Now it’s my jaw’s turn to drop.
“Wait. You don’t mean Dorky Doug?!”
My sister’s ninth-grade biology partner had been sweet, but cursed with long, gangly limbs, braces, terrible acne, and a deviated septum that made his voice nasal and grating.
“He’s not so dorky now,” Veronica says, pulling her cell phone from her back pocket and showing me her screen saver.
She’s right, the man in the picture with her bears almost no resemblance to the picture in my head. He’s filled out, his face is all cleared up, and the braces were long gone, leaving a dazzling smile in their wake.
The two of them look blissfully happy together, mugging for a selfie with their faces pressed together, and the dreamy smile on her face warms my heart. I reach out and touch her hand.
“I’m happy for you,” I tell her seriously, “And I’m proud of you, it seems like you’re really getting your shit together.”
She nods.
“I’m trying,” she says, “Some days are harder than others. But I’ve been clean for three years now, and I met Doug six months after I got sober. He’s been my rock. And I went back to school, I’m graduating next semester.”
My chest swells with pride. “That’s amazing! I’m so glad, Roni.”
“Thanks,” she beams at me.
“You know, I looked up your jewelry shop,” she says, “And I was wondering if you might do me a favor.”
I tense, wondering what it could be. A pessimistic part of my brain wonders if maybe this favor is the real reason why she’s here.
“I was looking at your designs, and I was wondering if you could make mine and Doug’s wedding rings,” she says, “The engagement ring was his great-grandmother’s, and I was hoping to find something that sort of goes with it and I know you could make me something amazing.”
The waterworks start back up and I’m crying again, and so is Veronica.
“Of course I will. I’d be honored,” I tell her.
She sniffles and wipes at her teary face. “Anyway, enough sappy stuff. Tell me more about how this whole four boyfriends thing works.”
And as we gossip and fill each other in on the last few years of our lives, we fall into step with each other like we never missed a beat.
Chapter Sixteen
Noah
“All rise,” Judge Brown’s bailiff says, as he walks out from his chambers and takes his seat behind the podium. “Court is in session.”
Once he is seated, the bailiff says, “You may be seated.”
We sit back down in the gallery area of the courtroom. There’s a prosecutor at one of the tables up front, who will be presenting the case.
“Well, well, well,” Judge Brown says, chuckling. “If it ain’t Little Miss Delia and Little Miss Lucy. Y’all have graced my courtroom quite a few times now. I see that this time is with regard to a criminal matter?”
He looks down and checks his docket, and Delia clears her throat, as if unsure how to answer. I’m sure she’s wondering if the prosecutor should be doing all the talking.
“Go ahead,” Judge Brown says, nodding at her, and motioning for her to come up to the witness stand. “This is obviously unorthodox, but, like I always like to stress, this is my courtroom and the good people of Texas have entrusted me to run it the way I see fit. And you’re always welcome to speak here when you’re in it. I know you’re good people.”
Hearing this immediately sets me at ease.
I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that he’s already on our side.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Delia says, once she’s seated in the witness stand. “As you know, we’ve been here twice fighting for the right to build our ranch. Now that we have that right - thanks to Your Honor’s rulings, of course - we have been getting it ready for the public, and we found out that a competing ranch has been being built by the two defendants in this present case, Virgil and Earl Sanders.”
“Objection, Your Honor!” shouts their lawyer, who is sitting at the table across from the prosecutor. The brothers are seated beside him. “This is only the arraignment stage of my clients’ criminal case. You haven't asked, but they plead not guilty. Even if this was the trial, none of this is relevant to the charges, and I also feel that you have clear bias and that it’s prejudicial of you to-”
“Overruled,” says the judge, slamming down his gavel. “I decide whether I’m biased or prejudicial. And I’m not. I also decide what is relevant. Go ahead, Delia, continue your delightful story about how you’re building this ranch. I was all ears.”
The Sanders’ lawyer rolls his eyes, and I choke back a chuckle, as Delia continues.
