Rough, Raw and Ready (33 page)

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Lorelei James

Chicago to rip him a new one. But as a couple days passed, I put the blame back where it belonged.”

Please don’t say on yourself, Keely. Please don’t say it.

“Justin is to blame. His hang-ups aren’t my issue. I’m comfortable with who I am.”

Chassie exhaled with relief.

“Maybe his repressed brother filled his head with bullshit, but Justin entertained enough doubts about me to let his opinion be swayed. Hard as it was to swallow, I realized I don’t wanna be involved with a man who doesn’t know his own mind.”

“Smart.” She studied Keely’s face. “So have you been mopin’ around over Justin like a lovesick calf?”

Keely grinned. “Hell no. I’ve been dating Logan.”

Chassie laughed, then clapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. For a minute there, I forgot why I’m here.”

“It’s okay.” Keely poured more rum in Chassie’s cup. “Enough about me. I wanna hear all about you and that hot-as-sin husband of yours. How are things going after a year of wedded bliss?”

Chassie tipped the cup, watching the thick liquid stick to the waxy sides as she pondered her answer. “Honestly? It’s kind of…confusing right now.”

“That’s cryptic, Chass. What gives?”

Where should she start? When Edgard sauntered up the driveway? When she caught her husband kissing another man? After she watched them having sex? After all three of them started fucking on a regular basis? “Trevor’s dad had a heart attack.”

“Shit. I had no idea.”

“Yeah, well, neither did he. No one in his family told him until a week after it happened.”

Keely whistled. “Double shit. Must seem like everyone is keeping family stuff from you guys. Is Trevor’s dad okay?”

“I guess,” she hedged. “Trevor’s checked in a couple of times, but he’s really distracted when he calls. I don’t want to press him. He’ll tell me when he comes home.”

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“You’re doing everything at the ranch by yourself?”

“No. I have help. Good help, as it turns out.”

“Who?”

“Trevor’s former ropin’ partner. Edgard Mancuso. Know him?”

Chassie heard the expression “bug-eyed” but she’d never seen it on a person until Keely.

“Holy shit. Know him? I’ve lusted after him almost as long as I have Trevor. Edgard Mancuso. The hot Brazilian? Dark hair and golden eyes? With the ripped body, luminous smile and slow, sexy accent? Knows how to rope and ride like nobody’s business? That Edgard Mancuso?”

“Yep.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“It gets better.” Chassie knocked back the booze in her cup. “I’m sleepin’ with him.”

“What!”

Two goggle-eyed expressions from the usually unflappable Keely in one day. Not bad. “You heard me. I’m sleepin’ with him. And Trevor.”

“Omigod. Every detail. Right now.”

“This stays between us, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“Edgard showed up out of the blue. He and Trev hadn’t seen each other since Colby’s accident in Cheyenne. Since they’d been partners for years things just clicked back into place easily”—
liar liar
—“and Ed started helpin’ out. Found out some bad things happened to him in Brazil and he’s not sure if he’s ever goin’ back. So he’s stayin’

with us indefinitely. Which is cool, ’cause I really like him and he and I hit it off like gangbusters.”

Keely said slyly, “Maybe you mean, you hit it off during a gang
bang
.”

Chassie stuck her tongue out at her cousin. “Funny, anyway, one night they’re talkin’

about all the crazy sex stuff they did on the road and it was the perfect opportunity to experience the raunchy threesome stuff I’d been curious about. So I propositioned them.”

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“Chassie West Glanzer…I’m impressed!”

She allowed a small smirk. “Trevor is way into it, Edgard is way into it and I’m in heaven, to put it mildly. I’ve indulged in some of the hottest sex of my life and that’s sayin’ something with sex-god Trevor Glanzer as my husband.”

Keely frowned. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

“But I don’t want it to be temporary, K. It might seem bizarre, but I want Trevor and Edgard in my bed and in my life for the long haul.”

“Is that what they want too?”

“Yeah. But it’s not that simple.”

“Why not?” Keely countered. “How you live your life is your business, Chass.”

“Did you forget we’re livin’ that life in Wyoming?”

“You worried what people will say down at the feed store?”

“Maybe a little. It’s definitely not the norm.” Chassie couldn’t tell Keely how much out of the norm the situation really was.

A thoughtful expression crossed Keely’s face. “Remember old man Jacobs? He and his wife owned a place up by the reservation? Sold veggies and dried herbs?”

Chassie nodded.

“Apparently Jacobs’ brother’s wife moved in with them after the brother died in some war and they’d lived together for forty years.”

“So?”

“So, did it ever cross your mind something hinky might’ve been going on with three people living together?”

“No.” A strange feeling—hope? began to take root.

“That’s what I’m saying. No one thought anything of it. Maybe the old man screwed his sister-in-law and his wife every night and twice on Sundays. Maybe the two women were rug munchers and he was a cover. Maybe they didn’t have sex ever and preferred to play pinochle.”

“Eww. Nice visual, K.”

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“The point is, no one around here cared. They were good neighbors. Good people. If the three of them held hands and skipped down Main Street naked, screaming about free love, or made out in church, or bragged about their kinky threesomes at the VFW, things would’ve been different.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts once it’s common knowledge that Edgard’s moved in with you guys, everyone will think it’s great Trevor’s good buddy is there as a live-in ranch hand. The three of you will become entrenched in the minds of the community as a package deal. Honestly, Chass, no one will ever be the wiser that you are the middle of a Trevor and Edgard sandwich every night.”

“Except I sorta hinted to that bratty Brandy Martinson we were havin’ threesomes before any of this came to pass. She’s probably blabbed to the whole county.”

