Ways in the Guardian: A Menage Romance Book Collection

by Barbara Downey

  “Josie,” I shouted back. His blue eyes almost sparkled with his smile, but not much more was said. Just hips moving together to the music until I turned my back to him and felt the warmth of his lips on my neck. All it took was the soft touch of his tongue and the light scrape of his teeth and I was done for. I let my head fall back on his shoulder and asked, “Do you want to get out of here?”

  The next morning, I woke up with a much less painful headache than I expected and full recollection of what happened the night before. This made seeing the man lying beside me hardly a surprise and I managed to calmly and quickly collect my things and leave his place without a trace.

  The only consequence I had to deal with regarding that night was Jess’s incessant nagging about what happened, who the guy was, what happened after we left the bar…the questions went on and on. The only question I couldn’t answer was who he was. I knew his name was Luke but we never got as far as asking what each other did for a living. Judging by his place, though, he had a lot going for him.

  “So what did it look like he did?” Jess asked.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I laughed. “He didn’t have any Oscars on his shelves or Olympic medals hanging on the walls.”

  “Well what did he have? A Pulitzer? A Tony? A Stanley Cup?”

  “I don’t remember!” I shrugged. “I was a little more focused on getting out of there than staying to investigate the guy.”

  “Maybe he does play for the Bruins,” Jess continued thinking out loud. “It would make sense. Did you see that guy? Damn.”

  “I did more than see him,” I reminded her. “He could’ve been a football player, too. With arms like that, he definitely does something with sports.”

  And that’s where everything about Luke ended. Jess and I didn’t mention him and we never ran into him again so we eventually wrote him off as just another one-night stand.

  Until my mom announced her engagement.

  I hadn’t actually met her fiancé before their engagement so I didn’t even know if I liked him. All I had to go off of was her accounts of him. I trusted my mom, though, and everything she said about him sounded like he was the best match for her. I always understood why she and my dad had broken up; everything about Mike sounded like everything she wished my dad could’ve been.

  Another great thing about Mike that my mother decided to leave out when she spoke about him was his bank account. She texted me his address where they were having their engagement party – technically right outside of Boston – and I think I almost got in a car accident as I pulled up. He literally had a valet out front to park cars for everyone and every window of the house was lit up.

  I walked up to the door with my mouth hanging open in awe until I saw my mom and a man whom I assumed was Mike standing inside the front door, right beside a massive staircase.

  “Holy shit, Mom,” I whispered as I hugged her. “Why didn’t you tell me he’s loaded?”

  She pulled back with a laugh and held me at arm’s length. “I didn’t want you to think that was why I liked him, Josie.” I rolled my eyes but smiled back at her. I knew the money probably played a little part in her decision but I also knew she wouldn’t let something so superficial dictate what she planned to do with the rest of her life.

  “You must be Josie,” Mike said, holding a hand out to me.

  “I am,” I smiled back. “And you must be Mike. It’s so great to finally meet you.” It would take a while for me to become comfortable around him since mom had kept him hidden for so long so I’d stick with the awkward introductions and lunches until then.

  “Your mom has told me so many great things about you,” he said. I smiled and raised my eyebrows at my mom. We had a pretty solid relationship but she wasn’t one to talk too highly of me – not to people she wanted to impress. Sure, I had my career going for me but I had left home as quickly as I could and threw myself into student loan debt faster than my mom could handle. I was the family disappointment until I landed this job at the law firm a few years ago.

  “Yeah,” Mike continued. “You work down at that law office, Anderson and Marcus, right?” I nodded. “That’s a big accomplishment. Congratulations,” he smiled.

  “Oh, just wait until you hear about his kids,” my mom said, of course diverting the attention from me.

  “Oh, right!” Mike jumped in. “Let me go get them.” He hurried off down the hall, giving me a brief moment to talk to my mom.

  “He treats you well, right?” I asked.

  “Of course he does,” my mom smiled. “You’ll love him once you get to know him. We’d actually love for you to join us for dinner every month. We’re planning family dinner for one weekend, at least. You’re close in age to both of his kids so you’ll get along just fine with them, too,” she insisted.

  As if the Devil himself heard my mother’s comment, Mike walked back over with his kids. Like my mom said, both were relatively my age.

  “Josie, this is my daughter, Avery,” Mike said, introducing the young woman who appeared to be the younger child. She was probably in her mid-20s with dark hair that mirrored her dad’s. “And this is my son, Luke.” Out from behind his dad and the shadows of hell stepped the one man I never expected to see again. That devilish smirk accompanied his light blue eyes again and it felt like Mike’s beautiful house had just crashed down on my head.

  “Avery,” I said, shaking her hand. “Luke.” My response to Luke was much more bitter than I expected but what was I supposed to do when my most recent (and one of the few total) one-night stand was not only standing in front of me but also turned out to be my soon-to-bestep-brother?

  *****

  Needless to say, dinner with my mom and her fiancé’s family was a bit awkward, if only for me. Luke breezed through the entire thing flawlessly, never showing any discomfort with the situation. He threw a couple glances my way just to make me squirm but most of our interaction was through our parents or just making conversation about what we do for a living.

