Homewrecker (Into the Flames #1) (39 page)

Dixon pulls me back into his chest and I wiggle as much as I can to get comfortable. Cocking my finger, I urge Gunnar to move closer, knowing I need him touching me too. Looking up I try to keep my eyes open but when Gunnar’s fingers drift over my face it makes me even more relaxed than before.

“You OK, baby?” he whispers.

I groan and mumble into Dixon’s bicep. “So good.”

In the silence for the next few minutes I’m completely at peace, completely content to lie here with the two most important men in my world. I’m relaxed and happy. That is until Dixon’s phone starts screaming from the nightstand. He grumbles, turning away from me to reach for it, and swears when he reads the message. After setting the phone back where it was he wraps his arms around me and squeezes.

“You have to go?” I whisper, trying to hide the fear in my voice but all three of us know it’s there.

Brushing the hair away from my neck, he runs his lips from my shoulder to my jaw. Turning my face he kisses me, deepening it just enough to make me want more, but he pulls away. “Yeah, I do. I’ll be back as soon as I can though.” Shifting me into Gunnar’s embrace, he gets up and pulls his pants on before bending down and kissing me again. “Love you, Sunshine.”

I tell him I love him too and watch him pull his shirt over his head before saying goodbye to Gunnar and leaving. I roll over, burying my face against Gunnar’s chest and breathe him in to try and calm my nerves. His fingers drift along my spine as we lie in silence until I can’t take it anymore.

“I hate this,” I admit. “Why the hell does he have to run into burning buildings? Why can’t he do something like fix cars or scan groceries?”

The tone in my voice hits my ears and I cringe. I sound like a ten year old that isn’t getting her way, and that’s not OK with me. I apologize, making Gunnar chuckle, but I can tell it’s forced. He’s just as nervous as I am even if he won’t admit it. They might not love each other the same way they love me, but the love is there and it’s undeniable. “Baby, you know as well as I do that Dixon would never be happy doin’ anything but what he’s doin’.” Pressing his lips against my forehead, he sighs. “He’s more careful than anyone I’ve ever met and he has some of the best guys with him to keep him safe.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” I whisper into his chest.

“I know, baby. But constantly waitin’ for the worst to happen is only gonna make the time until he’s home drag on.”

He’s right, but I don’t have the slightest clue what to focus on to take my mind off the missing person in the room.

“It’s not fair that they have to call him in on his days off. I may worry the
entire
time he’s away on overnights, but it’s a lot easier when I don’t know when he’s out on a call.”

“Look at me, baby.”

I wiggle back a bit so I can tilt my head and look at him. He drags his index finger slowly across my forehead before tracing the features of my face. As his finger glides toward my eyes I close them and let him run over my lids before making the trip around again. He’s barely touching me but it feels so good that I sigh contently and lose myself in the feeling. It isn’t until my limbs feel too heavy to move and I know I’m falling asleep, that the fact that he knew exactly what to do to take my mind off everything hits me. He has always been the person that was able to get me to relax in high stress situations but his method tonight was so effective I didn’t even notice I wasn’t thinking. I was too busy paying attention to the way he was touching me to care about stressful thoughts in my head.

I’m not sure how long I’m asleep before Dixon gets back, but the instant the bed shifts my eyes fly open. It’s still pretty dark even with the lamp next to bed turned on, casting a dim light. It’s not bright enough to hurt my eyes, but it gives off enough light to show me that his hair is wet. I usually wake up at the slightest sound so how Dixon managed to get his loud truck into the driveway and take a shower without waking me up, leaves me wondering exactly what Gunnar did to me to put me to sleep.

Even in the dark I can tell something is wrong because he’s tense. I’m not sure if I can actually see it, but I can feel it roll off him in waves. Gunnar snores softly, his arms wrapped around me so my back is pinned against his stomach and one of my hands is tucked into his. Trying hard not wake him up, I reach out and settle my hand against Dixon’s bare back. Almost instantly the tension leaves his body and he leans back into my touch. It makes me smile knowing I have this effect on him.

