by Krista Wolf
Corey spoke a lot about his own dream of owning a bar, or nightclub. He’d originally come to UNLV for civil engineering, apparently to follow in his father’s footsteps. It had never really been his own path, though. Not by a longshot. And when his father found out he’d switched his studies to a more business-orientated major, he’d cut off all funding and forced Corey to find creative new ways to find income.
As for me, I thought a lot about home, and work, and even about Rob. About how little I’d chanced in life. About how easily I’d gone straight from marrying my high school sweetheart into a business I loved, but somehow ended up in a job I hated...
And stayed there for so very long.
My friends had been blowing up my phone, but I’d turned it off days ago. I’d decided that if I was going off the grid, I was really going off the grid. That meant no social media, no news, no updates… at one point I even lost track of what day it was.
To tell the truth, it was pretty fucking magnificent. Almost even life-changing, to cut ties with these things, even for just a short period of time. I felt rejuvenated. Reset. Mentally, physically, spiritually… I felt healed and re-aligned in ways that I hadn’t felt since I was younger. Younger and happier and free of responsibilities.
The only bad feelings I had now were of separation. Of dreading my whole little fantasy coming to an end. It was inevitable, of course. Each of us would have to leave the desert and go back to our own lives. The guys, back to the grind of constant work and little play. Mason, to Hollywood. And me…
Well, I had to go back to New York.
And face Lilith.
Ugh.
For a brief, fleeting moment I wondered what my parents might think of my unhappiness with my job. I could never tell them the truth, of course. The one time I had been honest with my mother was about my marital problems. Instead of being helpful, she’d looked at me like I’d sprouted nine additional heads.
Ditto for my sister. My only sibling and I had never really been that close, and it didn’t help that Allison (always Allison, not Ally) had gone on to become a respectable dental hygienist with my parents’ strict guidance and approval. All while I was barely scraping together a living on my own, doing some obscure “marketing thing” in the city.
So yeah, no. Every time my family looked my way I was happy-go-lucky Lauren, kicking ass and taking all sorts of names… whether I actually was or not.
As always, whatever I accomplished had to be done on my own. No Rob, that’s for sure. No mom or dad either. And now… no Lilith. After what I’d pulled this week, she was sure as hell not going to help me advance to the next phase of my career path. If there even was a career path, working for her.
Besides, did I really ‘pull’ anything at all? In her eyes maybe. In reality, I’d only asked for another week of five or six days of vacation time. Not exactly a capital crime in most States, not even New York.
No, I’d worry about those things later. I’d deal with Lilith when I got back, and I’d deal with my parents, too. Hell, I’d even deal with Rob the next time he called to come by to ‘pick something up from the house’. Which was the code phrase for him showing up with a very convenient bottle of wine, and every excuse in the book as to why having sex “one more time” would be no big deal between us.
That left me, and Vegas. And Brody, and Corey, and Mason…
Two more nights, that’s all we really had. Two more nights and I’d fly away, out of their lives, back into my own.
I was going to make the best of the time we had left, that’s for sure. Until then, everyone else could kiss my ass.
Forty-Four
COREY
“That’s it? It’s really ours?”
The conversation had lasted all of two minutes. A quick phone call from Brody, the moment he left the loan office.
“If we want it, yes,” he’d said. “We’re approved. It’s all up to us now.”
Up to us… as if there really were a decision that needed to be made. As if we hadn’t talked about this every waking minute for the last year and a half, give or take a few fun distractions.
I was pretty fucking exuberant. Much more excited than I ever thought I’d be, and I was already thrilled.
I couldn’t wait to get back now, to see the place again. To walk through the doors knowing it belonged to us — if we wanted it, that is — and start going over all the different ways we could make it ours.
It was a risk, of course — and a huge one at that. Floyd for example, hadn’t been able to make the place work in years. Then again, Floyd was old and tired. The place was hopelessly outdated and in need of a complete overhaul, not to mention an infusion of fresh young blood in the form of Brody and I.
Our advantage was youth. Energy. A willingness to work hard, to put in the time — and of course every last dollar — necessary to bring the place back from the dead. And since there were two of us, we could double the effort. Work together, like always, as a team.
I thought about all of it the entire ride back, with Mason’s eyes locked on the road and Lauren stretched out tiredly in the climate-controlled back seat. She was a trooper, I had to say. A real champion. She’d taken everything we’d given her and then some, and in instances had given it back better and harder. Her optimism was refreshing. Her enthusiasm, contagious. In fact..
In fact, I’d wanted to speak to her before she left. Maybe pick her brain on a few of our better ideas, before we lost her.
Lost her…
It wasn’t something we’d ever worried about, to be honest. Every time we’d done this, we’d said nothing but happy goodbyes. In Lauren’s case though, we hated to see her go. She was more than a conquest, or fun a distraction. She’d become… well…
She’s become a friend. Or to be more accurate, a girlfriend to each of us, in every sense of the word.
Promoter, producer, publicist… whatever she was, she was damned good at her job. Somehow she’d hooked Mason up in unexpected new ways, and she’d delivered on every last promise she’d made before we even left for Hollywood.