  “I’m a lawyer in downtown Boston,” I said through a thin-lipped smile.

  “That’s amazing,” Luke said, widening his eyes. “Do you have any specialties?”

  “Mostly divorce cases and custody settlements,” I shrugged. “We do get the occasional criminal case every now and then but I have yet to work on one.” Everyone at the table just nodded in acknowledgment of my comment and we ended up in silence. “So Luke, what do you do?”

  “I’m a linebacker for the Patriots.”

  I completely froze. The only thing that ran through my mind was: Are you kidding me? He had one of the most impressive careers possible with one of the most successful teams in the NFL. I may know more about my Broncos from growing up in Denver but I could respect the success the Patriots had had during their career.

  “I knew I recognized you from somewhere,” I said with a quick stroke of confidence. Luke chuckled at my comment and steered the conversation to what his sister did for a living.

  After dinner, our parents let us hang out around the house while they went over some more wedding details and since Avery had left to take care of her son, I was left alone with Luke. I knew our parents were upstairs and far out of ear shot but I pulled Luke into the reading room – which wasn’t the same as the living room or the family room or the office. Damn, Mike’s house was massive.

  “You’re my mom’s fiancé’s son?” I whisper-shouted at him.

  “They’re upstairs. Why are you whispering?” he whispered in response.

  “Because I don’t know what’s going on! I hooked up with the man who is about to become my step-brother.” I ran my hands through my hair and started pacing around the book-covered room. “This isn’t happening. Do you know how awkward every family gathering is going to be from now on? And we can’t even tell anyone why it’s awkward because that will make things even more awkward,” I rambled.

  Luke just stood there in silence watching me overheat and freak out.

 
; “Did you know we were going to be related?” I asked, stopping my movements in front of him.

  “I didn’t even know who your mom was until yesterday,” he said. “We hooked up weeks ago, anyway. Who cares? It’s not like we’re actually related. Where’s the harm?”

  I grumbled in frustration at how lackadaisical he was about our situation. “Our parents would be weirded out. I’m weirded out!”

  “Why? We’re not actually related and when we met, we were complete strangers. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a little fun,” Luke smirked.

  “Well that ‘little fun’ we had is over and it’s not happening again, got it?”

  “We’ll see how long you stand by that,” he replied.

  I rolled my eyes at him and scoffed. “You’re insufferable.”

  He laughed shortly and shrugged. “Just know my offer still stands.” And with that, he left the room.

  My blood was boiling. How could he be so nonchalant about us? Sure, we weren’t yet related and, sure, I totally wanted to hook up with him again, but our parents were getting married, for fuck’s sake. It just didn’t seem right.

  All I wanted was to go home and wake up to all of this as a big dream. The valet left when the party died down to family-only, so I grabbed my keys from the front door and wandered around the grounds Mike owned until my headlights blinked in front of me. With annoyance running through my mind, I called Jess from my dashboard and peeled onto the highway. Her perky voice filled the car around me.

  “How was meeting your mom’s fiancé? Is he hot?” she immediately asked.

  “I found Luke,” I deadpanned.

  “Wait, she’s marrying Luke?”

  “No, but she’s marrying Luke’s dad,” I replied, my hands tightening around the steering wheel now that I had admitted our non-blood relationship to myself.

  “Whoa. So you fucked your step-brother?” Jess said. I groaned at her. She didn’t know not to mention it, but I hated hearing someone else say it out loud. It made it that much harder to deny…or accept.

  “He’s not my step-brother yet,” I muttered quietly.

  “So are you two going to hook up again?”

  “What? No!” I practically shouted. “Our parents are getting married. It’s weird!”

  “No it’s not,” Jess laughed. “You have every opportunity to do whatever you want with him. You’re not actually related. Where’s the harm?”

  Was everyone in the world against me?

  “And what if our parents found out?”

  “Josie, you’re a grown woman. He’s a grown man. You’re fully capable of making your own decisions. I don’t think your mom is going to be upset about you shacking up with someone like Luke again.”

  “Someone like Luke, sure. But Luke is technically her step-son. I don’t know, Jess,” I finally sighed. “We obviously won’t end up together. I think that’s what’s holding me back. Why sleep with someone if you know it’s going to end?”

  “Um, because it’s fun?” Jess replied as a question. “You can be friends with benefits until you find someone you can end up with. Maybe he can set you up with one of his teammates! Oh, actually have him set me up with one of his teammates too.”

  For the first time that night, I actually laughed a genuine laugh. “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll think it over. Bye, Jess.”

  Was I really considering this? Jess made a good point, though. There would always be a voice in the back of my head reminding me that he was sort of family so I wouldn’t ever let myself develop feelings for him. But any further hooking up would risk my mom and his dad finding out. I couldn’t imagine how they would react. Jess still made a good point about that, though. We were both grown adults. We would reap the consequences of our actions, not our parents.

  What was happening?

  *****

  I went three weeks without talking to or running into Luke and I was thanking God for the break from the stress. Until my mom called. Once again, my mother was making things more complicated for me.

