Bet on Ecstasy (10 page)

Smith snorted. “You say what you said. We are close. Why is it anyone’s concern what we do in the bedroom?”

Okay, so he had a point, but… “They were all looking at me, judging me.”

“Of course they were watching you, kitten. You’re drop-dead gorgeous.” Brock gave an unamused laugh. “The women were probably envious. The men…” His jaw clenched, nostrils flared. “I think it’s best we don’t find out what they were thinking.”

Kyra’s lips parted, but Smith interjected, “Brock’s right—people in that room are so straight arrowed they wouldn’t even consider us to be in a ménage relationship. They might be curious if you were dating one of us, but, Kyra, why does it matter what they think?”

Even if what they said made sense, the panicked part of her mind told her to keep running. A relationship between them could never work out. How could she date two men? How could they share one woman?

She’d done this to herself. She put herself in this situation. But she could take herself out of it too.

Realizing how wrong she’d been to allow herself to go this deep with them, she also realized she’d broken her one rule she swore she never would. “Tonight made me realize how blinded I’ve been. How wrapped up we’ve all been.” She looked at them, an awful ache filling her chest. “I’m sorry, I have to end this.”

Not only did she break rules about how much time she’d spent with them, but she’d broken her biggest rule of all. She spent time with men who put their work before their home life.

Smith eyes blazed. “Kyra—”

“Besides the obvious reason of why this needs to end.” She cut him off before he could try and change her mind. “Work is too important to both of you. I get it. Really, I do.” She moved away from the wall. “I told you on our first date, I saw my mother go down that road, and it destroyed her. They told me she died of a heart attack, but I still think she died from a broken heart. Depression killed her.”

When both men took a step forward, she matched their move by taking a step back and pressed against the wall again. “Maybe I was too consumed with the fantasy to care about all the cancellations, showing up late for dinners, or phone call interruptions, but I’m sorry, I refuse to accept that as my life.”

“Kitten,” Brock said softly, stepping fully away from the streetlamp. “We own a large company that depends on us. You can’t punish us for something we can’t control.”

Smith inclined his head. “I apologize if our business hours have upset you. In fact, I’m aware why it does. You have good reason to be annoyed.” Again, he stepped forward, as did Brock. Smith added, “But that isn’t a strong enough reason to end things between us. We need to compromise, that’s all. And we can cut down our work hours by hiring new employees.”

She stepped away from the wall, nearly reaching the curb, and she stared at the pain and anger in their eyes. Even if they could explain away the ménage relationship and somehow make it work, she needed to walk away now. She would not be her mother. “No compromising. I told you that. I can’t live that life.”

Her lip trembled and her eyes welled, but she swallowed her raw emotions. To Brock, she said, “This was supposed to be fun, no-strings attached, and a bet between the two of you, remember?” Turning to Smith, she added, “That’s all it ever can be. Don’t follow me. Don’t call me again.” She turned and strode off down the street, tears trailing her cheeks.

Surprising her, what made her cry harder, was that neither of them stopped her.

Chapter Eight

Reggie’s, a pub-style restaurant, where sports games showed on the handful of widescreen televisions and peanut shells littered the floor, had been a Friday-night tradition for Kyra and her best friends. Now with Bella and Marley attached, both Kole and Reed had joined in on the weekly ritual too.

Sitting on the bench side of the table, Kyra scanned the pub to her right, watching a couple sitting at the table burst into a fit of laughter. She heaved a sigh, needing this night out more than ever.

It’d been two weeks since she’d left Brock and Smith standing on the dark street, and the image of them haunted her dreams. She had returned the dress they’d bought her days after the charity event, and she’d wondered if that would stir a text or a phone call. She hadn’t heard a peep out of either man.

By all appearances, they respected her wishes to stay away.

Of course, now she regretted ever saying,
“Don’t follow me. Don’t call me again,”
and she wished she could take those damn words back.

Bella’s laughter snapped Kyra’s attention into the present, and she looked out in front of her, while she all but sat alone. Kole was a good foot away near the end of the bench. On the other side of her, Sadie had left a bigger space between them while Marley, Bella, and Reed sat across the table all snuggled close together.

