But maybe these extra few hours to himself were a good thing. Colt and Bleu were coming over for some barbeque later to take advantage of the freaky warm weather they were having in late November. It was supposed to be around seventy degrees Fahrenheit today and then next week it would be snowing. Freaky.
Before they came over, however, he needed to set his head on straight. Alex usually worked seven days a week, but the restaurant was closed for a couple days due to some improvements he was having done to the kitchen, so he was able to take the day off.
The diner was doing really well. Annabelle’s was coming to be known for its night owl meals and specials. All those who worked the nightshift or slept during the day in the area had stopped by at least once and about ninety percent had returned. It was amazing. Everything he had ever dreamed of.
So again…what the fuck was wrong with him?
The coffee pot pinged and he poured himself a strong cup, black. He needed to wake up and think this shit through. He was having wet dreams. Not terribly abnormal, only he was having the fucking hottest wet dreams he had ever had in his life and the reason they were the best dreams in his life was because there wasn’t just a woman in them.
That was the issue. He was dreaming about a man. Not just any man, though. A man he had come to forge a friendship with over the past couple months. A man he enjoyed spending time with. A man that, at just the mere sight of him, had Alexis’s heart beating faster, and then tripling in pace when the woman was with him. The man and the woman alone were becoming irresistible to him, but together? Holy shit, the world would burn from the heat coming off of his cock alone.
But it wasn’t just dreams anymore. Now it was daydreams. He would catch himself staring at Bleu’s long hair and he would imagine what it would be like to wrap the strands around his hand and use it as a harness as he rode her from behind. What also stuck in his craw, and seemed to be somewhat relevant, was that he wasn’t just fantasizing about sex with Bleu. He was daydreaming about having long conversations and cuddling with her. He would have laughed at himself if he didn’t want it so badly. Maybe she could give him a tat one day, now that the shop was back up and running. He’d seen her work and she was pretty amazing. She was quirky, talked fast, and had this indescribable, amazing need to help people. It burned inside her every day and Alexis couldn’t help but admire and respect her for it.
He’d also caught himself, on more than one occasion, studying the lines and dips of Colton’s vast array of muscles. The man was ripped to hell and back and he could tell from the few times he’d seen the outline of an erection in Colt’s pants that it was, indeed, the most massive cock he wanted to put his lips around. The only cock he wanted to put his lips around. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. Where was this coming from?
There was a terrifying and awful bond they all shared. For all intents and purposes, Colton should hold a hell of a grudge against Bleu and himself for the part they played in ending his father’s career. But that wasn’t in Colton’s nature. Colton was kind and strong. Generous and protective. And he had thighs that, Alexis was horrified to admit, he wanted to suck and kiss as he teased his way to the giant cock between the sexy man’s legs.
How was he OK with this? How was he not freaking more than he should be? He wasn’t homophobic. One of his cousins was gay and he didn’t give a shit who the guy fucked or sucked as long as he was a good son to his mother and brother to his siblings. And he was, he was one of the best. So sexuality didn’t matter to Alexis. Just a man’s character.
But if Alexis was bisexual, then why hadn’t he felt this intense need with any other man? He’d slept with plenty of women but had zero sexual attraction to any man, anywhere. Was there such a thing as a straight man lusting after one man and one many only?
The thought settled something inside him. Some sort of indecision that had been screwing with his head. Maybe if he hadn’t been so concerned with labels this entire time, he would have been able to enjoy Bleu and Colton instead of wasting weeks waffling with the fear of having a dick thrust into his ass. Although now that he thought about it, the idea was sort of hot. Fuck, did his ass just clench?
Now all he had to do was convince Bleu and Colton, who he hoped returned his sexual feelings along with the emotional ones, that having a threesome relationship was the most amazing and natural idea in the world for them.
* * * *
“Ma, I’ll see you next week. Thanksgiving was delicious, as usual.” Colton bent to kiss his mother on her cheek. He had hoped to speak to his father during his quick visit before heading over to Alexis’s place, but the man had been sound asleep in his recliner when he arrived. Colton wouldn’t have woken him for the world, he looked so peaceful.