“Everything good?” I whisper.

He nods silently. Standing up he pulls back the bedding and drops his boxers to the floor before climbing in next to me. Dixon reaches behind him for the light switch and as soon as the room is dark he scoots as close to me as he can get. We try our best not to disturb Gunnar while Dixon gets situated. Chest to chest, he makes sure that every inch of skin that can be touching, is. His arm slips around me, tucking between my back and Gunnar’s chest. His other one rests on the pillow above our heads and he rubs a section of my hair between his fingers.

Now that my eyes have adjusted to the dark I can see him. He looks completely worn down, both physically and mentally, and still smells of smoke despite his shower. Sliding my free hand up his chest to his neck, I rest my palm and draw my fingers back and forth lightly. Dixon matches his breathing with the movement of my fingers, and with each exhale his body relaxes a bit more. His eyes, as tired as they look, never leave mine.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” I ask, breaking the comfortable silence to make sure.

“Positive,” he whispers, the exhaustion evident in his voice.

“Do you need anything?”

He takes a deep breath in, the corners of his mouth just barely perking up before he exhales. It doesn’t take much of a movement at all for him to tip his chin in and kiss me. It doesn’t last long, and it isn’t passion filled or tempting. It’s nothing more than his lips on mine, but it is filled with more love and emotion than I know what to do with. When he opens his mouth to answer he leaves me speechless.

“Sunshine, everything I could ever possibly need is right here in this bed.”

“So where are your double cocksicles?” Mark asks, twirling the straw in his drink before stealing the last mozzarella stick from the basket in the center of the table and taking a bite.

“Greedy bitch,” Lynsey scowls. “Couldn’t stand to let anyone else put that stick in their mouth, huh?”

“They were grabbing dinner with Ryan and a couple guys from the firehouse and going to the drag strip to watch the Pink Slip races in Bristol,” I interrupt her, laughing at their banter. I’ve been anxiously waiting for this night out all week. Don’t get me wrong, I love my guys, but I needed a night with Mark and Lynsey. With playoffs in full swing, Dixon’s off the wall work schedule, and the store being busier than ever, none of us have had much time to do anything.

“The bromance is back in full bloom, isn’t that sweet?” Lynsey says, sipping her cocktail. “I’m glad it worked out for you, babe.”

“Thank you,” Mark and I say in unison, as the waitress approaches, setting our plates down in front of us.

When she turns and walks away, Mark arches an eyebrow at me, a grin spreading across his face. “I want details you lucky bitch. Four hands, two mouths…” he trails off, fanning himself with his napkin as he spins pasta onto his fork.

Lynsey grips the table, “Stop humping the table leg, you whore,” she says, before mumbling something about a cock cage that has Mark’s fork full of pasta freezing in midair, his eyes snapping to hers before dropping to his food.

“Everything’s good,” I say, feeling my cheeks heat. “Really good. We’ve had a few hiccups, but we’re all committed to making this work.”

Mark looks up at me and nods. His eyes move to Lynsey quickly, and there is something different about how he looks at her, something that has me curious. Before one of them catches me staring, I turn my attention toward my bacon cheeseburger and loaded southern style cheese fries.

Turning her attention to her steak, she slices into the meat. “Motherfucker, this beast is still mooin’.” Brushing the hair over her shoulder, she stands to her feet and grabs her plate.

“Lyn, let me…” I start, but she is already turned and passing tables and waiters, heading straight for the kitchen.

“Do you have bail money?” Mark asks around a bite of pasta. “Because I think she’s gonna need bail money.”

I wince, counting down in my head until I hear it.

“I ordered my steak well fucking done!” she shouts so loud enough that it echoes throughout the crowded restaurant. Silverware clatters and people stop talking, all focusing on the still swinging kitchen doors. “How fucking hard is it to handle your meat as ordered?”

