His and Hers and Hers (5 page)

“That’s right, today’s the Brougham boys’ bonding experience. Jilly doesn’t object to being left out? Seems like she’d be pissed.”

“I think she’s relieved not to have to get up with the birds.” Jordan stifled a yawn.

“Poor sweetie, you didn’t get much rest.” There was a sexy spark in Ky’s sleepy gaze and a playful curve to her lips.

He grinned, and his cock stirred when he thought of last night’s activities. “I’m not complaining.”

“I bet you’re not.” She pulled him down for another soft smooch. He complied, then pulled back to gaze at her seriously.

“What?” she asked.

“Are we still okay?” He wasn’t quite sure what he meant.

“What? Of course. I had a great time last night.” Kyla gave him a puzzled look. “Didn’t you?”

“Absolutely.” But he wondered what happened next. Was last night just a onetime thing? But Ky was already snuggling back into her pillow, her eyes closed. “Have a good day, babe. I’ll see you tonight at home. Don’t forget, we’re supposed to have dinner with your parents.”

“Right.” He usually looked forward to seeing his mom and dad, but thinking about them now, after waking up in Cassie’s bed, was just weird.

And where was Cassie, anyway? After the living-room sex last night, they’d all straggled into her room and collapsed in a sleepy, sated heap in her bed. Now she was gone. Did she have regrets about last night?

When he got out of bed, Jordan saw that his clothing as well as Kyla’s was neatly folded on top of the boxy wooden dresser. Cassie must have done that. He carried his things into the hall and then to the kitchen, where he found Cassie sitting at the table, scribbling in a notebook.

“Hey. Morning.” He took in her long hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, her oversize T-shirt and worn sweat pants.

“Oh, hi. Morning.” Cassie blinked, taken out of whatever trance she’d been in as she’d been writing. “Ah…you’re up early. Off to work?”

He knew from her blush and stammer that she felt as awkward as he did. “Nah, it’s a family thing.” As a highway maintenance supervisor for the state Department of Transportation, he rarely had to report weekends unless the weather was extreme or there was an emergency. “You mind if I take a quick shower?”

“No, not at all. The, um, you’ll find the fresh towels—”

“That’s all right.” He grinned at her. “I’ll just use yours.”

She blushed redder, and Jordan’s self-consciousness dissipated. He wanted to linger a bit longer, tease her more. “You’re up pretty early yourself. Ky’s out like a light. I’d think you’d be too, after—”

She cut him off before he could refer to their night together. “I’m used to getting up early. It’s just habit.”

“Ah.” He gestured to her notebook. “What are you writing?”

“Just…it’s my journal. It’s just how I keep my thoughts straight.”

He nodded, wanting to ask her if she’d written about their threesome. But that was too personal a question, too private, in spite of the fact that they’d fucked last night. He winced at that word:
fucked
. It was too harsh and raw for what had gone down. It had been hot and fun, but also loving.

Whoa
. Had he really gone there? He loved Kyla. His feelings for Cassie were—well, after last night, he didn’t have a clue what they were. Suddenly at a loss, he ducked his head. “Well, I better hit the shower.”

Under the hot spray of water, Jordan slowly worked his cock, reliving the night before in his imagination. Some of the guys on his work crew liked to brag about their exploits. A couple of them were married with women on the side, while others were single and considered themselves players. They clowned with Jordan, called him “Dudley Do-Right” or just “Dud” because he never joined in their raunchy talk. They pretended to pity him for his supposed sexual monotony.

Man, if they only knew.

Not that he’d ever talk about it. Even though his memories had all the makings of some letter to a men’s magazine:

Dear Playhouse,

Let me tell you about the night I did my hot girlfriend and her freaky BFF…

His thoughts wandered to Cassie’s journal. What had she written?

Dear Diary,

Last night was the biggest mistake of my life…

His hard-on deflated. Quickly Jordan finished his shower and scrubbed himself dry with a clean towel from a shelf next to the sink.

Once dressed, he returned to the kitchen and the aroma of fresh coffee. Jordan’s fingers touched Cassie’s as she handed him a full mug. He almost groaned as the brief touch sent him flashing back to having his hands on her hips, pumping into her as she went down on Kyla.

“Thanks.” His voice sounded garbled, as though his mouth was full of cotton.

She gave him a shy smile as he took a sip of the hot brew.

