Cass laughed as he stood up and began gathering the dishes. Marian started to stand, too, and Beau put his hand on her shoulder. “Nope. We got this.” She smiled at him, a sexy little secret smile, like she had something planned for him later. Damn, he liked that smile. He gave her one back.
“This,” she said, looking at the others, “is the secret initiation of Danny Smith to the Rebels.”
“Damn,” Tyler said with a grin. “Are we doing that now? ’Cause that is totally cool if we are.”
Beau flipped on the sound system as he walked past the bar. The volume was low, a sexy playlist he’d put together, all suggestive and explicit songs. Let the games begin, he thought, sharing a smile with Cass as he set the dirty dishes down on the kitchen counter.
“Do you think she’s okay with this?” Cass asked quietly, his smile fading into a frown.
“I think she’s more than okay with it,” Beau said. “But she’s going to get nervous if we don’t get back in there.”
“Wait,” Cass said, catching his hand as he started to turn away. He turned back and Cass pulled him in close. He cupped Beau’s cheek, his thumb rubbing along his bottom lip. Then he kissed him. It was slow and sexy, all tongue and hot breath. Beau kissed him back, sliding one hand up into Cass’s hair on the back of his head. Cass broke the kiss and Beau licked his lips, staring at Cass’s mouth. He wanted more. Shit, he was wired. Knowing what was going to happen had him primed and ready. He’d been sporting a boner half the night.
“I want them to know,” Cass whispered. “About us.”
“Why?” Beau asked, curious. He didn’t care, really. He’d take out a freaking billboard to announce Cass was his now.
“Because I don’t want to have to hide it,” Cass said. “We love each other. Everybody knows it. It’s not like watching two guys get it on will freak Tyler out. He’ll probably give us pointers.”
Beau laughed under his breath. “Yeah. And Tom and Danny?”
“Let them see how perfect it is,” Cass said. “How perfect we are.” He kissed Beau again, a little harder, a little more intensely. He bit Beau’s upper lip softly. “If I have to let other guys fuck Marian, I want to have you.”
“I know,” Beau said. “It’s going to be hard not to bust in and take over. I want to see it, though. Shit, it’s going to be hot. I love to watch her with you. With three other guys?” He bent his suddenly weak knees and shook his head, blowing out a breath. “My dick needs to be somewhere while I’m watching that.”
“I know,” Cass said, laughing low. “She’s going to drive us crazy, isn’t she? She’s so fucking perfect.” He licked his lips, staring down at Beau’s crotch. “How about my mouth? Or my hand? What do you want to do?”
“Let’s just take it as we go,” Beau said. He licked the edge of Cass’s ear. That drove Cass crazy and, sure enough, he shivered in Beau’s arms. “I’m not sure I’m ready to get fucked in front of them, but I’m not going to rule that out.”
“Correction, you and Marian are both going to drive me crazy,” Cass said. “Damn, I want everyone to know how fucking hot you both are. And that you’re mine. This is mine.” He squeezed Beau’s ass, his big hand branding Beau through his jeans.
“It sure is,” Beau told him, giving him a big, wet, openmouthed kiss.
“Oh, hey,” Tom said awkwardly. “Sorry. I was just…” He cleared his throat as Cass and Beau separated. “Trying to help.” He set some dirty dishes down on the counter.
“That’s okay,” Beau said calmly. “We don’t mind if you don’t.”
“No,” Tom said quickly. “I mean, we all figured, you know? So, no big surprise.”
“Oh, there are going to be surprises,” Cass said suggestively. “Do you like surprises, Tom?”
“Yeah,” Tom said, drawing out the word. “Good surprises. Is it a good surprise?”
“The best,” Beau told him with a wink. “Trust me. But,” he said, stopping Tom from leaving with that one word. “Remember that we’re trusting you, too. Okay?”
“Okay,” Tom said with a puzzled frown. “You guys are acting all weird.” That made both Beau and Cass laugh as they left the kitchen.