“It actually is relevant to the charges, Your Honor,” Delia continues. “Because it shows motive for the crime.”
“Very good,” the judge tells her, looking pleased. “I’m not sure the prosecutor is needed in this case. Just kidding, John-” he motions towards where the prosecutor is sitting- “but why waste taxpayer money when Miss Delia is doing such a fine job on her own? You should consider law school. If you weren’t so busy with the fine ranch you’re bringing to our town, of course.”
Delia smiles.
“Your Honor, Earl and Virgil are opening a competing dude ranch. That’s fine, but they seem intent on being the only dude ranch in town. So much so, that, as the evidence in this case will clearly establish, they burnt ours down.”
The judge raises his eyebrows at this and says, “Oh, no! There’s no more ranch?”
“It will be okay,” she says, and the judge looks relieved. “But only because they didn’t do a good enough job at the intended task of arson.”
“You boys look here!” Judge Brown says, staring the Sanders brothers right in the eyes. “I’ve heard about enough of this to be able to make up my mind here and now. This ain’t the first time ya’ll ne’er-do-wells have been in my courtroom and I’m getting tired of it. You’re entitled to a fair trial by a jury of your peers, which you already know since you’ve had plenty and since you’ve been convicted by them. I’d just like to offer you the chance to save some time and strike a deal. If Delia and her friends are fine with it, I offer you two years in jail, instead of the ten years this crime usually comes with, on the one condition that it’s at the prison in San Antonio, rather than the local jail. I want you out of here once and for all. You’ve caused enough mischief for the town and I don’t want your shoddy ranch competing against that of Miss Delia and her friends. It’ll only bring the town a bad name in Ireland, rather than a good name.”
The Sanders brothers quickly confer with their lawyer, and those of us in the gallery confer together, although not much of a conference is needed on our end.
“This is sweet!” we all agree. “Hope they go for it!”
“John, this deal fine with you?” Judge Brown asks the prosecutor.
“Sure,” he says, looking relieved - certainly this isn’t the first time he’s had to prosecute them. “Makes my job easier.”
“You’re welcome,” Judge Brown says. “And make sure to thank Miss Delia here for pleading her case so well for you.”
“Thank you, Miss Delia,” the prosecutor says, and Delia beams widely as she says, “You’re welcome, sir.”
“Hold on a minute!” the Sanders’ lawyer says. “We haven’t accepted.”
“Hurry up and get to it then,” the judge instructs him. “We ain’t got all day. There’s a KIND OF SANDWICH THAT HE LIKES waiting for me at NAME OF diner.”
As they go back into their huddle, it’s clear that the Sanders brothers and their lawyer are having a disagreement, and I’m starting to worry that the deal won’t go through, after all. After a few agonizing moments, their lawyer finally steps to the side and clears his throat.
“Your Honor, I must state on the record that I am against the whole idea of this offer,” he starts out. “It is not only unorthodox on your behalf to offer it, as you’ve said, but it’s also probably a violation of my duties to allow them to acc
ept it.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Judge Brown says, shrugging. “I hear you. Are you finished covering your cowardly ass for the record yet? Are you ready to get to the point so we can all get out of here? I know you have to be as tired of being appointed to represent these hooligans as I am of seeing them here in my courtroom. We both know the police have solid evidence on them, just as they always do, since your clients seem incapable of pulling off a crime successfully. This is a good deal for them and you know it. Are they going to take it or not?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” the lawyer says. “Despite my best advice, they agree it’s a good deal and they are going to take it.”
“Yay!” all of us in the gallery shout, hugging each other and giving each other high fives.
What a great day this has turned out to be. Not only did we get a fast verdict in the criminal case without having to wait for it to go to trial and be decided by a jury, but we also don’t have to worry about the Sanders brothers and their stupid competing ranch anymore, either.
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Delia says, as the judge nods at her and smiles.
And I couldn’t be any more thankful to him, myself.