“All right?” she asked.

“Perfect.” Black with one sugar. That she knew how he took his coffee was a small gift that turned him tender with affection and hard with lust. Holding the cup in one hand, he drew her close with his free arm and brushed a soft kiss across her lips.

“You should go back to bed, get some more sleep,” he said. “You must be exhausted.”

Though she went still as his hand drifted down her back to rest on her butt, she didn’t move away. Jordan heard her breathing hitch, come faster. She curled her fingers in the open collar of his shirt. “What about you?”

“Oh, believe me, thinking of you two hotties snuggled up together will keep me wide-awake.”

The image wakened his cock as well. It came to life, and he pulled Cassie close, rubbed his hard-on against her belly as he kissed her possessively. The way he’d kiss Kyla if she were awake.

He pulled away and grinned. Was he the luckiest son of a bitch in the world, or what? He took one last swallow from the mug. “Thanks for the coffee.”

* * * *

Cassie felt dazed as she crept back into bed beside Kyla. She’s risen early—her habit, as she told Jordan—and tried to make sense of what happened among the three of them last night. Writing in her journal always helped her focus. No one reading it would make much sense of it, as Cassie wrote in stream of consciousness, pouring her emotions onto the page.

When she’d lived with her girlfriend Sydney, the journal had been a bone of contention between them. Especially toward the end of the relationship, when things had turned rocky.
“You spend more time writing in that stupid notebook than you do talking to me. Don’t you know how lonely that makes me? Can’t you tell
me
how you feel?”

But she couldn’t, and that was the problem. Her journal never argued, never judged. Never betrayed her.

People were not that trustworthy.

Ultimately, Syd couldn’t handle the way Cassie closed herself off. They’d broken up, and she couldn’t blame Sydney for leaving. It must have been hard, living with someone so afraid to say
I love you.

But even sharing her confusion with the journal had not helped much this morning. Cassie’s emotions were in a tangle, as snarled and knotted as an old garden hose. Part of her wanted to discount the three-way as a crazy experiment fueled by curiosity and too much alcohol. But she’d been the only one drinking.

Last night she’d started the ball rolling by giving in to her impulse to kiss Kyla. She couldn’t truly say she regretted what happened after that—the night had been incredible, sexually and emotionally. But upon waking this morning, Cassie was terrified that their friendship would be permanently damaged, if not completely destroyed.

Kyla didn’t seem worried, though. When Cassie slipped between the covers, Ky blinked sleepily and smiled. She drew her arm across Cassie and snuggled her head into the crease of Cassie’s neck and shoulder. Cassie stiffened, guiltily remembering Jordan’s kiss in the kitchen. How would Kyla feel about that?

Cassie stroked Ky’s warm back. She had to trust Ky. Her friend was not the kind to hold anything back, and was nothing if not honest. They’d talk today and clear the air. Whatever she wanted would be fine, even if that meant last night was just a one-off and would never happen again. The only thing that really mattered was keeping Kyla and Jordan in her life. Cassie didn’t know what she’d do if she lost them.

Chapter Five

When Cassie next opened her eyes, Kyla stood above her, smiling down. “Hey, sleepyhead. I was wondering when you were gonna wake up.”

Cass levered herself up, groggy from sleep. “Wha-what time is it?”

Ky shrugged. “Ten thirty, something like that. I don’t know.”

Cassie groaned. “So late…” She made to slide out of bed, but Kyla stopped her.

“Where you going? Stay right where you are; I made breakfast in bed.”

“You don’t go in to the hospital?”

“No, I’m all yours today.” Ky gave one of her patented impish grins and left the room, only to return carrying a tray laden with scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee. “I made enough for both of us.”

She set the tray on the nightstand, then climbed into the bed beside Cassie. “I hope you feel duly honored that I actually cooked.”

Cassie handed her friend a napkin. “I do indeed.” She’d had enough meals at their place to know that cooking was mostly Jordan’s job. When it was Kyla’s turn to “cook,” it usually involved takeout or something popped into the microwave.

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret,” Kyla said as they balanced plates of eggs and toast on their laps. “I’m actually a pretty decent cook, but when Jordan and I first moved in together, I purposely burned everything so that he’d take over the job.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Ain’t I bad?”

Cassie chuckled. “You are.”

