by Sam Crescent
She enjoyed spending time with them. Not only the last few days but when she took the car in. They had been the only ones to not be careful about what they said around her. She appreciated the town’s concern, but she hadn’t wanted anyone to change because of her. Pulling back the small curtain covering the front window by the door, she watched them talking in their truck. They drove off minutes later. Locking the door, she moved around her silent home wishing she could call them back. Never in her life had she been the type of person to beg anyone for attention. She wouldn’t start with Noah and Drew. Turning off the lights and checking the windows and doors, she walked upstairs to her room. Switching on the television, she flopped down on the edge of the bed and flicked through the channels. Several celebrity talk shows were on and lots of reality television. She skipped it, not wanting to get anything that would be too time-consuming. Her mother had used to watch the reality shows to keep her company when her sickness got so bad she couldn’t sleep.
Turning the channel over, she settled on a movie. It was a sappy romantic comedy that she’d seen many times, but it allowed her the time to mentally drift.
Could she be in a relationship with Noah and Drew? She’d talked to Gloria about it, and the other woman’s response had been, “I did.”
Closing her eyes, she pushed her hair off her face to do something with her hands. If she wasn’t careful, she’d spend the whole night cleaning the house from top to bottom until she passed out exhausted.
Blowing out in boredom, she got up and went down to the kitchen to make herself some hot chocolate. The moment she entered the kitchen, her gaze zeroed in on the table. For several minutes her body grew hot thinking about their hands all over her. Shaking her head to try to gain some sense, she went to the fridge, grabbing the milk. She poured some milk into a saucepan and placed it on the hob to heat up. Cheryl preferred real hot chocolate and gathered some honey and quality chocolate from the pantry. She broke the chocolate into the pan, squirted in some honey and gave it a good stir until everything was melted and looked dark, sweet, and delicious.
Pouring the whole lot into her large mug, she put the saucepan in the sink and walked back upstairs to her room.
She sipped the chocolate while her thoughts were still unsure about Noah and Drew. The only part about them that she knew for certain was she didn’t want to be alone.
Night fell, and she stripped down, putting on a night-shirt to cover herself. She’d wait until morning and make her decision then. Monday morning would bring a whole host of problems.
One, she needed a job, and two, she needed to understand what she wanted from Noah and Drew before anyone got hurt.
Chapter Nine
On Monday, she was no closer to knowing the truth than the night before. Drew and Noah knocked on her door first thing carrying some cups filled with coffee, and the scent of fresh baking followed them in.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“We didn’t say we wouldn’t see you again. We simply said we’d show you we wanted you for more than sex,” Noah said. He dropped a kiss on her head taking the lead in the kitchen. Drew sat her down in a seat, taking a kiss from her as he did.
“You both could use me for sex.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. Drew and Noah both burst out laughing.
Beet red, she stared at the table. Her dreams had been plagued by sensual images of these two men.
“We went to the local bakery, and Brenda had been cooking up a storm. We’ve got fresh, buttery croissants and good coffee,” Noah said.
He handed her a cup of hot coffee, placing a plate full of croissants in the centre of the table. “I figured we could have breakfast together.”
Each of them took a seat on either side of her. Their presence made her feel cherished and protected. She could all too easily fall for their charms without a care in the world. Taking the one from the top, she took a small bite moaning as the pastry melted in her mouth. She knew she should be watching her weight, but the heavenly croissant was too good to pass up.
“What do you have planned for today?” Drew asked.
“I’ve got to find a job. I can’t stay here all day.”
“Why don’t you come work for us at the shop?” Noah said.
She thought about it and decided against it. Cars and she didn’t mix well. “No thanks. The farther away from a car I am, the better.”
“Why?” Drew asked
“Why do you think I had to keep sending the car into your shop? I was a nightmare at the wheel. Yes, I can drive, but I think I’ll stick to walking.”
Drew and Noah ate their fair share.
“You know Brenda is looking for someone to help her in the bakery. Maybe you could try there,” Noah said.
“I will. Thank you.”
They cleaned away her breakfast plates taking her in their arms and leading her out the front door.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Taking you to Brenda’s and then we’ll go onto the shop. We’ve got business to attend to,” Drew said.
Noah grabbed her bag and purse from the hook by the door. Drew led her out to the truck.
“I can walk, you know?”
“We know, but we want to take you there.” Drew helped her inside the truck, getting in beside her. Noah took the wheel this time, putting the truck into gear and driving the short distance to where the bakery was in the centre of town.
Cheryl saw there was already a long queue leading down the street. The bakery was popular, and people travelled from the neighbouring towns to come and try Brenda’s baked goods. Noah found an available spot to park the truck and turned to her to give her a quick kiss.
“If it doesn’t work out come and say hi to us. We’d love for you to come and visit,” Noah said.
She nodded her head, unable to talk. Drew got out and helped her out of the truck. He gave her a fleeting kiss, jumping back into the truck. She didn’t like them pulling away. The fire was gone from their touch. Their kisses were loving but reserved.