“I’ve noticed you’ve been in town more often the past few months, Colt. I figured it was because of everything after the hurricane, but I’m starting to think differently. Is there another reason?” she asked, eyebrows raised expectantly.
He rolled his eyes with love at his mother. She was constantly asking when he was going to bring home the woman who was to produce her first round of grandchildren. “Stop hedging and ask me already.”
“Are you seeing someone?” It rushed out like one word, her shoulders tensed in excitement.
“Not presently…” He wanted to tell her, he wanted to tell his whole family that he was in love.
“But?”
“But I’m thinking of maybe, possibly asking someone out that I’ve been spending some time with.” Two someones in fact. The more the merrier.
“I knew it!” She jumped up and down, playfully slapping his arm. “What’s her name? Where does she live? What does she do?”
“Enough, ma, please.” He laughed at her response while feeling all too guilty knowing she wouldn’t react this way once the reality of the situation became known. “This is why I don’t talk about my social life with you.”
“Well if you told me about it, maybe I wouldn’t barrage you with questions when you give me a sliver of information every now and then.” She handed him his coat and opened the door for him. “I have to latch and hold that sliver to my heart like it’s precious gold.”
“Go latch onto Margaret’s social life. I’m sure it’s much more intriguing than mine. Gotta go. Give Margaret and Dad my love, OK?”
“I will.” She hugged him close. “Take care, my beautiful boy.”
Colton tried not to run down the steps of his childhood home. His avoidance of the issue was becoming unbearable. He really needed to tell his family about his sexual preferences. It wasn’t fair to them and it wasn’t fair to himself to have to section this part of who he was off from his family. It felt like betrayal.
Spending the past couple months getting to know Bleu and Alexis had spoiled all other men and women for him. He thought about them when he wasn’t with them and when he was with them he came up with ways to make them stay longer.
The two individuals were so different and yet the ties they built to bind Colton’s heart with were equally long lasting and unbreakable. Alexis was dark and strong, he took pride in the business he built and the way he treated his employees. No one was too small in that restaurant to give their opinion on improvements. In fact it was one of the waitresses who had recently suggested buying a larger griddle and some better equipment for the kitchen now that business was doing so well.
And Bleu, the blue-haired angel. She was inhumanly thoughtful. Last week she saw an elderly woman nearly two blocks away struggling to put some quarters in a meter. She rushed over there like the woman was on fire just so she could assist her. Colton wasn’t naive, though. He knew that Bleu felt guilty for something. She probably thought she was paying some sort of cosmic penance. But she did honestly derive pleasure from helping others. It wasn’t just the guilt that drove her. It was the solid need to help others and make their lives better. Who wouldn’t love that woman? The fact that she was single and had been for years was still mind boggling to him.
&
nbsp; Colton drove the short distance to Alexis’s somewhat large two-story Victorian and parked in the driveway. Almost two whole seconds later, Bleu pulled up behind him. He jumped out of his car, hitting the fob to lock it, and rushed to open her door for her.
“Hello, my lady,” he said in a mock British accent.
“Why hello, sir. Such gallantry on my behalf?” She laughed at his bow. “I’m flattered.”
She looked beautiful today. Her long hair had been braided off her face and down her back, although it still covered her ears. She wore her signature skinny jeans that accentuated her luscious curves and a flowing black blouse with boots. It surprised him when she told him she preferred low-heeled boots and flats. Most women her height would wear heels to make up the height difference.
She took his hand as he pulled her from the car, perhaps a bit more forcefully than necessary as she ended up hurtling into his body. Her hands landed on his chest, clutching his T-shirt for stability. His hands grabbed her hips to steady her and lord help him but he could not stop himself from digging his fingers in just a teeny bit and imagining the sheer animalistic pleasure it would be to pick her up and shove her up against the car, grinding himself into her.
