by Krista Wolf
Between her fantastic looks and sunny disposition, I could easily see why Tate liked her so much. And make no mistake, he did like her. I’d been around my friend long enough to know when he was into someone. And he was most definitely into this woman. Not that I could blame him one bit.
“Alright, well slap a ‘sold’ sticker on her and keep her safe for me,” I told her. “I’ll throw it in the truck on the way home.”
“Done.”
“And if your husband happened to leave any decent tools lying around down there, let me know,” I added. “I’ll be interested in those for sure.”
At the completion of my sentence, Serena laughed. Her laughter was so loud that half the people at the garage sale turned to look our way.
“What’s so funny?”
“What’s so funny?” she repeated glibly. “The idea of Eric fixing anything, much less owning the right tools for the job.”
“Ah,” I smiled. “He was one of those, eh?”
“The kind who’d try to fix a leaky faucet with a hammer,” Serena joked. “And then walk away saying the hammer was broken.”
I didn’t know much about her ex-husband, only that Tate told me she was divorced. I hadn’t been on the basketball team like the others had. My sport had always been football.
But damn, whoever divorced this woman should probably have their head examined.
“Oh, by the way,” she said as I walked toward the front door. “Here.”
She threw something to me, something that flashed in the sun. It traveled the sky in a slow, perfect arc, making it easy to snatch it with my hand.
When I opened my palm, I held a bright, shiny key.
“That’s for the house,” she called after me, “because I’m not always here. Tate has one too.”
Closing my fist again, I slipped the key into my pocket. “Aren’t you worried I’ll rob you blind?” I joked.
“Baby,” she said, and I absolutely loved the way she said the word, “if you find anything worth stealing in this house, let me know and I’ll split it with you.”
Sixteen
SERENA
The week dragged by, and this time it was filled with work, chaos, and sexual frustration. The work part I could handle, because I’d always put in fifty, sometimes sixty-hour work-weeks. The chaos of having a dumpster dropped in my driveway and pickup trucks constantly pulling up to the house was something I could deal with too. That part meant progress. It meant that soon I’d have a second income in the form of a rental property, not to mention the convenience of a handyman contractor living right beneath my feet.
And an overly hot contractor to boot.
No, it was the sexual frustration part that was getting to me. Specifically, the not being able to touch Tate for a few long days. He had a work project he had to deal with, so he was gone for most of the week. And on the nights he could come to do some work on the car? Well, those happened to coincide with Cole working late in the basement.
It was Friday, and for once I had a normal shift ahead of me. I showered, shaved myself smooth, and headed into the kitchen for something to eat… only to find the scent of coffee somehow already preceded me.
“Hey there, sleepyhead.”
I blinked in surprise at the scene: Tate sat at the table, gripping a white porcelain mug of steaming black coffee. But directly across from him…
“Didn’t expect to see us, did you?”
Jacob smiled, sipping coffee from a matching mug. He was already in his beat-up jeans and workboots. Tate was in the jumpsuit I dutifully washed for him. The two of them looked like old friends just sitting there chatting casually. Which of course they actually were.
“W—What are you both doing here?” I stammered.
“Well it’s my day off,” said Tate, “so I figured I’d make up time on the GTO. And since I brought the engine hoist today, I called Jacob to see if he could help me drop that sucker in.”
Jacob stood, made his way to the counter, and poured me a cup of coffee. A flop of blond hair fell across one blue eye as he turned his head toward me and smiled. “Milk and sugar?”
I couldn’t believe they were both here! Bunching my robe up at my chest, I nodded numbly. “Please.”
“Sorry to spring this on you,” Tate apologized. “The old man let me off last minute. Jacob was cool enough to come straight here.”
“It—It’s okay,” I smiled. “No biggie.”
“Good, because setting the engine is a two-man job.” He handed his mug to Jacob, who topped it off while he was still holding the coffee pot. Then he jerked his head at his friend. “Jacob and I were just catching up on stuff.”
I tried to swallow, but there was something of a lump in my throat. “What kind of stuff?”
“You know,” Tate said, teasingly. “Guy stuff.”
I accepted the coffee that was prepped for me with a grateful nod, then finally took a sip. It was better than average. Smooth and relaxing. At all once it occurred to me I was still in my bathrobe.
“Umm… let me just change, and—”
“Bah,” Tate scoffed, pulling out another chair. “Sit down, you’re dressed well enough. It’s not like either of us can see anything, anyway.”
I looked to Jacob, whose mouth was curled into a suggestive smile. He slid back into his own chair, then pointed to mine.
“Besides, we have a proposal for you.”
Intrigued, I sat down between them. It happened mechanically. Like my legs had already made the decision for me.
“We’ve all been working ourselves pretty ragged,” Tate said. “That includes all three of us. So we were thinking of doing something fun. Something other than work, for once.”
I felt warm all of a sudden, like I was still back in the shower. My mind started racing with a thousand open-ended possibilities.
“We were thinking of taking you out tomorrow night,” said Jacob. “Something simple. Dinner and a movie.”
“Taking me out…” I repeated.
