound very thrilling. I had bets going with Tom that she would be a stripper by eighteen.”
Kendal laughed. “And?” he asked, his gaze landing on Jariko for a second then back to Mag. Dane definitely had the body for it. He wasn’t sure if she had the right attitude though.
Mag smiled. “If he had been alive I would have done the happy I-told-you-so dance. It only lasted till she made enough to go to college. She liked it for a while but got bored quick. The only thing that is constant in that girl’s life is children. Deep sense of loyalty to those little ones...” That alone made Mag think of the actions and consequences of what she was doing here. Dane couldn’t be associated with people who did this kind of thing!
Jariko ran his finger down the length of her arm. “And Tavis, he seems rather comfortable with himself.”
Mag smiled. “He is like his father, oblivious to anything around him but aware of everything around him.”
Jariko laughed. “I can understand that.”
Kendal snorted. “Let’s keep it simple, mom and dad,” he mumbled.
Both men laughed. Tavis easily had a foot of height on Klea. She was a tiny little thing. Curly brown hair and boisterous as hell, Jariko liked her, as did Kendal.
“She knows about us, the three of us fucking,” Kendal murmured, looking at Mag. “Your children are in denial…well, Dane is. Tavis…I can’t read that kid worth shit. Unless they just don’t want to come to terms that their mom is banging two men?” he finished.
Mag snorted, pulling her foot from his grip, scrambling from Jariko’s lap, and plopping down on her own chair. “You two should know I don’t like people. However Tom put up with me is beyond me…I think he was part angel.” She cracked open her beer. “When I said I don’t like people, I mean I don’t like people,” she admitted. She could take them for a while but in the end she usually yelled and got mad at them.
Kendal laughed. “Good thing you’re not in my line of work—you wouldn’t make much,” he offered, settling back and cracking his beer open, head tilting looking at the stars.
Jariko’s gaze followed Kendal’s gaze. He loved the country. Stars always shone brighter, air was fresher. “Magan…we don’t want to push you.”
Mag looked at him. “Oh you’re past pushing, Jariko. You already did that and snared me!” she assured. Kendal beamed. They had their foot in the door. She was going to keep them.
Jariko looked at her. “I hear a big but in there.” His heart sunk. She was going to send them away without giving it a go! As quick as all this had happened he wanted it to continue. He wasn’t one to jump head first into anything. But Magan and Kendal. It just felt right. He had not felt so right his entire life.
Mag nodded. “This, whatever you want here, is way over my head,” she started.
Kendal snorted. “Not like we’re asking you to marry us and move in right now.” He groaned.
Mag bit her lower lip. That wasn’t what she was trying to say.
Jariko fingered his can of beer. “I don’t think any of us knows what we’re doing,” he admitted. Shit, he had never felt what he felt for these two before.
Kendal took a swig. “I know what I’m doing. I’m trying to get sweet Magan to fall in love with me and keep me forever.” He looked at Jariko. “You already love me, so we’re past that.”
Jariko laughed. “Cocky little bastard.”
Mag sighed. “See, you two are good. You don’t need me that just adds more trouble to the mix.”
Jariko laughed softly. “We want more trouble to the mix,” he whispered.
Mag looked at him. What was happening here? Was it just her or was Satan softening up? “Ah, sweet angel, douche is softening up Satan,” she sang.
Jariko grunted. “No. I just don’t understand why you would fight this.” He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his chair, looking intently at her. “You were lost last night when you came. Shit, the look of utter astonishment on your face when you had that orgasm. You can’t say Kendal and I haven’t brought something to the table,” he argued. He was grasping at straws here. He didn’t want her to turn them away. He wanted her to leap head first and take the ride of her life.
Mag turned deep red. How dare he bring up her inadequacies regarding her orgasms or lack thereof! She glared at him. “There’s that manners thing!” she grumbled.
Jariko scoffed. “Hey, just pointing out you’re not thinking the whole state of affairs through.”
Kendal furrowed his brow. He didn’t like where this was going. These two would start yelling, and then he and Jariko would get booted out and probably never get to see Magan again. His grip tightened on his aluminum can, his heart sank, and his shoulders slouched.
Mag narrowed her eyes at Jariko. “I don’t and won’t ever base a relationship on sexual urges,” she gritted. She and Tom had loved each other. Yeah, they had a baby young and then another. But she had loved him from first sight and had to have him. That went without touching him! Tears rimmed her eyes. She would not cry in front of these two!
Jariko laughed, and it was short and dry. “Obviously that’s what the problem was,” he murmured. He saw her hand move but felt the sting before his brain registered she had slapped him.
Mag stood and glared at him. “Thanks for the orgasms, gratefully appreciated! Please, feel free to get the fuck off my property!” she ordered, rounding them and ignoring Kendal’s pleading voice for her to come back.
Kendal peeked at Jariko, and his heart ached. He didn’t want to lose Jariko and didn’t want to lose Magan. “What the hell just happened?” he asked.