Chapter Seventeen
Gina
“Put me down, you fucking caveman!” I shriek with laughter as Conor lugs me up the driveway into their place over his shoulder.
In my struggle to fight as I’m swinging against his back, I land a sharp, open-palm swat square in the middle of his right ass cheek. He yelps and nearly drops me.
“Brat.”
“Help!” I call out plaintively, hoping one of the others will show me mercy.
“Did you hear something, Flynn?” Noah asks.
“Not a peep, Noah,” Flynn replies cheerfully.
“Assholes!” I crow, but my words hold no malice, “Neil, please, you’re my only hope,” I try to twist to look at him so I can give him a beseeching expression, “Please, help me.”
Neil struggles to keep a straight face and ignore me, but he can’t. He caves.
“Come on, cavewoman,” he teases, and takes me from Conor, setting me on my feet.
I stagger and stumble for a moment as all the blood drains from my head, and Conor is quick to snake an arm around me and keep me upright. We’re all giddy and goofy, feeling optimistic after our victory in court and with the Sanders off our backs, permanently.
“We should celebrate!” I declare, “We won, we should do something!”
“Like what?” Noah asks, sounding amused.
“I don’t know, but doesn’t it feel like we should?” I ask, exasperated.
Flynn laughs. “Well, lass, we actually might have even more to celebrate,” he says.
“Oh?” I plop down on the couch and look up at them, “And that might that be?”
“Well, we made an offer to buy this place,” Conor says, gesturing to their rental house around us, “And it was accepted today. We’re officially moving in.”
My face breaks into a massive grin.
“Well, good to know I’ll have you around for a little while,” I joke.
“Well, maybe you could have us around a little more often,” Neil says, “We were wondering if you might want to move in here. With us.”
My heart starts to race, and I expect a flash of panic to accompany it, but this isn’t a rush of anxiety. It’s pure excitement. I want this. I want them. I love them.
I’d been in love with them a while, but I hadn’t wanted to admit it to myself. Now, I could admit it to myself, but telling them had been another story. Every time I’ve tried to speak the words, I’ve choked and wussed out.
But this time, they tumble forth, unbidden. “I love you guys,” I blurt, jumping to my feet and throwing myself at them, forcing them around me in a group hug.
“I love you all so much. Yeah. I’ll move in. On one condition.”
They all look at me, puzzled, and I grin through happy tears. “We use my mattress.”
The four of them laugh, and I exchange kisses with each of them. “You know,” Conor says, “You haven’t tried out my mattress,” he runs his fingertips down the side of my face.
I shiver. “That’s true,” I admit, “I haven’t tried out any of yours. Maybe I should give them a try.”
They lead me upstairs, first to Noah’s room. Clearly the full-sized mattress is not going to be a great fit for five of us. So, in Goldilocks fashion, I flop down on the bed and declare: “This bed is too hard.”
“Yeah, that’s not the only thing that’s hard,” Noah mutters.
I laugh and get to my feet. Next, they lead me to Flynn’s, another full-sized mattress. Once again, I maintain my Goldilocks game.
“This bed is too soft,” I pretend to complain.
I try not to snicker at the silence that follows, having expected another double entendre.
From there, we end up in Conor’s room. His mattress is a little larger, a queen size at least, but it would still be a tight squeeze for the five of us.
“So is this one just right?” Conor teases as I flop down on is bed.
“Hmm,” I tilt my head, pretending to be deep in thought, “I think this one has a pea under the mattress,” I quip, jumping to the Princess and the Pea fairy tale.
He rolls his eyes, laughing. “Well, Princess, we have one more for you to try, and I think this one’s going to be perfect.”
“Oh, really?” I get to my feet, “This I’ve got to see.”
They lead me to what I assume is Neil’s room, and when they open the door, my jaw drops. The room is enormous, and the bed is massive. It looks twice the size of mine. “Whoa!”
“When we moved in,” Noah explains, “None of us wanted to take the master suite, it didn’t seem fair. But now, we decided to make it into a place for all of us.”