Danny was sitting there, folding and refolding his napkin, staring at the table. All the dishes had been cleared off and Marian and Tyler were making small talk. Tyler had moved over into Beau’s seat. Beau grabbed the bottle of wine off the bar and refilled Marian’s glass. He noticed that Marian and Tyler were sitting there holding hands casually. Just that had his heart racing. “Well?” he asked. “You still okay?”
She nodded with a smile. “I’m good.”
“You’re perfect,” he told her, leaning over and kissing her cheek. He didn’t try to displace Tyler, just went over and took his abandoned seat. Cass came in and stood next to the kitchen door beside Tom, who was watching them all warily. Cass waved Tom into his previous seat, on Marian’s other side. Danny sat across from her. Tom gave Cass a suspicious look, but he sat down.
“So,” Marian said, looking around the table, “we’ve gathered you all here to reveal who the murderer is.”
“What?” Danny said, frowning. Marian cracked up laughing.
“Sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t resist. I should have used a Miss Marple voice. And the murderer is,” she said in a high-pitched British accent.
Beau watched Cass laughing with her as he sauntered over and took a seat at the table. “Stop. You’re making them nervous,” Cass told her. “Do you want me to start?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It should be me.” She took a deep breath. “I know you two have been wondering what’s been going on with me and Danny,” she said to Tyler and Tom.
“You don’t have to tell them,” Danny snapped at her. “They don’t need to know.”
“Yes, they do,” Marian said patiently. “They’re my friends and they deserve an explanation.”
“They’ll tell everyone,” Danny told her. “These guys are worse than old women with the gossip. You know it.”
“I trust them,” Marian said. “You should, too.”
“You barely know them,” Danny burst out. “You’ve known them…what, three weeks?”
“I know them here,” Marian said, placing her hand over her heart. “Just like I know you here.”
“You can’t,” Danny said. “You can’t know guys like this. They hide shit. They lie. They’ll say whatever it takes to get what they want.”
“I resent that,” Tom said. She could tell he was getting pissed. “You don’t know me at all. You haven’t bothered to get to know me. If you had, you’d know that I would never share anything that Marian confided to me. I don’t lie, I don’t cheat. Not even to get something I really want.”
“There’s no way you’re the Boy Scout you pretend to be,” Danny sneered at him. “What’s your angle?”
“You know, I am trying really hard not to dislike you,” Tom told him. “I have to live with you, and Marian adores you, God knows why. But I trust her judgment, so I’ve been giving you the benefit of the doubt. Like some childhood trauma turned you into a giant asshole or something.”
“Hey,” Tyler said, butting into the conversation. “For a minute there, I thought this was about Marian, but clearly it’s about you two.”
“I do adore him, and I’m going to tell you why,” Marian said quietly.
Danny shoved his chair back from the table and stalked over to the rock wall bordering one side of the dining room. He began to pace as Marian started speaking, but he didn’t leave.
“Back in college I dated a football player,” she said. “I was an assistant trainer with the team. My dad was the coach.”
“Your dad coached college ball?” Tyler asked. Beau could tell he was trying to figure out where. He’d know soon enough.
“Yes,” she said. “Anyway, I told this boyfriend about my…sexual fantasies.” To their credit, neither Tom nor Tyler looked away, or seemed uncomfortable in any way.
“Well, s
ure you did,” Tom said after the pause went on a beat too long. “That’s what boyfriends and girlfriends do. Right?” He looked around the room for confirmation.
“Absolutely,” Tyler agreed. “Go on.”
“I thought he understood what I wanted. I was wrong.” She was still holding Tyler’s hand and Beau saw that her knuckles were white. Tyler didn’t flinch. Tom was looking between Cass and Beau. He’d figured it out. Smart guy.
“You wanted more than one guy,” Tom said quietly. “Right? No judgment here. Just saying.”
“That’s right,” she said firmly, fully in control and confident. No shame. Beau wanted to kiss her. So he got up and went behind her and tipped her head back, kissing her softly.
“That’s right,” he whispered. She smiled up at him and he went and sat back down.
“What went wrong?” Tyler asked.
“He didn’t understand that I wanted what I have with Cass and Beau. Instead he recruited half the defensive line one night in the deserted locker room.”