From the blush on her cheeks she wasn’t completely unaffected by their intimate contact. Or maybe it was the fact that she could feel the hard erection in his pants as she leaned against him. She cleared her throat and the moment ended. He took a step back.
“Thanks,” she said, closing the driver side door and opening the back.
“Sure. Whatcha got there?”
“A present for you two stubborn lugheads.” Colton’s jaw dropped at the twelve-pack of Guinness she pulled from the backseat.
“But—”
“Here.” She shoved the case into his hands. “Make yourself useful while I grab my stuff.”
She grabbed a plastic bag that sounded like it had liquor bottles in it, along with her purse, and shut the door. “Let’s go, sir. I want some BBQ.”
They let themselves into the house, knowing their way around by now, walked through the contemporary-styled kitchen, stopping for a second so Bleu could deposit her plastic bag and purse on the counter, then exited into the yard via the French doors that Colton knew Bleu was obsessed with. She ran her hand down the cherrywood with a sigh and smiled as she saw Alexis manning the grill. He had a small radio connected to an iPhone playing some acoustic guitar.
“Stop molesting my doors, Smurfette.” He laughed, seeing her blissed-out face. Colton’s heart might have skipped a beat or two at the arresting smile on Alexis’s face.
“I can’t help it. They’re so sexy.” She skipped down the steps to see what was on the grill and Colton lowered the twelve-pack to cover his erection. Alexis was barefoot, as he usually went around his house. He wore jeans and a plain green T-shirt that made his muscles pop. Seeing the two sexiest creatures on Earth standing next to each other, arms incidentally rubbing as they spoke and laughed, Colton was impressed he didn’t come just from watching.
“What the fuck, Colt?” He looked up to see an annoyed Alex pointing the grill tongs at the twelve-pack.
Bleu smacked him in the chest. “Don’t yell at him. I brought the beer.” Colton walked down the steps and placed the beer on the rounded picnic table setup on the stone patio.
“But you can’t—”
“I know what I can’t,” she interrupted. “It doesn’t mean that you can’t. I have been trying to get you guys to understand that seeing people drink in front of me does not bother me. I don’t start to sweat and fiend for some crack just because I smell some beer. It wasn’t even my drink of choice.” She rubbed the spot she’d hit on his chest and Colton almost groaned, wishing Alexis didn’t have that T-shirt on. His arousal was coming to its limits.
“Are you sure? You said you don’t go to bars,” Colton asked
She sighed and scratched her left ear. “I—” She shook her head quickly, like a kid would if they were trying to dislodge water from their ear.
“You OK, Smurfette?” Alex asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“What?” she yelled, as if she couldn’t hear him. “Hold on a second. Don’t say anything to my left side for a bit.”
Alexis met Colton’s eyes and he gave a bewildered shrug to answer Alex’s equally puzzled gaze. Bleu pulled her hair back from her left ear, reminding Colton of just how awfully scarred and torn apart her ears were, and took something from inside it. It was a tiny beige piece of plastic. He cursed himself. How could he have never known or noticed?
“Shit. Why didn’t you tell us you used a hearing aid?” Alexis asked, stepping into her line of sight so she could see he was speaking to her.
“Stop talking,” she huffed, vehemently shaking the little device and inspecting it. “I told you not to talk for a second.” She shook the aid once more and placed it back in her ear with a grunt. “Ugh, sorry. The thing has been acting funky lately.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Alexis repeated slowly.
“Because I don’t want or need your pity. Whatever happened, I did to myself and I take full responsibility.” She turned to Colton with a frown. “And I don’t go to bars because the loud music reminds me of that night.” She closed her eyes and he walked toward her as she spoke. “I have this vague memory that it was the noise that made me smash that bottle. Everything hurt and I just wanted it all to be quiet.” She opened her eyes and Colton reached out to cup her face. “Guess I got my wish.”