“Where on Earth did you find the huge bed?” I ask, in awe.
I walk over to the bed and run my fingers over the plush satin comforter.
“We had it custom made, to be extra large for all of us,” Conor explains.
“Oh, what, you guys didn’t want to squeeze in and spoon?” I tease.
All four of them shudder in horror in unison. “Absolutely not,” Flynn says firmly.
“Well, let me try it out,” I say.
This time, instead of just flopping onto the bed, I strip down to nothing but a skimpy lace bra and panties and settle myself in the center of the mattress, posing seductively. “Mmm,” I let out a little moan of pleasure as I indulge in the marshmallowy softness of the mattress, “This is perfect.”
The satin slides against my skin, and the sensual feeling of it sends a delicious shiver through me that makes my nipples harden under the thin lace.
Flynn crawls up onto the bed with me and takes my hand, guiding it down his abdomen until it’s resting on the raging bulge in his pants.
“What do you think, Goldilocks?” he asks in a low voice, “Too hard?”
“Hmm, I can’t tell,” I banter back, “I need a closer look.”
My hands move higher to the zipper of his pants and I make quick work of them, shoving them down his hips and letting his cock spring free.
“Looks just right to me,” I say, a tremor of excitement running through my voice.
“Maybe you should try it out, just to be sure,” he says.
I reach out and stroke his shaft, hard as steel in my palm. “Just right,” I murmur.
Flynn reaches down and tugs down the waistband of my panties. I lift my hips and wriggle out of them as he pulls them down my legs. I reach behind my back and unhook my bra, sliding it down my shoulders and laying bare on plush, satiny soft heaven.
Flynn kneels between my legs. Neil tosses him a condom and he rolls it down his length. The others strip down and flop into bed, and I’m amazed by the amount of space we really have. Not that I don’t think we’ll still end up making use of every last inch.
Flynn slips a hand between my legs and smirks.
“Always wet an
d ready for us, baby.”
He positions the head of his cock at my opening and I quiver with anticipation.
“You want this cock?” he asks me.
I nod.
“Yes, please,” I breathe.
“I want to hear you say it,” he tells me, “Tell me exactly what you want.”
“I want you to fuck me,” I beg, “I want you to bury every inch of that cock inside me and pound my pussy until I scream.”
“As you wish,” Flynn says, then snaps his hips, sinking his dick deep inside me.
I gasp and my back arches in pleasure. “Fuck!”
“What else do you want, baby?” he asks me as he slams into me again and again.
“I-oh, yes, fuck, right there, I want-” my useless stream of babbling is choked off by a gasp as Flynn rams into me again, “I want another cock inside me!” I blurt in a breathless rush.
“Well, I believe I can help with that,” Conor says, scooting over.
Neil passes Conor a condom and after “suiting up,” and repositioning, Conor slowly and carefully slides into my pussy, stretching me out and packing me tight. “Oh, fuck,” I gasp, “You both feel so fucking good.”
Noah and Neil are each stroking their own cocks as they watch me getting pounded, waiting for their turn. The sight of them pleasuring themselves only turns me on more, and when Flynn reaches out and teases my nipple with his fingers, I’m tipped over the edge into a spiraling, dizzying orgasm.
And Flynn and Conor show no sign of stopping, pounding my pussy fast and hard. Flynn fondles both of my breasts as they bounce in time with their thrusts, rolling my nipples between his fingers and sending a wash of heat through my body.
“Cum for us again, baby,” Conor says, “I want to feel you cum all over my cock.”
“Yes,” I moan, “I’m already so fucking close!”
The two of them pick up the pace a little, and it’s just the thing to send me spiraling into that blissful oblivion again, howling in release.
Conor grunts and his hips buck harder into me, driving his cock so deep I see stars. I feel the flood of heat that indicates the rush of his load into the condom. And Flyn isn’t far behind.
Four Times the Luck: Irish Reverse Harem Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 8