And now…
Now she was leaving, just when we could really use her expertise. It was selfish, I knew. But it wasn’t exactly like we’d asked her to stay for that reason, but rather, one that was much more fun. One that had blossomed from a single night of fantasy-filling debauchery to a full-blown week-long affair, complete with mind-blowing sex whenever we wanted it and a woman so insatiable, so perfect, she outlasted us on most nights rather than the other way around.
I wanted her to stay. No, I needed her to stay. I’d been missing the closeness and companionship that came with a relationship like this, made even better by the fact I could share every part of her with Brody. It was like the best of both worlds, really. Enjoying the camaraderie of our long-term friendship, without the jealousy that was sure to develop when one or both of us began spending time with other people.
Sharing a woman took care of that problem for a single night. Sharing a girlfriend, even more so. It was the one thing we’d always feared most; one of us getting so involved with a significant other, he might no longer be as committed to our dream. And here we had a woman who could not only help us with our dream… but who happily shared our beds as well.
Even more was the interpersonal connection I felt developing, between myself and Lauren. I cared about her, for sure. But now I was developing feelings for her. It was something crazy and foreign and totally out of left field, that I could fall for someone we’d met this way. Someone I’d shared with Brody. Someone from one of the flyers…
Still, there was a part of me that knew none of that stuff mattered. She was smart, hilarious and utterly amazing — beautiful and sexy and fun. A perfect girl, in the perfect circumstance. The feelings I had for her were all still there, no matter how they came about. I knew this, with all my heart.
“So what about… her?” I’d asked Brody, at the end of our conversation. He didn’t even ask what I meant by the words. H
e knew already.
“We’ll cross that bridge…” he said, echoing my own words. Serving them straight back to me, in a way that had my mind reeling.
I let my thoughts continue spinning out, all the way back toward Vegas. Not really listening to Mason droning on and on, but rather replaying every moment we’d spent with Lauren. I replayed every time she laughed, every time she smiled. Her adorable nervousness upon first meeting us in the bar of her hotel, and how sensual that first night had been, exploring her…
I spent time thinking about the sex, too; burning every sizzling encounter into my brain. I could see every curve of her body, every strand of her golden hair. Those little back dimples I loved so much, that deepened every time she arched her ass… right before I sank into her.
The whole thing was unorthodox for us. It went against every rule we’d made. Still, by this point I was ready to throw the rules over my shoulder. And if I knew Brody at all, I was pretty sure he felt the same.
Whatever happened next, I knew one thing for sure. That no matter what, after Lauren flew home?
I wanted to see her again.
Forty-Five
LAUREN
“Well it’s about time, bitch!” Bella practically screamed into the phone. “I was about to send the Marines out looking for you!”
I laughed, albeit a little nervously. In the back of my mind, I realized she was only half-kidding.
“You got my text, right?”
“The one saying you were going out into the desert with this mystery man?” Bella cried. “Yeah, I got it! It didn’t make things any better for us, though. We still haven’t heard from you in days! Shit, Heather was ready to—”
“The text said I wouldn’t have any reception,” I jumped in. “That in all likelihood I probably wouldn’t be able to answer my phone, or respond to any—”
“You could’ve been killed!” Bella cried. “This weirdo could’ve buried you out there in the desert! We could’ve been reading about you in the news by now. Or we could’ve been…” her voice trailed off for a moment, then went surreptitiously low. “Was it good?”
Now I laughed more freely, long and loud. “Oh yeah.”
Bella grunted as she sank into a chair, or maybe fell back onto her bed. I knew it had to be one or the other.
“Tell me about it then,” she squawked. “I’ve had a shit week.”
I went into as much detail as I could about the house in the desert. I started by listing all the activities we’d enjoyed and ended with a full-blown description of sex in the hot tub, which I’d been having pretty much on the regular. I also told her about our side-trip to Hollywood, leaving out the work I’d put in for Mason and embellishing the little shopping trip I’d dragged the guys on, which had resulted in me buying a very sexy outfit for our last night here.
Then I started telling her about the sex…
Nothing could hold a candle to how it really felt, getting pinned hotly between my three gorgeous lovers. Still, I built up my ‘mystery boyfriend’ as much as I could. I gave him Brody’s lush blond hair and impossibly-broad chest, Corey’s big arms and sexy stubble, and Mason’s gorgeous, movie-star face. He became an amalgam of all three boyfriends. A Frankenstein’s monster of epic hotness, with a smooth, velvety voice and panty-dropping charm.
By the time I’d finished describing half the things we’d done, Bella was a puddle of envy. Toward the end, I was sorely tempted to blow her mind. To just come clean, and utterly demolish her with tales of what really happened.
But hey, she’d already had a bad week.
“Goddammit Lauren,” she said at last. “You fucking rock, you know that?”
“Yeah, probably,” I laughed.
“I mean, who else could turn a botched vacation into a two-week sex-soaked Vegas getaway?”
“Complete with side-trip to Los Angeles and Hollywood?” I teased. “Not many people.”
