by Vanessa Vale
I glanced to Lucas, who shrugged. “I have no fucking idea. I figured they’d be after me with pitchforks or something after what my dad did, but no.”
It made no sense. They’d always liked me, at least they didn’t outwardly hate me like they did with Kit Lancaster. That had been obvious since high school, back when she’d been friends with Erin, before she and Lucas even dated. But with what my dad did, I’d expected to be eviscerated when I’d shown up with Hailey.
But no. Mr. Mills had slapped me on the back instead of punching me in the face.
“I’ve given up figuring them out,” Lucas added.
So had I.
“Your turn, sweetheart. Your parents aren’t assholes, you say.”
“Right. I followed in my mom’s footsteps,” she added. “Like I said earlier, she skied competitively. Dad’s learned to remain calm through yoga or Tai Chi. He has to be with two female daredevils in the family.”
I lifted my glass, imagining a man who probably had white hair and an ulcer. “To your dad.”
She gave me a small smile. “They live in Jackson. That’s where I grew up.”
I knew the town just over the Montana border in Wyoming. Pretty spot. Epic skiing.
Her cell rang, the same ringtone as before. Her coach. She looked down at it as if it were going to bite her.
“Sweetheart, talk to the man,” I ordered.
She frowned, then sighed. “Fine. Hey, Mark,” she said when she answered it.
While the bar music wasn’t too loud for her to take her call, we couldn’t hear what he was saying. But watching Hailey’s face was indication enough that it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns.
“I’ve been busy. Yes, I know I should be training.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, PT is well. One hundred ten degrees. No, they haven’t benched me.”
She picked up her beer, took a swig.
I looked to Lucas, leaned in. “What’s up with that?” I murmured, tilting my head toward Hailey.
“Snow’s coming. Her coach is itching for her to get back to training. I met him at the mud run. He’s hard core.”
“I got that, but why’s she not excited about it?”
“The Springs, tomorrow?” she said. “I don’t know. Look, Mark, I’m not sure if I’m—”
She looked down at the table, listened. “Fine. I need a week. Yes, a week.”
She swiped the screen, set her cell on the table.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“He wants me in the Springs at the training center tomorrow.” She laughed. “As if that’s going to happen.”
“Don’t you want to train? To get back out there?” From the film clips I’d seen of her, she was incredible. Yeah, she’d had a horrible accident, but it wasn’t stopping her. Was she afraid? Had she lost her nerve?
She shrugged, grabbed an unused coaster and started fiddling with it. “I’m happy here with you and Lucas. I like the way you keep me occupied.”
I liked it, too. I grabbed her hand, tossed the coaster onto the table. “Sweetheart, I’ve fucked you good and hard and your ass is probably still sore from my palm, but we only met this morning.”
She stiffened at that and tried to tug her hand away. Her blush told me she was equally parts embarrassed and angry.
“Hang on, don’t pull away,” I added, ensuring she didn’t think it was a one-time thing. Fuck, no. Lucas gave me a death glare. I sighed, knowing I had to stop being so fucking blunt. “I want you here. With us. Me. This has been hot as fuck. Fun. Don’t doubt that for a second. But if you have to go to the Springs, wherever the fuck that is, you should go. We’ll be here waiting for you.” I winked. “Dicks hard and ready for more.”
That pulled a smile from her.
“Cy’s being an asshole, like usual,” Lucas said, leaning in and kissing the top of her head.
I wasn’t being an asshole, I was being the responsible one. I was all for fucking her brains out twenty-four/seven, but I had a feeling she was going to need some kind of challenge out of her life, besides me pushing her boundaries.
If she’d won championships, her drive to win wasn’t like the average person’s. She couldn’t be as successful as she was without a challenge, a goal to achieve, whether it be one race or an entire season. I wouldn’t let her slack off when it was clear racing was her life. I wouldn’t get in her way either.
Besides, I wasn’t the greatest of catches. She’d have her fun with us, check off the threesome thing from her bucket list and move on. I’d just enjoy it—and her—while it lasted.