“Jeez, Marian,” Tom said, almost under his breath. He picked up her free hand and kissed the back. “I’m sorry, baby.” Right then Beau knew he’d do anything for Tom, anytime, anywhere.
“Before…” she paused. “Well, before. They’d just managed to get me down with a good right hook and four players holding on to me when Danny heard me screaming and came tearing into the locker room like an avenging angel.”
Tyler and Tom both turned to stare at Danny, who had his back to the room as he stared hard at the wall in front of him. He had to be reliving it while she was telling them. What was he thinking? Was he remembering that first impression? The excitement of it? Or had he managed to convince himself he’d never felt that? Probably not, or he wouldn’t still hate himself for it.
“I think I adore him now, too,” Tom said.
“I didn’t do shit,” Danny said angrily, turning to them and glaring around the room. “Yeah, I got them off her and got a couple of good hits in, but that’s it. I never went to the cops. I never told anyone.”
“That was my decision, too,” Marian told him. “Don’t forget that.”
“Wait,” Tyler said, holding up a hand, his eyes going wide. “You went to the same college, right?” He stared at Marian. “That makes your dad Rufus Sedgeway. Fucking Rufus Sedgeway. Holy shit.”
“Fucking Rufus Sedgeway,” Danny said bitterly. “That’s right. That’s his name.”
“There’s more to the story,” Tom said. “Tell it.”
“How many times do we have to go through this?” Danny asked, frustration evident in his voice and his posture. “No matter how many times you tell the story, it doesn’t change.”
“My father wouldn’t let us go to the police,” she said, ignoring Danny. “He threatened both of us. Told me he’d tell the cops I was lying. Told Danny he’d be off the team, lose his scholarship, talk him down to scouts. He had the power to ruin his career.”
“Jesus,” Tyler said. “Your father?”
“They were headed to a bowl game, a winning season. My boyfriend and a couple of his friends were headed for the NFL, another few notches on my dad’s I’m-so-great belt. That was more important than a stupid daughter.”
“Marian,” Tom said, his voice breaking. He leaned over and held her hand to his forehead. “No. Not your dad.”
“The point of all this,” Marian said, “is that both Danny and I were fucked up by the whole thing.”
“I’m not fucked up,” Danny protested.
“Yes, you are,” Beau told him, standing up and facing him, holding on to the back of his chair. “You hate everyone in your world, including yourself. Now let her finish.”
“I thought what I wanted was wrong,” Marian said. “That I’d asked for it. God, that old horrible excuse, right?” She licked her lips nervously. “But Cass and Beau made me see that I didn’t. That it’s not wrong. This is what I want, and they want it, too.”
“Okay, that’s okay,” Tom said quickly. “It is. No one cares. No one here thinks less of you because of what you guys have. Hell, we’re all jealous.”
“You should be,” Cass said with a smug grin. It instantly lightened the atmosphere.
“The thing is,” Marian said, “I’m not entirely over it. Yet.”
“The locker room,” Tyler said. “That’s why you never come in.” She nodded.
“So we thought,” she said, looking at Beau and then Cass. “That is, we talked about it, and we were hoping you three might help me get over that.”
“Okay,” Tom immediately agreed. “How?”
Tyler thumped him on the head. “How do you think, genius?”
Tom looked puzzled for a minute and then he blushed and his eyes got wide. “Oh,” he said. “Oh. Right.”
“No,” Danny shouted. “No. We are not doing this. I am not doing this.”
Tom started to say something but Marian held her hand up for him to be quiet and he obeyed. “Let me,” she told him. She walked over to Danny, who was standing with his back against the wall, facing them all, his arms crossed. She got right in his personal space. She’d done it a million times before, but this time was different. This time there was a sexual tension in the way they met. She let it wash over her. When Cass had mentioned this, she’d thought it would be awkward with Danny, but it wasn’t. She loved him. She wasn’t in love with him, but she loved him dearly. He was gorgeous and had always been her hero. She reached out and gently placed her hands on his arms.