He rubbed his thumb up and down her cheek and tried not to tense or groan in pleasure when he felt Alex’s hand land on his shoulder. The man’s other hand came up and brushed some stray stands of blue hair off her face.
“We won’t ever let you go to that place again. I swear, Bleu. You’ll never walk that road, no matter what happens.”
“I know.” She rubbed her face into Colton’s hand, then took Alex’s from the back of her head and kissed his palm. “I can’t believe how lucky I am to have met both of you.” She pulled away from their hands and put that familiar mischievous smile back on. Alex kept his hand on Colton’s shoulder just a bit longer than necessary and squeezed when he pulled it away.
“Now why don’t I open a couple beers for you guys and we’ll see if Alex’s barbeque really is as good as he says it is.”
She pulled open the box and grabbed the beers. “Mind you, Alex. I was born in Slidell, Louisiana. I know what real Southern barbeque is. It’s in my blood.”
“If you’re from the South, why don’t you have an accent?” Colt asked, needing to know more about their blue-haired angel.
“Because when I was around a year old I moved and was raised in upstate New York. They all sound like Midwestern hicks up there.”
“When did you come to this area?”
She paused for a second before answering. “My real parents got me a place here when I was fifteen.”
Colton gently tugged on her braid, seeing the tension in her shoulders, knowing this was important. “Real parents?”
Chapter 7
Just tell them, put it all out on the table at once so that there would be no surprises in the future. It’s not a big deal anyway, just some history. She’d told this story a hundred times at her NA meetings. But she still took a deep breath before turning and offering the beer to the guys. They clinked glasses, meeting eyes for a second too long once again. Whenever they did this, Bleu thought they would fall into each other’s arms like in some sort of clichéd rom-com. At least she wished they would.
Bleu started talking when they looked back at her, all too obviously trying to disengage themselves from the powerful emotions they held in check while around one another. “When I was around a year old, my folks sent me to live with my father’s sister in upstate New York. My mom and dad had six children to feed, besides me, and I was the youngest, so they gave me to my aunt and her husband who couldn’t have children.” She paced away from them, needing the distance.
“
I had an awesome childhood. They were so loving and they gave me the best of what they could. They just forgot to mention that they weren’t actually my parents and that my folks had given me away. I also didn’t realize that their fun and carefree natures came from being…somewhat crazy. But that comes in later.
“I discovered they weren’t my real parents when I was eleven. We went to Louisiana for Christmas and all of a sudden I was being introduced to six siblings.” She laughed at the absurdity of the memory. She couldn’t understand why these strangers had given her up, why they didn’t want her. And why would her aunt and uncle allow her to go on calling them mom and dad? Hell they taught her to do that.
“When I asked my aunt, who I thought was my mother, why she led me to believe she was my mother, she said ‘Aunt, Mother. What’s the difference? They didn’t want you anyway.’ And they went on with the visit like it was nothing. Now when I tell you that my folks had six kids to feed it makes it sound like a hardship, but my folks were—are—rich. It would have been no difficulty to keep me and feed me. They were just tired of raising kids I guess.”
“Fuck.” She turned to see the anger pulsing through Alex’s tense frame. She would have given anything for the strength to close the distance between them and soothe his tense muscles with some kisses. But she needed to get this out. All of it, like Liam said. Why was it so hard to tell them this story? She had to think it was like the NA meetings. This should have been a cakewalk. Instead she was shaking with the fear they would reject her like her family had, which was stupid. If Alex and Colt hadn’t schlepped her off yet, telling them this probably wouldn’t do it either.
“So we went home after New Year’s and during the visit something inside me just switched off. I spent most of the time avoiding my siblings. They were assholes to me anyway. Only the oldest two really seemed to remember me and the rest thought I was some sort of imposter trying to steal their parents’ money. I was eleven!” She cried incredulously, almost laughing at the absurdity. “I don’t know whether it was the combination of the shock of learning this truth and then having it basically ignored along with the hormonal changes brought on by puberty, but I just checked out.”
A Different Kind of Perfect (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 9