“I’m scheduled to take a group of vets out,” Lucas said, then looked to Hailey. “Just overnight. No matter how much I want to be in bed with you… hell, to stay in bed with you twenty-four/seven, people are counting on me. While I’m gone, maybe Cy can say something that doesn’t piss you off.”
“I can think of ways to keep her busy,” I offered. On her knees. On all fours. Spread out on my kitchen table.
She squirmed in the booth, and I couldn’t help but grin.
“I’ve liked your inventiveness so far. I told Mark a week, so he’s coming here so we can head to training together.” She glanced at me, lifted one shoulder in a vague shrug. “He’s counting on me,” she said. “But that’s because if I retire, he has no paycheck. I don’t want to ski for him, I want to ski for me.”
Retire at… what, twenty-six? Twenty-seven? No wonder she was having a tough time. When most people were just getting settled into a career, hers had the chance of being over.
The waitress brought a huge bowl full of spicy wings, three plates and a pile of napkins. I wasn’t rich like Lucas. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth or even in the kitchen drawer. My mom worked two fucking jobs to keep all of us fed and clothed after my father bailed. My grandparents had died first, then Mom when I was eighteen and I’d been left the ranch. I wasn’t flush with cash, but I was land rich. Every acre was mine. I had prime property, solid water rights and acreage that backed up to the National Forest. I’d had offers for millions, but I refused them all. Always would. While the ranch took a shit ton of work, I also helped Lucas with his non-profit. Helped with some trips, especially ones that used my horses.
As for Hailey, I had to guess she had money. Champion ski racers had big sponsors and they had big pockets. Hell, she might even be on a box of Wheaties.
“Then do that. Ski for yourself, which is the reason I thought you did it. If that’s not the case, fuck your coach. What’s his name again?”
“Mark Bastion.”
“Mark’s problems are not your problems. He’s a grown ass man. Go ski the shit out of a mountain if that’s what you want.”
She grinned then. “Ski the shit out of a mountain?”
“You know what I mean,” I replied.
“Okay, well, no snow out there yet. I’ve got a week to meet up with Mark and get back to pre-season practice,” she continued, picking up a carrot stick and dunking it in the blue cheese dressing. “Until then, I want to be with you and not think.”
I grinned, picked up a wing. Not think? I could get her to forget her own fucking name. “That can be arranged. While Lucas is off on his backcountry trip, you and I can get to know each other. In bed and out. And I promise, sweetheart, I’ll make you forget everything but my dick.”
8
HAILEY
We spent the night at Lucas’ house, mainly because it was closest to the bar. None of us were big drinkers, but a few of their friends had shown up—fortunately, no one had mentioned anything about Cy’s dad or Erin—and we’d stayed pretty late. By the time we got through Lucas’ front door, they were all over me, as if we hadn’t had sex earlier at the ranch.
Twice.
Cy had woken early to return to the ranch for chores. While he’d said he had two people helping him with the cattle business and a few people who boarded their horses in his stable, he still had work to do. Animals needed tending no matter how sex weary one was.
; Lucas and I hadn’t slept much later, specifically because he was going on his overnight and wanted to get me off one more time before he left. A morning quickie.
A good way to wake up was with his head between my thighs, the rasp of his morning stubble brushing against my tender skin.
Of course, I’d reciprocated before getting dressed and driving him to the non-profit’s office, a warehouse on the outskirts of town, to pick up the company van and stock the equipment needed for his trip.
I’d helped him for a bit, organizing sleeping bags, ensuring the water jugs were full. Before any of the men who were on the trip arrived, he’d kissed me one last time and sent me on my way, patting my ass as he did so.
And now I was headed toward Cy and his ranch, a smile on my face, and an ache in my pussy.
One thing I hadn’t considered when agreeing to a fun threesome was how my body would be sore in ways and places I never imagined. Muscles ached, my pussy was a little tender from their very big dicks. Cy wasn’t gentle, and that was A-OK by me. He was crazy bossy. No, he was a dominant. I doubted he’d ever been to a sex club or was into BDSM or anything, but he definitely had wanted me to submit. He’d given me every opportunity to say no, but there hadn’t been, for one second, a moment where I would have.