Smiling at them, she gave them a wave, watching the truck pull away, and then she entered the shop.
A couple of customers growled at her to get to the back of the queue. She pointed at the sign, “staff wanted” showing them she wasn’t pushing in. Behind the counter she found a harassed looking Brenda serving three customers at once. The poor woman looked like she wanted to burst into tears.
The moment she saw Cheryl, she pulled her round the counter. “Please tell me you’re here to apply for the job to help me?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Thank God. Drew and Noah said they’d try to convince you, but I didn’t think they would.” Brenda handed her an apron and then helped her into it. “You know how to work a till?”
“No.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just help me get these customers sorted. I can work the till for the both of us.”
The next four hours Cheryl was hands deep in sandwiches, bread, buns, biscuits and every other type of desert that could be baked. The work was demanding, but she enjoyed it. The customer came in, ordered what they wanted, and she picked it out or made it up into a gift basket, handed it over, took the cash and waved goodbye. Pretty simple. After the intensive care she’d given her mother, she was looking for something simple.
Once the queue went down, Brenda began to ask her questions about what she could work and when.
“I’m available full time. I can be here when you need me.”
“Well I start getting busy from seven, but I’m here at five in the morning to start the baking early. I work Monday to Friday until four in the afternoon. Could you be here from six till four, Monday to Friday?” Brenda asked.
“It sounds perfect.”
The rest of the day was spent with her preparing the cookies in gift bags and learning to use the till. Brenda got the paperwork ready for her to sign. Cheryl knew she’d have to thank Noah and Drew for bringing her. The time spent working meant she wasn
’t dwelling on her own situation, and the work provided her with a chance to interact in public again.
Several of her old high-school friends had made an appearance, including Andrea Simpson, known as Andy. The two didn’t have time to talk, but ice had been broken so to speak. Cheryl helped clean away the debris from the day, and Brenda packaged up an assortment of biscuits and donuts.
“Give them to your men. They deserve them, and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.” Brenda locked the shop and left. Staring at the box in her hand, Cheryl held the gift against her chest and walked towards the mechanic shop.
She pulled her jacket off as the afternoon heat was still warm. Summer would be a scorcher if the present weather was anything to go by.
The mechanic shop was busy with at least three to four cars being worked on. She saw Noah and Drew instantly. They’d removed their shirts. Their chests were covered in grease, and she felt a pull low in her stomach. Biting her lip to keep her moan inside, she walked to the front. Several girls were standing by a bench giggling at the semi-naked men. Turning her gaze away from the girls she saw all the men had removed their shirts. What surprised her were the blushes some of the men wore.
Hum, the Law Castle bad boys don’t like certain attention.
Noah glanced up first and gave her a big beaming smile. She held up the decorative box.
“Break, boys,” he said walking over to her. “How was your day?”
“Busy but great. Thank you for taking me.”
“You got the job.”
“Yes, and these are from Brenda as a thank you.”
He took the box from her. The men all dived in with relish. Jake, Brent, and Connor moved away out of sight of the girls while Drew and Noah took her inside the office. They had a window overlooking the work shop, and she watched the three men eating their pastries.
“What’s with the blushes?” she asked, turning back to the two men in the room.
Noah and Drew came to stand on either side of her staring out the window. “They’re girls. Wouldn’t you be a little embarrassed if a fifteen-year-old whistled to you and giggled?” Drew said.
“I guess, but I thought you guys were supposed to love that kind of attention?”
“Sorry, darling, but having a bunch of school-girls admiring me isn’t my idea of a good time. They’re kids, and I don’t fuck around with kids.”
Staring at the girls and then the men, Cheryl suddenly felt kind of bad for them. What would happen if one of the men was caught in a compromising situation? She shook her head, not wanting to think of the possibility. They had certainly opened her eyes.
The girls left when they realised none of the men were going to pay them attention. Cheryl stayed at the shop watching the men work. They looked good with their bulging muscles and tanned flesh on display. Every once in a while she’d hear the whistles and giggles of passing girls, and she’d see them all cringe.
Noah and Drew drove her home later that night, kissed her and then left. Going inside her house, she leaned against the closed door. How long would she be able to cope being around them before she begged them to take her?
****
The next day was much like the first except that Drew and Noah turned up at her house at five-thirty in the morning. They had a bag with them, and again they sat her at her table as they made coffee and poured her a bowl of cereal. She couldn’t help but laugh at their attentiveness. The comforting silence as they all ate breakfast made her wonder what it would be like if she gave in. Would it be as nice as it was now?
Drew washed the bowls so she could finish getting ready, and with ten minutes to spare they were out her front door and heading towards the bakery. She sat between the two in silence, thanking them once again with a kiss to the cheek. Brenda was already working when she walked in at six.
The rest of the week went by with the same old routine. Drew and Noah were the perfect gentlemen even though she gave them so many openings to simply take her. Instead, they kissed her on the forehead or cheek, and then they’d leave. She loved spending time with them, but she was starting to lose her mind with wanting them. They’d thrown down a challenge for her to go to them, but she didn’t know if she could.