  “Luke gave Mike some tickets to the game this Sunday. There’s one for you if you want to join us,” she said. No matter how much I wanted to say no, I couldn’t. Part of me was desperate to go because I love football but another part of me knew if I told my mother no, she’d be so upset about it and wonder what she did wrong to make me avoid her.

  Begrudgingly, I accepted the offer and met Mike, my mom, and Luke’s sister Avery at Mike and my mom’s place. I hadn’t met Avery’s husband or kids yet but I understood why she didn’t want to take the kids to a loud and rowdy football game.

  Even though I grew up in Denver and was raised to love the Broncos, I did have a Patriots jersey or two so I would fit in at the game. After all, wearing a Broncos jersey to a Patriots/Dolphins game would be a little awkward.

  When I walked through the front door, Mike, mom, and Avery were all sitting in the living room waiting for me. I was still the odd one out, though. They were all wearing replicas of Luke’s jersey with “Bianchi” on the back while I had my slightly older Tom Brady jersey on. At least I was supporting the right team, right?

  “Josie! Good, you’re here. Don’t get too comfortable. We were just about to leave,” my mom said, running around and grabbing a jacket and her purse and all the other little things she would need for the game.

  I didn’t even really want to be there so I stood by the front door and waited for everyone to head outside. Avery made polite conversation but we hadn’t gotten to know each other very well yet so we had no idea where to take our conversation.

  “Oh, Luke said he actually already knew you,” Avery said once we were all in Mike’s Rover.

  My shoulders stiffened at her comment and I barely squeaked out a quiet “what?” in response.

  “Yeah. He said you two met at a bar a few weeks before we all met for the first time. You and a couple friends talked to his friends for a bit. He said he didn’t directly talk to you but he saw you with the other girls.”

  A rush of relief washed over me at her explanation. The last thing I wanted was anyone other than Luke, Jess, and me knowing the truth. “Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that. I think I remember that. Yeah, like he said, we didn’t actually talk to each other. That’s so weird.” I forced a laugh but knew I’d have to talk to him about this kind of thing. If he kept telling his family stories about us, I’d have to know about them first so I could run with it. Otherwise, I knew I’d end up slipping up at some point.

  Conversation switched to Luke and how the Patriots were expected to do throughout the year. Even I knew the Dolphins didn’t stand much of a chance. The Patriots are one of the most historically successful teams in the NFL. The game would be a breeze.

  I didn’t know what to expect when Mike said he had tickets to the game. Maybe fifth row on the 50-yard line, even front row on the 50. What I didn’t expect was a private lounge up at the top. The room was massive and had an array of sofas for all of us to sit on, as well as a bar on the veranda so we could get drinks.

  “Holy shit,” Avery murmured under her breath.

  “Right?” I quietly laughed beside her. “There’s one thing I’ve never understood about these rooms, though.” This caught the attention of Mike and my mother too, all eyes turning to me. “I know it’s cool because it’s private and fancy, but I always thought it would be more fun to watch from the front row. I mean, if you can afford a lounge, you can afford front row.”

  Mike nodded in understanding but tried to explain it anyway. “This way, you can always see the entire field. You get to sit back and relax while you watch the game.”

  My mom was silently willing me to leave it be, but I was never one to back down from my stance. “I just feel like football is meant to be engaging, you know? Screaming and yelling is more fun when everyone around you is doing it too. Up here, it just feels different. It’s like watching it at home from a TV except more expensive.”

  My mom started twirling her beer bottle in her
hands, probably expecting Mike to get annoyed with my antics. Instead, he started laughing. “You raised a smart daughter, Mary,” he said, turning to my mom. “Next time, I’ll try to get us some front row seats.”

  Avery and I had left the lounge to go to the bar when she finally brought up the one topic of conversation I wanted to avoid, even though he was on the field in front of us.

  “You and Luke really didn’t talk at the bar?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “Why do you ask?” Our talk was briefly interrupted as we ordered our drinks but Avery sighed and looked back at me.

  “It’s just, the first day we all met, you and Luke were acting sort of…odd, I guess. I don’t know how to explain it but it was like you two knew each other. Just little bickering here and there. I thought maybe I had missed an earlier family dinner and you two really did know each other.” She paused for a second before shaking her head. “I don’t know. Don’t worry about it.”

  “No, it’s okay,” I assured her. “I’m sure we did talk a little bit. Most of my attention was on one of the other guys he was out with.”

  “Was it Jarrod?” she smiled. “He’s a tight end on the team but he and Luke hang out all the time. He’s cute. You should see if Luke can set you up.”

  Even though I had no idea who Jarrod was, I nodded in response. Maybe I would have to see if Luke could set me up.

  The game started when we were halfway through our drinks and Avery and I started talking more and more. By the time halftime rolled around, I felt like we had known each other for ages.

  “Are you going out with the team afterwards?” she asked, right before the start of the third quarter.

  “What?”

  “The team invites family to go out to some bars with them after home game wins. It’s usually pretty casual since they can’t get too wasted but it’s a good time.”

  “Are you going?”

  Avery shook her head. “I would but I’ve already spent so much of the day away from Ian and the boys. You should go, though! Luke will take care of you. Oh! And Jarrod will be there,” she added, raising her eyebrows at me.