“Yes.”
“The both of you?”
The two men exchanged amused looks, then shrugged. “Why not?”
“No reason why not,” I shook my head quickly. “That… that actually sounds like fun.”
“So you’re in?”
“I wish I was,” I lamented. “But I’ve got a wedding to do tomorrow night.”
Tate’s dark brows knitted together. “Do?”
“I’m the official photographer,” I smiled proudly. “Well, unofficial official photographer.”
“Wow, I had no idea,” Jacob said, bringing his mug to his lips. “That sounds cool though. You get paid?”
“Yes.”
“Well shit, tomorrow night’s out then,” said Tate. He paused in disappointment for a second or two, then his eyes lit up again. “How about tonight?”
An instant later, the two of them were looking at me. I was caught off guard.
“Tonight?”
“Sure, why not?” said Jacob. “What time do you get off?”
“Six. Home by seven.”
They looked at each other again and nodded. “That’s perfect. Gives us time to finish up in the garage, go home, grab a few showers…”
“You could always shower here.”
The sentence tumbled out before I could wrap my head around what I was even saying. But the guys were already hopeful.
“So that’s a yes?” asked Tate.
I shrugged internally. I had no logical objections left. Besides, doing something other than work seemed ridiculously exciting all of a sudden.
It also didn’t hurt that I’d be spending the evening with not one but two very gorgeous men…
“Sure,” I said, and I found myself genuinely smiling. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”
The guys raised their coffee mugs, and I toasted them in turn. Then, draining them in two long pulls, they got up and headed into the garage. Jacob went first, with Tate lagging behind just long enough to deliver a smile and wink a
s he ducked through the doorway.
“See you tonight, beautiful.”
Seventeen
SERENA
I opened my front door almost an hour late, and to two very mixed scents. One of them I knew right away to be the spiced vanilla and cinnamon candle burning in the center of my kitchen table.
The other was unmistakably pizza.
“Hello?”
It was strange, calling out in my own house. Then again I knew the guys were here. Both their work trucks were outside, still in front of the house. Cole’s employees were gone though, along with his big blue pickup. They’d been keeping some late hours, but no doubt they’d all knocked off a little early for the weekend.
“Serena?”
I dropped my bag on the table and followed the sound of Tate’s voice into the living room. I found him lounging on the couch with Jacob. The two of them were drinking a couple of beers and flipping through the channels on my big flat panel television.
“Welcome home,” Jacob smiled, standing up. He hugged me then passed me to Jacob, who hugged me even longer.
Shit, this is nice, I thought to myself. I could get used to coming home like this.
“Change of plans,” Tate said, scratching the back of his neck. “Since the three of us worked all day we’re staying in. Dinner and a movie becomes pizza and a rented movie. Much more relaxing.” He looked back at me and raised an inquiring eyebrow. “Good?”
“Better than good,” I sighed happily. “I’ll need to clean up first, though. Right now I smell like onion rings.”
“Onion rings?” smiled Jacob, perking up.
“On onion rings the scent might be amazing,” I chuckled. “But on a woman who just worked a nine-hour shift… it’s just not the same.”
“Fine,” Tate said, urging me into the hallway. “Go ahead and shower up. We’ll have hot slices and cold beer ready when you get out.”
“And don’t dress up either,” said Jacob, tipping back his beer. “Tonight we’re going for casual comfy.”
I made my way into the bedroom, where I’d usually disrobe. Instead, I grabbed some fresh clothes and headed into the bathroom. It should’ve probably made me nervous that there were two hot guys in my living room ready to ply me with movies and pizza. Instead I enjoyed the thrill of it all, stripping off my waitress’s outfit and stepping beneath the steamy hot shower spray.
This is going to be fun.
It sure was. And hopefully relaxing, too. I could tell the guys had already showered and cleaned up, and they were both in comfortable clothes.
It’s also going to be… interesting.
When it came to that part, I had no doubt. I wondered what they’d talked about all day, hanging out in the garage and working on the car together. I’d been wondering my whole shift what “guy stuff” meant, and whether or not one of them had talked to the other about kissing me. And in Tate’s case, a lot more than that.
If so, there was nothing to be done about it now.
Drying off, I applied some lotion and slipped into the most comfortable outfit possible: a pair of cloth drawstring shorts and my favorite T-shirt. By the time I got back to the living room, the guys had slid the dimmer switch in the living room halfway down, and were already using my remote to scroll through movie lists.
“What are we watching?” I asked from the doorway.
Tate handed me a beer on the way to the couch. I noticed they’d strategically positioned themselves on either side, leaving the middle cushion for me.
“Action movies and thrillers aren’t too relaxing,” said Tate, “so we figured on either a rom-com or something slow and scary.”
“And scary is relaxing?” I joked.
“Well…”
“You guys go ahead and pick,” I smiled, settling between them. “I’m not gonna be responsible for making you sit through Pretty Woman or anything.”
After vetoing The Shining because it was too freaky and The Invitation because I’d seen it, we settled on a flick called The Innkeepers. As the intro rolled and we settled in, I suddenly remembered the pizza.
