Monroe, Marla - Their Biker Babe in Training [The Dirty Dozen 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (16 page)

The next week flew by as the three of them explored Dallas on the back of the bikes and made wild, passionate love at all hours of the day and night. Alexis had to admit she had never had so much fun doing nothing and anything in her life. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this relaxed. Not even as a teenager when they were constantly on the move.

What was she going to do when she returned home? She only had a couple of weeks left. The thought sickened her some, so she pushed it to the back of her mind and concentrated on enjoying the time she had left with the men.

“How are you feeling today, baby?” Neal asked when they were sitting out on the back deck after lunch.

“Great. I love your backyard. The deck is wonderful. I’d spend all my time out here if I had it.”

“Ever thought about building a deck at your place?” Mark asked.

She noticed Neal kick Mark’s chair and wondered what that was about.

“I live in a condo. I don’t have a backyard. I have a balcony, though. It’s not big enough for more than standing outside.”

“Too bad,” Mark said.

“I’ve got a better idea,” Neal began.

“What’s that?” she asked as she sipped her beer.

“Move in with us and you’ll have the deck anytime you want it.”

Alexis froze. Then she decided he was kidding.

“That would be wonderful, but I have a job I have to go back to.”

“I’m serious, Alexis. Quit your job and move down here with us. We’ll take care of you.” When she started to balk, he hurried on. “Or, you can find a job here and work. Either way, live with us and enjoy being able to relax anytime you want to.”

“You can’t be serious, Neal. I mean, there are two of you. I can’t live with two men. It’s not right.” She wasn’t sure what to think.

“Why not? You’ve been living with us for nearly a month now.” Mark spoke up this time.

She turned to look at him. He was just as serious as Neal. Somehow she hadn’t expected this from him. He seemed too down-to-earth and sensible. Surely they were just joking with her. Looking back at Neal’s face, she knew better. He was just as serious as a heart attack.

“I–I guess I thought of it more as a fling. I wasn’t thinking long-term. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.” She stood up. “Maybe I should go ahead and pack my things and leave.”

She made two steps before two sets of hands stopped her.

“We don’t want you to go at all, much less this soon,” Mark told her. “Don’t leave. At least stay through the end of the month like you planned on doing.”

“I feel guilty now knowing that you want more than I’m willing to give. It doesn’t seem right.” Alexis didn’t want to leave so soon, but she felt like she was dragging out the inevitable by staying with them.

“We want everything you are willing to give, Alexis. Don’t leave like this.” Neal leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips then nuzzled her neck with his nose.

“Sex isn’t the answer to everything, Neal,” she managed to get out.

He pulled back. “I know it’s not, but it is a good distraction.”

“See, there has to be more to any relationship besides sex, or it won’t last.”

“I think there is more to us than just sex. Sex just happens to be fucking amazing between us. We enjoy each other’s company and can actually hold an intelligent conversation. I know you’ve been to college and all, but we aren’t stupid.” Neal seemed to be grasping at straws.

“I never said you were. I enjoy our talks. I enjoy spending time with you both, but if you’re expecting me to stay…” She hesitated when Neal stomped off, but he turned around again.

“We love you, dammit. We want you with us permanently, not just for a few months or a year.”

“Neal,” Mark said.

“She deserves the truth.” He turned back to Alexis. “I don’t want you to leave at all. I want you to marry us and be part of our family. I want to drag you along on some of our working trips and listen to you fuss about leaving our beer cans around the house.”

“Family?” She couldn’t get past that word. They wanted her to be a family with them.

“Yeah. We want the entire thing, children, growing old together,” Mark said.

She looked deep into his eyes and saw it all there. He was just as serious as Neal. They both wanted her, together. She shook her head and stepped back.

“I can’t do that. I just can’t. My life is back in Oklahoma. I can’t be what you want me to be. I’ve loved our time together. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, but it’s not me. Not really.”

Alexis turned and walked back inside. She needed to leave now before things got out of hand. She’d stayed too long already. It never crossed her mind that they would want her to live with them permanently. Yes, she had fallen in love with them, but she would get over it, had to get over it because it wouldn’t work.

It’s working for their friends. They live in ménage relationships and seem to be doing fine.
It’s not for me, though.
She shook off her inner thoughts and climbed the stairs to the bedroom. She pulled down her suitcases and began to pack. Sometime later, she heard the men arguing, and she hated that she’d caused a rift between them. Then a door slammed and she heard the telltale sound of a bike revving up and taking off. Who would it be, Neal or Mark?

Tears spilled down her face as she packed everything then searched the room for anything she might have missed. The clock on the bedside table said it was nearly two in the afternoon. It would be well past dark by the time she got home. Suddenly, she couldn’t get there fast enough. She needed to get away from them before she changed her mind.

She grabbed both suitcases and struggled with them to the landing. Then she stopped at the sight of Mark standing there.