Folding her arms, Kyra muttered to no one in particular, “Do I stink?”

Sadie giggled, her blue eyes twinkled, and her strawberry blonde curls bounced on her shoulders. “Of course not, silly.”

Kyra glared at every single one of her best friends, including the two doms at the table. “Then why is no one sitting with me?”

Sadie smirked, scooting closer. “There, is that better?”

“Much,” Kyra grumbled.

Desperation made her ache from head-to-toe. She’d never been so needy of her best friends. Since ending things with Brock and Smith, she had become clingy. She’d even slept in each of her best friends’ rooms for their comforting presence, at least once.

As she’d done for days now, Kyra drowned her sorrows. She picked up her wineglass and took a huge gulp, cringing at the dry, bitter taste. Ignoring the nasty afterbite, she took another long sip. The days without the men had been the worst of her life. The dark bags under her eyes only proved it. She hadn’t slept well, she wasn’t eating well, and there was no denying it: she was officially a mess.

Drunk!

She needed to get rip-roaring smashed so she could pass out and finally sleep well again. It would also fix the problem that every time she closed her eyes, she saw two men staring at her and she’d stop craving their heated touches.

Determined to get shitfaced, Kyra knocked back the remainder of her wine. The second she swallowed the warm liquid, she shuddered in complete horror at the acrid taste. And that’s when she noticed Kole standing from the bench.

Leaning over the table to Bella, he whispered something in her ear that had Bella flashing Kyra a smile. Full of suspicion, Kyra lowered the wineglass to the table. And Sadie slid out of the bench seat, practically bouncing on the spot in classic Sadie excitement.

“What’s with you?” Kyra asked.

As soon as the words passed her lips, her heart stopped beating, or at least skipped a few beats. Behind Sadie’s shoulder were two sets of eyes bringing forth heat and pooling a wicked warmth low in her body.

She couldn’t stop her eyes from widening as unleashed power in the form of two gorgeous men strode through the pub toward her. With stares that could melt ice, Smith and Brock were all business tonight. Their fierce expressions were something Kyra suspected their business associates faced often. Determined. Focused. Confident. Only now, apparently, she was the focus of their attention.

Brock slid into Sadie’s spot on the bench seat, moving in close next to Kyra. Smith strode around the table and took Kole’s seat. The men didn’t put distance between them as her friends had. Both closed in on her tight, the heat of their bodies engulfing her.

After a long pause, Kyra remembered she needed air to live. She sucked in a harsh breath, so aware of the men next to her. Intense energy came off them in waves rushing across her flesh, sending flickers of flames through her veins.

Brock grinned, yet this smile wasn’t one of proper etiquette. It was dirty and pure sex. “Hello, kitten.”

Smith swiped at the hair curtaining him from her view, brushing it over her shoulder and trailing a finger along her skin. “You look tired. Are you not sleeping well?”

Kyra shivered, his touch burning across her already scorching flesh. The slow flame descended her body, and she blinked, staring at Marley in front of her.

Marley’s green eyes sparkled as she twirled her finger through her dark curls, appearing all too relaxed. In fact, Marley looked too at ease. She’d never met Brock and Smith, and by all appearances, she knew exactly who they were.

Kyra scanned her friends’ faces, and all of them, including Kole, were smiling at her. Even Reed’s deep blue eyes twinkled, while he ran a hand through his dirty-blond hair. No one looked surprised by Brock and Smith’s sudden appearances. With that awareness, it all made sense.

Tonight, she’d been played.

Narrowing her eyes, she pinned all five of her so-called friends with a hard stare. “What have you done?”

“Call it an intervention.” Marley smiled.

“Don’t be mad,” Sadie interjected in her sweet voice. “You’ve been so…”

“Damn depressed,” Bella muttered.

Before Kyra could decide if she loved her friends for the intervention or hated them for it, a finger caught her jaw. She turned and discovered Smith’s eyes were warm, yet troubled. “Answer me, Kyra.”