“Are you hungry now?” Jacob asked, when I pointed it out.
“No, not at the moment actually.”
“Good. We had a late lunch after getting the engine in,” he said. “So we figured the pizza would be more of a midnight snack.”
“So you’re staying until midnight?” I laughed casually.
“Unless you throw us out,” Tate countered.
“Hmmm…” I sighed, stretching back into the couch. “Well, we’ll see how good you boys are.”
It felt amazing, just finally sitting down. Without thinking I reached out and went through my nightly routine of kneading the balls of my feet, and cracking my toes.
“Feet hurt from being on them all day, huh?” Tate asked sympathetically. Before I could even nod, he grabbed me by the ankles and swung my legs into his lap. “I can fix that.”
Two strong hands closed over one of my feet, and I nearly fainted with pleasure. After all the steps I’d taken today, it was almost like having an instant orgasm. Shit, it was pretty damned close.
“What he means is we can fix that,” Jacob corrected him.
Shifting his ass to the coffee table, Jacob took my other foot into his lap. I sat there with my legs slightly parted, one foot in each of their laps, as four incredible hands went to work at once.
“Oh my GOD…” I sighed loudly.
“Too much?” Tate asked, backing off.
“No!” I cried. “No, please! Don’t you dare stop…”
My head rolled back, my eyes closing to facilitate my brain absorbing maximum amounts of blissfulness. The guys kept rubbing and kneading, as their double attentions far exceeded even the most fantastic foot-rub I’d ever received.
Holy…
I was at the verge of heaven. My hands opened and closed against the couch, clenching and unclenching as I choked back tears of joy.
“You don’t get pampered enough,” said Tate. “Do you?”
I chuckled, groggily. “Who ever said I get pampered at all?”
They rubbed harder, driving me even deeper into my own personal pleasure-coma. For a minute or so I think I blacked out, and when I came to I found myself eliciting a low, guttural groan of deep satisfaction.
“This is amazing,” I murmured softly. “You’re saving my life.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” laughed Jacob.
“No, really,” I said. “I should be paying you…”
It occurred to me distantly that I actually should be paying them, and yet I wasn’t paying them a dime. They were here anyway, volunteering their time. Helping me out when I needed it most, and asking virtually nothing in return.
Hell, they’d even brought me pizza.
“I owe you both so much,” I said softly. “You do so much, I really don’t know what I—”
Without a word Tate slid against me and put his lips to mine. It happened so quickly, so abruptly, I barely had time to react.
Wha—
He kissed me slowly, thunderously, rotating his tongue through my open mouth. My feet were forgotten. Everything else left my mind as I kissed him back, grabbing his face in my hands. Holding him there so he couldn’t leave, as my body melted into him.
Mmmmm…
Just as abruptly, I felt another thigh against mine. Jacob had slid back to the couch and was pressed in behind me, lowering his hot mouth against my exposed shoulder. His kisses were soft, sweet, sensual. They traveled up my neck until he was nibbling my ear, and the very feel of his hot breath made me instantly drenched.
Holy FUCK.
Someone dragged a blanket over us. We were covered with it now, the three of us, as their hands began roaming beneath. I felt one of them touch my knee. Another palm slid up the inside of my naked thigh…
“Watch the movie with us,” Tate whispered, breaking the kiss just long enough to pass my mouth to Jacob. “That’s all the payment we really
need.”
Eighteen
SERENA
I couldn’t believe we were actually sitting through the movie! Although we weren’t really watching it, so much as letting it play in the background.
Oh my God…
Twenty minutes had passed, and in that time I’d never stopped being kissed. My head was either turned to the left, sensuously making out with Jacob, or tilted to the right, where Tate’s strong jaw and probing tongue took over. Either way was equally hot. Both men equally eager, in their quest to make me whimper and moan.
And sandwiched between them, down below the blankets? My string shorts had somehow been untied. They’d both slipped their hands beneath my waistband, their eager fingers moving tentatively as they wordlessly took turns playing with my dripping pussy.
This is NUTS.
I swallowed hard, trying to get a grip on reality. I was kissing two guys! I can’t be kissing two guys!
Oh honey, you’re doing a lot more than just kissing.
But I was! And not only that, I wasn’t even resisting!
Yeah, well… what’s there to resist?
I sighed as Tate’s free hand slid up my shirt, cupping my warm, naked breast. Jacob followed suit on the other side, lifting my shirt along the way. Their fingertips grazed me as the blanket fell into our laps.
“Nice,” I heard one of them say, their heads tilting downward. Their lips parted, and they were both on me at once.
Fuuuuuuck.
The mouths were warm and wet against my chest, the tongues swirling in what felt like a thousand different directions. I moved my hands to their heads, squeezing their hair. Pinning them even harder against my softness, while letting out a sigh so deep it came from my very core.
“Yes…”
It was a single word, a simple word. But it was a word of encouragement. A word that told them what they were doing was driving me absolutely wild, and they should keep doing it, and in fact I’d be happy if they never, ever stopped.