“Shit, I’m shocked you didn’t end up at a movie premiere. Or with a movie star.”
I bit my tongue.
“Does this guy have friends?” Bella demanded.
“Oh yeah,” I laughed inwardly.
“So which one are you setting me up with?”
None of them, the little voice in my head jumped in immediately. They’re mine, all three of them. You go find your own.
I stalled some more, and answered a few more questions. The longer I stayed on the phone though, the better the chances I’d trip myself up.
“Shit, if you had another week I might meet you down there again,” said Bella. “My boss is already apologetic for having dragged me back. Said he’d give me double the vacation I missed, whenever I wanted it.”
“Another week?” I chuckled.
“Yeah. Why?”
Because if you stayed another week you’d be barely walking, the voice laughed at me.
“Well I already have an ass-chewing coming my way,” I said. “My boss isn’t at all like your boss. And if I don’t fly out of here tomorrow…”
Tomorrow. The word haunted me. Normally vacations really weren’t my thing. Normally, I was always looking forward to going home.
Not now, though. Not after this.
“Bella, I gotta run,” I told her. “We’ll talk when I get back.”
“You’re fucking-A right we will,” she said firmly.
“I know, I know…”
“I’m serious,” Bella replied. “The others want to take you to lunch, as a way of saying sorry for ditching out. But what they really want is the inside scoop on your vacation. On what — or more accurately, who — made you stay a whole extra week.”
“I get it.”
“Yeah, but I’m not waiting for ‘lunch’ with you. You’re calling me the very second you get home, and then we’re going for coffee. Immediately. No excuses.”
“I will,” I said truthfully. “I promise.”
“Good enough bitch,” Bella swore. “Now go give this guy a goodbye that’ll make him want to say hello again.”
“Roger that,” I smiled and hung up.
I set my phone back on the glass coffee table with a ‘clack’, then sank ass-first into the couch. I stared upward, to where twin ceiling fans spun lazily between two big skylights.
Tomorrow…
Shit, I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay with the guys, stay in the desert. Last night had been a magical reunion; upon returning from LA, we’d found Brody already here, cooking us dinner. Gearing up for a cozy little second-to-last-night stay-in, where we ate and drank and laughed into the wee hours of the morning.
I’d spent the night in each of their rooms, making love to them one after another. Screwing Mason first, and then Corey, and then falling asleep in Brody’s bed, not long after he’d spent himself between my trembling thighs. It felt somehow fitting, spending time with them one-on-one. Cultivating and enjoying the individual connections we’d made. Because as amazing as it was taking them all at once, it was equally incredible to be focused on one guy at a time. To be staring through his eyes, deep into his soul, as we took each other on the most intimate and personal of all possible levels… as one man and one woman.
Today was my last day here, and I was uncharacteristically alone. The guys had all gone out to pick up lunch, and to perform some other secret errand they weren’t telling me about. I knew from their smiles it would be one hell of a surprise. Some last big wonderful finale, on our final night together.
All those things and more ran through my mind, as I lay there daydreaming about my three beautiful boyfriends. Trying not to think about what life would be like when I finally had to leave this fantasy behind… and go back to the reality of being all alone in New York.
Forty-Six
LAUREN
We were traveling east, as far as I could tell. East and up.
“Almost there,” said Brody, clinging to the roll-bar of the rented Jeep. “Just another half mile or so.”
It was slow going, even for the four-wheel dr
ive, knobby-tired monster. An almost entirely uphill climb over dust, rock, and steep terrain. More than once I thought we would tip, and even screamed out loud. The guys had laughed on all but one of those occasions, where I’d seen them grab the ‘oh shit’ handles themselves, the smiles wiped quickly from their grinning faces.
Eventually the ground leveled out, and our vehicle crested the final rise. Corey brought the Jeep to a grinding halt… right in front of a large green tent, and an open stone-ringed campfire.
My eyes widened. So did my smile. “We’re camping?”
“Well, with limited electricity provided by solar batteries and a cooler full of ice cold drinks, I guess it would be more like ‘glamping’,” said Brody. “But yes. That.”
A string of lights ran from the tent to a central pole, jutting up from a small picnic table near the fire. But other than a few folding camp chairs, that was the extent of it. A tiny desert oasis, high up in the middle of absolute nowhere.
“Wow…”
I hopped from the Jeep and breathed the word, staring out over the far-flung horizon. The view from the ridge was incredible. All the way to the west the sun was still setting, melting against the landscape in a spectacular orange glow. To the east — back in the direction of home — everything was inky blue darkness. Turning even blacker, minute by minute.
“This cool?” Corey asked, stepping beside me. He slid a heavy arm over my shoulder and I leaned into him.
“Very cool,” I sighed happily. Then, with my best smile: “the coolest.”
I’d never been much for camping. The few jaunts we’d made to upstate New York had been pretty rough, probably because my dad always considered himself a great outdoorsman. The canvas tents he pulled out of the attic smelled like mold, and probably dated back to his own childhood, in the eighties. We ate from cans, heated up over the fire. Instead of providing air mattresses, my sister and I had been made to sleep on the ground.