Ky shrugged. “It’s kind of like how Jordan pretends he’s too dumb to know how to use the washer. He put his gross, dirty jeans in with my nice blouses so all my stuff came out looking cruddy. So I do the laundry; he fixes supper.”

“That’s a pretty good deal.”

“Yeah, you make all kinds of deals when you live with someone.” As Kyla crunched her toast, she tilted her head and gave Cassie a quizzical look. “Have you ever lived with anyone? In all the time we’ve been friends, I don’t think I’ve ever asked you that.”

Cassie swallowed hard, remembering Syd. “Yeah, I have. It didn’t work out, though.”

Kyla’s brown eyes filled with compassion. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” She leaned forward and gave Cassie a buttery kiss on the lips. It was more comforting than sexual, but something she’d never done before last night. “I’m sorry, but I’m glad too. Otherwise you wouldn’t be with me and Jordan.”

With me and Jordan
… What did that mean? Cassie was again flooded with confusion. “Kyla, maybe we should—”

“Shush. Here, have some of this.” Ky spread some strawberry jam on a piece of toast and brought it to Cassie’s mouth.

Obediently, Cassie took a bite and chewed while Kyla spoke. “You probably want to talk about last night. But I don’t, not right now. Okay, Cass? It was beautiful and hot and…just awesome. That’s all I know. I just want to enjoy the afterglow, not pick it apart. I know we have to figure it all out at some point, but not now.” She gave Cassie big puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”

Cassie couldn’t resist that look. Couldn’t resist Kyla. So she agreed not to try to “discuss” anything, knowing the reprieve couldn’t last forever but grateful for it all the same.

When they finished eating, they cleaned up the mess in the kitchen—Kyla was a decent cook but never claimed to be a neat one.

“Ugh, I’m a slob. Too bad Jordan’s not here to sweep up.” At Cassie’s blank look, she went on. “Brougham. Sweep. Get it?
Broom
.”

Cassie snorted. “That’s lame.”

“Yeah, I know. He told me the kids in school used to call him Sweepie. You ask me, he got off easy. Sweepie’s nothing. Guess who got called
Dumpster girl
all through middle school.” She glanced at Cassie. “Denster, Dumpster.”

Cassie commiserated. “Kids can be so rotten.”

“They suck.” Kyla rinsed a dish and placed it in the drainer. “So what awful nickname did you have as a kid?”

“I…really didn’t stay in one place long enough to have a nickname.”

“What do you mean? Were you an army brat or something?”

“I switched schools a lot…” Oh hell, there was no point in being mysterious about it. “I grew up in foster care. Bounced around a lot.”

“Cass, I didn’t know that.” Kyla’s voice was soft, her gaze liquid with sympathy. “You never talk about your family, but I just thought—”

Cassie scrubbed the counter, though it was already clean. She didn’t want this to become oh-let’s-feel-sorry-for-poor-Cassie time. “It wasn’t terrible. I survived.” There. That sounded nonchalant, didn’t it?

She and Kyla spent most of the day together. Kyla joked that Cassie was “stuck with her” as Jordan had taken their vehicle, but Cass was glad to be stuck. Kyla’s company enlivened what otherwise would have been a dull Saturday of chores and errands. In the early afternoon, they lounged on the sofa to watch one of Cassie’s favorite movie musicals.

“You know, they’ve got this new thing, Cass,” Kyla remarked as Cassie inserted a VHS tape into her VCR. “They’re called DVDs.”

Cassie responded to Ky’s good-natured teasing in kind. “No kidding. You know, I think I’ve even heard about something called video streaming.”

“Yeah? Then how come you’re still back in the Stone Age?”

“You can pick up tapes super cheap at the Salvation Army and other places. It’s taken a long time to build my collection, and I can’t afford to replace everything. I’m watching my pennies, you know.” She seated herself next to Kyla on the sofa.

“Uh-huh. So what’re we watching?”

“
My Fair Lady
with Audrey Hepburn.”

“Oh, I like her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the movie, though.”

“It’s awesome. You’ll love it.”

Though Cassie had seen the movie any number of times, she again grew absorbed in Eliza Dolittle’s story. Kyla’s head rested on Cassie’s shoulder, and ultimately on her lap as the film progressed. Her eyes fell closed.

Not wanting to wake her, Cassie lightly stroked Ky’s hair.