“I’ll get them for you.” He reached and brushed a hand over her cheek where she was sure the tracks of her tears were evident.

“Thanks,” she whispered. “Neal?”

“He’ll be okay. He needs to deal with it his way, is all.”

“I’m sorry, Mark. I never meant—”

“Shh, don’t say it. It’s not your fault we fell in love with you.” He picked up her suitcases and turned around to walk down the stairs.

Alexis followed him out through the kitchen door to where her car had been parked under the garage for the last few weeks. She unlocked the trunk and he settled her suitcases inside before closing the trunk lid. When she would have just climbed into the car and left, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

“You know you are always welcome here. If you change your mind, we’re here, Alexis.” He pulled back and kissed her forehead before letting her go.

She climbed into the car and fastened her seat belt before starting it. With one last look at Mark, she turned and backed out into the street. She turned around and looked straight ahead as she drove toward home.

The tears began to fall again before she’d even gotten off their street. Angrily, she dashed them away and scolded herself for letting them get to her. She was supposed to be a self-sufficient woman of the world, able to have affairs without falling in love. What had happened to that woman?

She found out that falling in love was a wonderful thing.
Until you had to leave, that is.

Alexis drove straight through without stopping even once. She needed to get back to where everything was familiar. She needed to get back to work and remind herself what was important in her life.

When she drove up into her spot at nine that night, she was exhausted mentally, emotionally, and physically. She needed a shower, but didn’t feel like she had the energy. She took in her suitcases one at a time and left them at the foot of the bed before stripping and climbing into bed totally naked, something she never would have done prior to Neal and Mark.

She tossed and turned despite being so tired before finally drifting off into a fitful sleep full of dreams about motorcycles and two men who meant everything to her.

* * * *

Neal and Mark rode into the motel at Potts Camp, Texas, around six that evening after work. They had been working on the school for nearly two weeks now, repairing and rebuilding the damage from a tornado that had ripped the town apart. People had died and the grisly reminders were slowly being cleaned up.

Neal wanted a beer more than he wanted something to eat. He walked into the room, stripping to head for the shower.

“I’ll be out in a minute. Where are we eating tonight?” he asked as he pulled off his boots, then his socks and jeans.

“The diner,” Mark told him.

“Good. I could use a beer.” He saw Mark wince. “What?”

“You’re drinking a lot more than you used to, Neal.”

“So? I can drink if I want to. I make it to work every day, don’t I?”

“Yeah. You make it to work.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Neal turned around in the doorway of the bathroom.

“It means you do the job, but you’re not enjoying it, and you drink too fucking much.”

“Fuck you.” Neal slammed the bathroom door and turned on the shower. Instantly thoughts of Alexis assaulted him.

She’d be pissed at him for drinking too much, as well.
She isn’t here to bitch about it, though. She doesn’t have any say any more than Mark does.
He stepped into the sharp spray of the hot water and quickly lathered up. He cursed when his cock hardened at his thoughts of Alexis. It never failed that if he thought about her, he grew hard. He had jacked off more in the last three weeks than he had in the last year.

It didn’t help, though. Ten minutes later and he would be hard again. He’d tried to see other women, but couldn’t do anything with them. Kissing them had felt like a betrayal and left him cold. Finally, he had just given up and figured he would eventually move past her. When he did, he’d start dating again.

As soon as he was out of the shower, Neal dried off and opened the bathroom door to find Mark gone.

“Well, hell.” He had pissed off his best friend yet again. One of these days he was going to call it quits and tell him to fuck off. Then what was he going to do?

He had his jeans and boots on when Mark returned with a six-pack of beer. He tossed it in the fridge, then stripped and walked into the bathroom.

“There, you don’t have to go anywhere for your beer. At least I won’t have to worry that you’ll end up in an accident somewhere.” Then he quietly closed the door.

A few seconds later, he heard the shower come on. Neal ran a hand through his hair and sighed. What in the hell was he going to do? He couldn’t just stop loving her. Then it hit him. Mark had loved her, too. He was probably hurting just as much as Neal was. He felt like a total asshole. Of course, Mark was hurting. He had been so wrapped up in his own pity that he hadn’t even thought about the fact that his best friend was in the same boat.

He shook his head and finished dressing. Then he sat on the edge of the bed to wait for Mark to finish in the bathroom. He owed his friend an apology and he needed to straighten his act up. They were doing some worthwhile work at the school and he needed to remember that there had been some in Potts Camp who had lost their lives. He didn’t have any right to be an asshole just because the woman he loved had left.

The shower cut off, and a few minutes later, Mark opened the bathroom door and stepped out amid a cloud of fog. He didn’t look at Neal at all. Instead, he dried off and got dressed. When he had his boots on, he stood up and crossed to the door.

“You coming to eat?” he asked.