“Danny, I think I know what you’ve been going through. After all, isn’t it the same thing I’ve been going through?”
“No,” he said belligerently. “It isn’t. You were violently assaulted, almost raped. I’m the one who didn’t do anything about it. I let them go. I played ball with them. I ignored what they did for my own personal gain.”
“Didn’t I do the same?” Marian asked. “We made choices. And we talked about it at the time. We both agreed they were the only choices we had.” She put her finger against his lips to prevent a response. She just needed him to think right now. “Today things might be different. People would listen. But back then? No. We were on our own.” She pulled one of his hands up to her cheek. “You have always been there for me. I need you to be here for me now.” She looked into his beautiful brown eyes for a moment, eyes that were tormented by memories. “I know what you want. It’s what we all want. And it’s not wrong, Danny. Not here. Not now. Not like this. Let your first time be with me.”
“I ain’t no fucking virgin,” Danny said in disgust.
“You are with multiple partners, aren’t you?” she asked quietly. “But you’ve always wanted it, just like me.”
“Is that what you want to hear?” His voice was harsh, and he yanked his hand away from her cheek. “That when I walked in and saw what was going on, I was turned on? I thought it was hot? Some hero I am, right?”
“But once you realized what was really happening, that I wasn’t a willing participant, you didn’t think it was hot anymore, did you? You were furious. You came to my rescue. Those feelings you had when you first walked in? That was normal. If it had been a situation like this, my choice, my friends and lovers, then you’d have been absolutely right. It would have been hot and a turn-on.”
“Jesus, Marian, they were about to rape you,” he said in a strangled voice. “And that turned me on.”
“Not the rape,” she said firmly. “The thought of me with a group of guys.” He looked away, his lips tight and thin.
“Can I step in?” Tom asked, hesitation in his voice.
“I don’t need some damn rookie’s opinion on how fucked up I am,” Danny snapped.
“Good, because that’s not what I was going to say,” Tom replied calmly. “What I was going to say was that I’ve never done anything remotely like this. I had one girlfriend in college and that is the only person I have ever had sex with.”
All eyes in the room turned to him. Everyone else looked as incr
edulous as Marian. “But you’re so sweet, and smart, and cute,” she protested.
“Not because I didn’t have offers,” Tom told her honestly. “I just didn’t want to. My family was pretty strict, and sex was relegated to marriage. I thought I was going to marry that girl.”
“What happened?” Marian asked, turning to him. She leaned back against Danny, and was relieved when his arms came around her and held her to him.
“Nothing dramatic,” Tom said with a shrug. “We were just going through the motions. She didn’t want to marry an NFL player. Didn’t want that life. Didn’t want me off fucking other women while she sat at home.”
“But you wouldn’t,” Beau said. “You just said you didn’t.”
“No, I wouldn’t. Not because I was crazy in love with her, but because I was scared of my own desires, you know? I wanted it all. I didn’t think I could have it, or should have it. But after seeing you guys, I think I can. We’re talking straight, right?” He looked around, blushing. “I was afraid to ask a girl to try some kinky stuff. I’m not much of a lover. FYI.”
“I think I might be a little in love with you at this moment,” Tyler told him. “It will probably pass because you like science fiction way too much, but we should take advantage of it.”
Behind her Danny chuckled, and Marian actually got breathless thinking this was really going to work. “Rookie and his damn Doctor Who marathons,” he said.
“Well,” Tyler said flatly. “I’m openly bisexual and love a good orgy. So you know I’m in.”
“Wait,” Tom asked, a little panicked. “Who’s getting fucked?”
“We all are,” Marian said with a grin. “But mostly me.”
Chapter 28
Marian turned back to Danny and her hands went to her belt. Cass’s heart was beating triple-time in his chest. He wasn’t really sure how he was going to handle watching Marian with other guys. He loved to watch her with Beau, but Beau was different because he belonged to Cass, just like Marian. When they were together, they were all together. These guys were friends, trusted friends—at least Marian trusted Danny—but they weren’t part of what he and Beau and Marian had. She didn’t belong to them.
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