Members of the staff are all heading into the kitchen to try to calm her, but I can’t help looking at Mark. His eyes are fixed on the kitchen door, and I can’t help reaching over and covering his hand with mine. “You OK, honey?” I ask, squeezing reassuringly.

“Sure thing,” he whispers, sounding anything but.

The door to the kitchen flies open a few minutes later, slamming against the wall as Lynsey emerges carrying a plate. Dropping it to the table, she settles in her chair again and sighs. “I swear, how hard is it to do what you’re told. For fuck’s sake you’d think I was asking for someone to eat my ass.”

Mark chokes on his drink, sputtering as he tries to breathe. Lynsey’s eyes snap to his, her lips pressing into a hard line. I feel almost as if I am intruding on a private moment.
What the actual fuck
?

“Am I missing something?” I ask, taking a bite of my pickle.

“Nothing,” Lynsey snaps, cutting into her perfectly well done steak and taking a bite.

Mark huffs loudly before standing and excusing himself to the bathroom. The moment he is out of sight, I look at Lynsey. Her eyes glance at me before going back to her food. “I feel as if you’re judging me, and that’s not OK, Kennedy.”

“No, not judging you,” I reply. “Just hoping you’ll tell me why shit is so tense between you two lately.”

She stops eating. Setting down her silverware, she shrugs. “Because I made the mistake of commanding his ass to heal then fucking it with my strap on. After that, he fucked my ass with his tongue. And his cock...” Shrugging again, she blows out a breath. “Shit got awkward and that brings us to this weird little dance we’ve been doing that usually ends up with us naked and fucking on every hard surface of my condo, a few places at the shop, and one very nice sized storage closet at that damn spa.”

I swear my mouth nearly bounces off the table. Mark and Lynsey? Mark has always been into guys as far back as I can remember, this is a total shock to my system. I mean we are all very close so I know there are feelings there, love in a sense, but this? Well, it just has me...floored. It’s hard to think of them that way after seeing them as like my siblings for years and not seeing any hint of attraction between them.

Did they feel that way about me with Gunnar? Or Dixon?

“What, I mean, how… um…” I stutter at a loss words.

“Babe,” she says, burying her face in her hands and blowing out a ragged breath. “If I could explain it, I would.”

When Mark comes back to the table, I attempt to keep light conversation going, but it is useless. It seems like Mark and Lynsey have brought their own elephant to dinner and he is a big motherfucker to boot.

After dinner I head home and lie on the couch. Since the guys are still gone, I turn on Netflix and text them letting them know I made it home OK and will be waiting up. Setting down the phone, I settle in on the big, comfy throw pillow and start the next episode of the prison show that I only watch when the guys aren’t home since they tease me relentlessly for it.

One minute a crazy chick is throwing food on the television, the next I am waking up as I’m being lifted into Gunnar’s arms and carried through the house toward the bedroom. “Where’s Dixon?” I ask, hoping he didn’t get a call and ruin their night out.

Gunnar sits me on the edge of the bed, lifting my shirt over my head and pulling off the rest of my clothes, before stripping himself. “He’s puttin’ away the milk and shit we grabbed from the store so you didn’t have to go tomorrow mornin’. We are plannin’ to spend most of the mornin’ right here,” he adds, pushing me back on the pillows before sliding in beside me.

“Oh,” I sigh contently, snuggling into him as I feel the bed dip behind me and Dixon’s warm body presses against my back.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Dix purrs into my ear, making my whole body shudder in such a good way. I sigh, relieved that they are both holding me right now. There is no better feeling in the world than being surrounded by them both.

“I need you both.” I mutter my plea against Gunnar’s chest. “Please, love me.”

Gunnar’s fingers run through my hair while Dixon’s skim along my hip and up to cup my breast. “Anything you want, Sunshine.” Dixon replies, rolling me to my back and brushing his lips over mine. “Nice and slow, for our beautiful girl.” Their hands roam my body and their mouths taste every inch of me as they do exactly what I asked.