They appeared every morning like devilish angels looking refreshed and sexy as sin while she spent every night with erotic dreams about the two men. She was ready to pull her hair out.
Brenda, seeing her frustration, had let her knead the dough. She’d pulled the hell out of the hard dough making it unusable.
“Do you feel better?” the woman said on Thursday morning.
“Not much.” She was sweating, tired, and aching all over. Her body was on fire for them constantly, and what was worse, no matter how many times she gave herself an orgasm, none of them compared to the ones she experienced in their arms.
They’d ruined her for any other man. If she couldn’t find the best release at her own hand how could she expect to go with someone else but Drew and Noah? Her anger got the better of her making her snap at them when they dropped her off at home. In the space of four days she’d gone from being a carefree woman to a nympho. Every time she saw them, she wanted to jump their bones.
It was so unfair. A week ago she’d been a virgin wanting to find someone to spend her first time with. Drew and Noah had given her an amazing first, second, third and even fourth time, but now they held all the physical away from her.
She felt like a child in a candy store who was being told no, the scent of the candy so close yet so far away.
Friday came, and the same happened. They served her breakfast, which was sweet and loving, but Cheryl had had enough. She spent the day at the bakery and overheard some of the women talking about Drew and Noah being at The Dugout. At four she went to their shop, watched them work until they dropped her off after six. No words were spoken, but soft gentle kisses given.
Going inside she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had to act now. There was no way she could go on constantly fighting them. Pulling the band from her hair, she removed her clothes and took a shower. By the end of the night, Noah and Drew wouldn’t be able to resist her.
Chapter Ten
Her plan had been fine inside her head, but going through with it was another thing entirely. She’d taken a cab to the bar not wanting to worry about driving with how frayed her nerves were. The previous Friday she hadn’t completely expected to go home with Noah and Drew. This Friday was different. Not only was she going in there with the intention of getting fucked, she was also going in there with the intention of claiming her men.
By the end of the night she never wanted Noah and Drew to deny her. Running her finger through her hair, resolving her issues quickly inside her head, she walked inside the loud bar.
Smoke filled the bar, and couples were all over in different stages of making out. For a Friday night it was pretty crowded. She noticed several of the locals and plenty of people she didn’t know.
Cheryl stood inside the club in her mini skirt and tight white shirt. The clothes she’d picked had been with the seduction in mind. She hadn’t wanted to leave the house, but Noah and Drew challenged her in ways she never expected. If they didn’t think she was capable of having fun without them she was about to show them differently. Okay, so her main intention was to gain their attention, but she would use any means possible.
Passing the crowd of people at The Dugout she went straight to the bar and ordered a beer. The woman serving that Friday night handed her a bottle without too much trouble considering the number of people at the bar waiting for their orders. Another Friday night, and the dance floor was heaving. The summer was fast approaching, and she knew the town got busy. Plenty of people wanted to visit Law Castle just to see if the ménage rumour was true. Sipping her beer, she perused the other customers. When she hadn’t spotted Drew or Noah she turned her gaze to the dance floor. Couples in two or threes danced together to the erotic beat of the music. Smiling, her face froze, her heart hamme
ring inside her chest.
Drew and Noah had a blonde dancing between them. It looked like the same blonde they’d been dancing with the week before. A skinny blonde with barely anything on, not that Cheryl could complain. Her own outfit left little to the imagination. Cheryl stared at the woman and knew the blonde looked much better than she did. Playing with the sticky label on her beer bottle, she couldn’t look away. Noah, Drew, and the blonde looked great together. Cheryl probably looked like fat cow between two hot men. She took a gulp of her beer. Cheryl couldn’t watch them dancing with the blonde. The jealousy stirred inside her. She took a quick glance at the dance floor and saw another woman dancing. When she looked closely it could be mistaken as a friendly dance. She knew Noah and Drew had a reputation for picking up women. Is that what they were doing?
So much for being their woman. She snorted but couldn’t look away from the sexual scene they were creating. Feeling completely stupid she placed her drink on the bar and turned to leave. She collided against a firm hard chest. Large arms sprang out to support her and to stop her falling backwards. Feeling even more like a sack of potatoes she felt the stain of humiliation claiming her.
“Sorry,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it, Cheryl.”
She glanced up the long line of his body to see Jake, Brent, and Connor surround her. The three men who worked with Noah and Drew. She’d felt sorry for them after the girls kept giggling at them. Now, they looked ready for action. They were no longer covered in grease, and their clothes were tight. She took a moment to appreciate the view only to come up short. They were nothing like Noah and Drew. Her heart didn’t pound, and the flood of heat was nonexistent. Annoyed at her lack of response, she glanced over at the two men who did make her body come alive only to sigh in frustration. No way would she ever be as flexible as the blonde. She loved food too much, and the thought of exercise made her want to vomit. Life was too short to spend it working out to some tune.
“Do you want to dance?” Jake asked, pulling her out of the morbid thoughts.