His powerful stare captivated her, and the strength shown in his features eased her. When he looked at her that way, her world settled. To be touched by him, looked at by him, it eased the coldness that’d been flowing through her veins. For the first time in two weeks, she lost herself in the sensation of rightness. “What was the question again?”

“Why do you look so tired?” Smith’s eyebrows drew together with his frown, his eyes appearing nearly black. “You don’t look well.”

“I…” She gulped.

“Miss us,” Brock stated.

His voice was classically light, and Kyra had missed the contradictions between the two. In the exact moment and dealing with the same situation, Smith was serious where Brock was lighthearted. It comforted her. Where Smith could make the mood overly tense, Brock knew how to soften it to the right amount to ensure things stayed under control.

Though she realized Brock had made a statement. One everyone at this table knew was true. Her lips parted to give some response, but all that came out was a whisper of air.

Smith captured her chin again, commanding her gaze. “Why are you punishing yourself like this?”

Kyra experienced the weight of his study right down to the center of her soul. She hated the clench of her chest. More so, she cursed the moisture welling in her eyes. Smith was right—it had been torture. She’d never been this weak, this lonely.

Each night had seemed harder than the one before. The desire to be in their arms tugged at her heart. She’d grown used to hearing their voices or going to sleep close to them. She didn’t even feel like herself anymore. Where had strong, focused, depend-on-no-one Kyra vanished to?

Through all this awareness, making her realize her attachment to the men went far deeper than she’d been willing to admit, two hard truths remained. The reasons she had ended it with them hung over her like a dark cloud.

Nothing had changed.

She might love them, but she wouldn’t live the life her parents had. She wouldn’t repeat their mistakes. She wanted a man—or two of them—who worked nine-to-five, came home, and left work at work.

As much as her body told her to stay right there with them, she needed to stick to her reasons for ending it. She was stronger than this, no matter that her heart wept for their return and her body begged for their touch. “You know why this can’t work. It’s hard now,” she admitted, looking at them. “Okay, yes, this has been hell for me. But I’ll get over this. I’ll move on, and so will the both of you.”

Smith’s lips pursed, and his voice became hard. “No, Kyra. I won’t get over this and move on.”

Brock frowned, then shook his head in frustration. “Let’s be clear. You have two concerns. The first, this relationship can’t work out between us because of how others will perceive us?”

Smith added, “As in, you can’t imagine how we will look in the public eye?”

“Well, yes.” She gave the bar a quick once-over. No one else would hear their conversation, but she lowered her voice anyway. “In public, how would I explain such a relationship?”

Kole snorted. “Kyra, didn’t we already talk about this?”

She didn’t need Kole coming down on her too. Just because she’d fallen for these men didn’t mean they could make this work. “You weren’t being questioned at the charity function. I was,” she snapped. “I know what it felt like having all those people watching me. Having no idea what to say. Do you think I want to live like that forever? Having to be careful and not tell people that I’m in love with two men.”

Awkward silence cut through the air.

Kole’s smirk was indication enough that Kyra had put her foot in her mouth. She looked at the table, not wanting to admit again or comment on the fact that she had declared her feelings for Brock and Smith.

Another finger tapped against her chin. Not so easily this time, her head turned in Brock’s direction. His full-blown smile only confirmed they’d all heard it. “All right,” he said in a soft voice. “Your next concern is our business hours. Correct?”

It seemed as if the bar had vanished away and only these two men and their strong presence remained around her. Here, with them, her sadness went away. “Yes, that’s the biggest issue. I don’t want to be
that
woman who never sees her boyfriend…or boyfriends.” Though, even now, she discovered her excuse was weak.

In truth, she wondered if being
that
woman was better than being nothing at all.

Brock leaned in, his piercing eyes drawing her into him, and his half smile seemed all too wise. “Other than those two concerns, you have no other objections to dating us?”

Before she could think up an answer or identify if she had any other hesitations, Brock slid his nose against her jawline. Inhaling deeply, he trailed along her neck, as if he had all the time in the world.

Heat raced through her veins, sending a spark of fire sizzling up her spine. Her gaze locked on Marley in front of her, before she spotted Bella, who smiled, and Kyra even noticed that Sadie watched with a sweet grin.