I wanted to be dominated. I wanted him to tell me what to do. I wanted him to spank my ass for being bratty. I wanted his dirty words, his dirty actions.
I wanted to submit. To give him my power. My accident had taken it away from me and I was lost. Out of control. The rush I got from winning a race, flying down the mountain at ridiculous speeds was like an orgasm. Like one. The absolute thrill. The intensity, the focused mind. Everything disappeared but the hill and me and my skis.
But then I wiped out. And that craving for control was gone.
And giving it to Cy obviously wasn’t keeping control. I gave it to him. But that had been my choice. I’d wanted him to take over, to lead, to tell me what to do because I didn’t know anymore. And besides the orgasms… god, they’d been incredible, he and Lucas made me whole again.
Crazy? Absolutely. I didn’t completely understand it myself, but I craved more from Cy. It wasn’t a downhill race, but it might just be better. Was it stupid to keep this going? Definitely. I was only going to get hurt, at least my heart. The fact that I was eager to get to him was a bad sign. This was turning into more than just fun.
A song I liked came on the radio and I turned it up, sang along. I was in the middle of nowhere on a two-lane road, the grasses a golden yellow from the cold weather. A dusting of snow blanketed everything, a reminder to me that my time was up.
I couldn’t ignore the winter. I couldn’t ignore the approaching race season any longer. Mark had been right. It was time to get back into it.
But why did I not have the same excitement I usually did? The anticipation? Why did the idea of packing a bag and getting my passport filled with foreign stamps make me… depressed?
I loved Cutthroat. It was just like any other ski town in Montana or the Rocky Mountains. I’d been all over the world, been to towns just like it. But it called to me.
I put on my blinker—even though there was no one around—and turned on to the county road. No, Cutthroat didn’t call to me. Lucas did. Cy now, too. Just the day before I’d taken this same drive not having met Lucas’ best friend. And now I knew him intimately.
There wasn’t just chemistry, but a connection. Was I driving to the ranch for that or for the really big dick and the guy who knew how to use it?
The radio went silent and I stared at it, confused. Then the dials on my dashboard dropped to zero. No speedometer reading, no oil temperature gauge. I stared, confused, then the car died. It didn’t sputter, just cut out and I rolled, quickly slowing down without any power.
I glanced in my rearview mirror out of instinct, then steered the old SUV over to the side of the road where it rolled to a stop.
“Great,” I muttered. The Land Cruiser had been my mom’s when she’d been on the race circuit. She’d driven me to all my junior races in it, and when she’d bought a new car, I’d claimed it instead of her trading it in.
I loved the SUV—although it was made well before the term sport utility vehicle was ever coined, hell, before I was born—but it was moments like this when I wished for something brand new.
Grabbing my bag off the passenger seat, I dug out my cell to call Cy. I paused, remembering I never got his phone number. I had no way to reach him. Lucas had his group of vets with him now, even if they hadn’t headed off on their overnight. I couldn’t call him.
Fortunately, there was cell service, and I looked up a tow company in Cutthroat… the only one in town. I sat playing a game on my phone as I waited the thirty minutes for the tow truck to arrive.
“Looks like you’ve got a bad alternator,” the guy said, letting the hood drop back in place and wiping his hand on a rag he’d pulled from his jeans pocket after he’d taken a look to see what might be wrong.
I was leaning against the driver’s door, staying out of his way.
“I’m not really sure what that means,” I replied.
“An alternator helps charge the battery.”
“So the car won’t run because no power is getting to the battery if the alternator is bad.”
He grinned, nodded. “You got it.”
The man had introduced himself as Mac. If I weren’t head over heels for Lucas and Cy, this guy could give them serious competition.