Jariko sighed, jaw flexing. “She’s trying to back out…I don’t want her to,” he replied. Shit if his heart cried at that moment. Seven years since he had made the promise not to get involved with another woman on this level, of wanting her to be in his life, and here he was panting after this woman.
Kendal slumped. “I don’t think you did a very good job. Maybe you should have just pulled her into your lap and kissed her. She likes your kisses. She melts and does whatever you want.”
Jariko laughed. “No…I want her to acknowledge there is something here. Not be coaxed into it.”
Kendal nodded. Jariko was right. She did need to admit something was between them. And she needed it without the distraction of lust.
Chapter Ten
One week and she had managed to avoid them. She wasn’t sure how they had gotten her number, as she was unlisted. But they called every day, Kendal in the morning and Jariko in the afternoon. Then the both of them together in the evening. It was Jariko’s number. She assumed they were at his place. The first few days they left pleading messages. Those turned into messages of them being silly.
She stared at the ringing phone. It was Jariko. She rolled her eyes, waiting for the answering machine to pick up. “Hey, Magan…We miss you…” A deep inhale of breath.
Magan furrowed her brows, her arms crossed over her chest. He sounded in pain or like he was trying to say something he just couldn’t.
“Promised myself I would never do this again…Maybe Kendal and I are pushing too hard too fast, I don’t know…” Another deep inhale of breath. “Maybe what we all shared was supposed to have been a one-time thing? I hope not…Kendal has to leave soon.”
Magan’s heart crunched. Where did Kendal have to go? Why was he leaving? Had something happened? The questions zipped through her brain. She chewed her lower lip in worry.
“Turns out Dane really doesn’t like us…Ran into her the other day, not trying to start anything but maybe you are right…maybe we should leave you alone.” He went silent.
Mag held her breath.
“Bye, Magan,” he whispered before the messaged beep to silence.
Mag stepped back, leaning against the counter, numb. This was it! They wouldn’t bother her any more. Jariko would get Kendal to back off. Kendal would listen. Tears welled in her eyes. She clenched her teeth. This was why she didn’t get involved! The stupid hurt she experienced when she got attached. She crossed the room. Anger swept through her. She didn’t even know them that long and she was friggin’ crying that this was it! That she would not have them to herself!
* * * *
Kendal looked at Jariko in disbelief. “You did what?” he demanded. Rage and confusion whipped through him. Hurt and heartache. How could Jariko do this without him? Didn’t he have a say in what was happening here?
Jariko reclined back, hands cradling his bottle of beer. “Told her bye…not chasing her for the rest of my life,” he mumbled, taking another swig. He was an idiot! He knew it and now he would just sit and drown in this stupid bottle of beer and pray that the hurt and sick feeling in his gut would go away.
Kendal scoffed, hands planting on the table, face close to Jariko’s. “You’re an idiot! What the hell were you thinking!” he snarled. No way was
he letting Jariko let this go! “You were the one to follow her! You were the one to initiate this whole thing! Now you think you can just call her and say good-bye!”
Jariko offered him a bored look. “Look, Ken. She has a family, kids that obviously don’t approve of this. You know that, you were there when the harpy opened her big yap,” he reminded him of the little lunch intrusion they had had the other day with Dane.
How she had looked down her little nose at them like they were scum of the earth. She made her petty remarks in front of associates. Not just his but Kendal’s. Fortunately Kendal’s associates were a little more open-minded than Jariko’s. He nearly lost his job, was in fact told if he was linked to any sort of derogatory lifestyle to keep it to himself and not flaunt it in public.
Kendal snorted, plopping back. “You’re a chickenshit! That’s what this is about. That little bitch confronted us in front of your associates and made you look bad, made you look like you were some sicko, and now you’re turning tail and walking away!” he argued.
Any respect for Jariko flew out the door. He had thought if anyone could pull this off it would be him! Mr. Man in charge, he could take anything. No…one little girl comes in and calls him some bi freak and he gets scared and tucks his tail between his legs.
Jariko slammed his beer on the table, reached across and grabbed the back of Kendal’s head, pulling him across the table. “Don’t you ever talk to me like that!” he snarled. “I don’t give a shit what those uptight fuckwads think of me!” His eyes darted to Kendal’s lips, and shit if his heart didn’t jerk. “I want you. I want Magan.” His mouth crushed against Kendal’s and everyone in the room stared. Kendal melted, mouth moving against Jariko’s, tongue sweeping into his mouth, demanding more.
Jariko released him, sitting back down. “What are we supposed to do? You’re leaving.”
Kendal slumped back. “I declined the position,” he whispered. Only slightly disappointed, it was what he had been working toward. He finished paying his debt to the shitbags he fucked up with. He was free and clear and had pursued a spot in some office, a regular nine-to-five, and shit if he didn’t get the position with the exception that he had to relocate to their big brother company in one of the bigger cities. He declined. He refused to leave the area. He liked his job at the Sixty-Ninth. He had friends there and there was no way he was leaving Jariko or giving up on Magan. She would come to her senses. She would realize what they all had together.