He should have been on the back of a Harley, not driving a tow truck. I was bundled up in a heavy sweater against the cool weather while he had on a black T-shirt with his towing company’s button up thrown over top. A serious five o’clock shadow didn’t hide his square jaw or full lips. And his gaze… penetrating, like he could see all the way to your soul. Yeah, he was that hot. To top it all off, his right arm was covered in tattoos. A full sleeve.
Bad boy to the extreme, except he seemed pretty darn nice.
“I’m Hailey, by the way. Hailey Taylor.”
He shook my hand and eyed me. “Lucas Mills’ girl?”
I should have been offended at being called a girl, but he said it like Lucas and Cy did, in a possessive sort of way. I guessed we were together, it wasn’t like any of us were with anyone else. I’d been classifying our… togetherness as fun. I was kidding myself because it was soooo much more, but admitting it aloud was dangerous. Even thinking of it kind of freaked me out. Still, it made it true.
Lucas and I weren’t keeping our fling a secret, but we hadn’t taken out a billboard or anything either.
“That’s me.”
“He’s a good guy.” He tucked the rag away. “Let’s get it loaded up and we’ll get you back to town. He wouldn’t want you out here like this.” He walked past me to climb in the tow truck and backed it up so it was right in front of my Land Cruiser.
“Actually, Lucas is off on a camping trip.”
His dark eyes met mine. “Where were you headed then? Not much out this way.”
“Flying Z ranch.”
“Cy Seaborn’s place?”
I nodded. I was all for being with Cy and Lucas, but after Lucas’ parents’ reaction to us being together, I was a little wary of sharing.
“You call him?”
I looked down at the road, kicked a pebble. “I don’t know his number.”
He glanced west as if he could see Cy’s ranch, then back at me. “I know him. He went to school with my younger brother. I’ll dig up his number, and you can call him. If that doesn’t work, I can drive you out to the ranch.”
A cool breeze kicked up and I tucked my hair back.
He lifted his chin. “Climb into the rig. It’s cold out here. Besides, I can’t have you out here when I load up. Insurance issues.”
I wasn’t going to argue, happy to get warm.
An hour later, Cy burst through the door of the repair shop. His eyes raked over the space until they landed on me. He sighed and his
entire body went from rigid to relaxed. I went over to him, and he grabbed me and pulled me into his arms, into a hug that was a little too tight. He seemed to be comforting himself, not me, so I didn’t say anything. Besides, I could feel the beat of his heart against my ear, breathed in his open air and clean male scent.
“You scared the shit out of me,” he murmured, then kissed the top of my head.
I tried to step back, but he only loosened his hold. I had to tilt my chin back to look at him. His dark eyes roved over my face as if to look for any injuries.
“Are you okay?”
I was surprised by his concern. I hadn’t driven off a cliff and the mechanic shop wasn’t the ER. My alternator had died.
“I’m fine. Mac has been great.”
Cy looked over my shoulder. “Good to see you, Mac,” he said, tucking me into his side so I faced the mechanic.
A blatant display of possession if I’d ever seen one.
Mac came over, shook Cy’s hand. “Been a long time. Shit deal about your dad.”
I felt Cy tense and panicked at how he was going to respond.
All he did was lift his chin and say, “Yeah, shit deal.”
Mac had said his brother had gone to high school with Cy, so maybe Mac knew the score with Dennis Seaborn. He’d probably said the right thing, acknowledged the elephant in the room, mentioned it as a fact and nothing more.
“Thanks for taking care of my girl,” Cy said, moving the conversation away from his dad.
There was the girl thing again, but spoken in Cy’s raspy growl of possessiveness, it was dang hot. Even though it shouldn’t be true. I didn’t belong to either one of them.
It was just fun.
Right?
He frowned, then looked to me. “I thought you were with Lucas Mills.”
“She is,” Cy explained.
Mac paused, glanced between the two of us, the way Cy was holding me in a blatantly possessive way. “Both of you? Totally works for me.” He grinned, then nodded, as if that was that. “I’ve got to order the alternator, so it will be a few days. I’ve got your number when I have an update.”