“Then the damage is done. Enjoy your notoriety. Be nice not to be a McKay for a change.” Keely squeezed Chassie’s hand. “There is no such thing as ‘normal’ even in Wyoming. You create your own family. Do what makes you, Trevor and Edgard happy in your own home. Besides, my mother always says the most meaningful relationships are those that don’t have a public face.”

“Wise woman, your mother.”

“And if Cam was here he’d command you to follow your bliss, say ‘fuck you’ to the world, and let the chips fall where they may.” Keely smiled wistfully. “Grab happiness whenever and wherever you can, Chass, ’cause you know how fleeting it is. It can be gone before you know it or ever get a chance to enjoy it.”

The cordless receiver on Keely’s desk rang and she grabbed it, spinning it around to check the caller ID. The blood drained from her face.

Chassie’s stomach dropped as if she’d swallowed a stone. “Keely. What’s wrong?

Who is it?”

“U.S. Government. Unlisted. Oh sweet Jesus.” She raced out of the room and banged on Colt’s door, yelling, “Colt, now,” and Keely’s footsteps thumped down the stairs, followed by her brother’s.

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Fifteen minutes passed. Didn’t bode well that Keely hadn’t burst back with the good news everything was all right. Chassie forced herself to go downstairs.

In the living room Colt stared out the window, his hands jammed in his back pockets.

Carolyn sagged into the couch, crying silently as she stroked Keely’s hair. Keely sat on the floor with her head in her mother’s lap, arms wrapped around her mother’s calves.

Her eyes were closed through the tears falling to the floor.

Carson’s voice drifted from the dining room. Chassie leaned against the wall, waiting for the right moment to ask what’d happened. Her heart ached. God. She wished Trevor and Edgard were with her.

Colt swore and turned around. When he noticed Chassie, he shot a questioning look at his mother, and she slowly nodded at him. “They found Cam.”

“Oh thank God. Is he okay?”

“No. He’s…fu—screwed up. Bad. Seriously bad. Cam had surgery two days ago, right after they found him, barely alive. Somehow the army misplaced our number and were just now able to let us know what’s goin’ on.”

“Surgery? For what?”

Colt swore again and balled his hands into fists at his sides. His jaw was clenched so tightly Chassie didn’t know whether he’d be able to speak.

“Surgery to amputate his mangled left leg. They cut it off below the knee. Evidently he lost the pinky finger on his left hand. He suffered from shrapnel wounds over the lower half of his body, burns to his chest and something…with his face, I didn’t catch all of that part. Far as the doctors could tell, he’d sustained no brain damage in the week he was MIA. Luckily none of his internal organs were hit.”

She was as dismayed as she was relieved. At least he was alive. “Are they sendin’

him home?”

Colt nodded. “As soon as he’s stable they’re transporting him to Walter Reed. He’ll be there for some time before he’s discharged. They don’t know when.”

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Carson slipped back into the room and dropped next to Carolyn on the sofa. He put his big hand on Keely’s head and stroked her hair. “Carter sends his love. He can’t come home with Macie set to go any time…”

Carolyn patted his thigh. “Did you tell him it’s all right to stay there and focus on his wife? And Thane?”

“Yeah. Cord and AJ are on their way over. Same for Colby and Channing. And the kids.”

“Good.”

“Listen, sugar—”

“Did you call Cal and Kimi?” Carolyn interrupted. “Or your other brothers? What about Kade? Kane?”

Chassie wondered if they’d remember to call the West side of the family, but chose not to point it out.

“No.”

Colt said, “I’ll do it. It’ll give me something to do besides think about gettin’ drunk.”

As much as Chassie wanted to go home to hear what’d happened with Trevor and his family, she knew she’d stay with the McKays. Someone needed to fix meals, wash dishes and watch Gib and Ky so the adults could talk without distractions or interruptions.

Chassie said, “I’ll see about fixin’ some lunch,” and disappeared into the kitchen to call home so Edgard knew not to expect her.

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Trevor was halfway home when Chassie called and told him about Cam McKay. Her subdued tone and distraction was a sign for him not to tell her what’d gone down with his family. He owed her a full explanation, face-to-face, not another half-assed deflection of intent. Not another bald-faced lie.

It’d been a shitty test to see how she’d react to moving to the Glanzer ranch. Making her think he was considering it, even when he hadn’t been. Because Trevor had passed his own test, and finally understood how perfect his life was. He’d married a wonderful woman he loved with his whole heart. He was able to spend his daytime hours outside working land he owned and loved. He finally acknowledged that he could fill the empty part he’d resigned to remaining empty. The part of him that’d belonged to Edgard; the part of him that’d always loved Edgard.

Even as the words repeated in his head he felt foolish. Loving another man. But he did. What Trevor felt for Edgard went beyond simple lust and sexual experimentation.

Friendship, companionship, shared interests, rockin’ sex—exactly what he and Chassie shared, which near as he could figure, was love.

Could Edgard live with Trevor’s affection only in private? Could Chassie deal with sharing Trevor with Edgard? Could Trevor handle both Chassie and Edgard’s demands?

Could he let a relationship develop between them without jealousy?

Most importantly, could he convince Edgard that it didn’t matter if people outside their household knew they loved each other, just as long as they knew? It wasn’t hiding the truth. It wasn’t giving into outdated societal morals. What passed between the three of them was private. Not boasting near and far about their sexual preferences and dynamics wasn’t unusual, it was normal.

Let it go. Your brain is fixin’ to explode.

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Soon as Chassie came home they’d address the questions and concerns reasonably, like rational adults, because he’d be damned if he’d let Edgard walk out of his life again.

Edgard’s pickup was parked by the barn. The woodpile had been split and stacked.

The driveway cleared after a day’s worth of snow. A light shone in the kitchen. Smoke curled against the purplish twilight sky, making the little farmhouse tucked among the trees postcard worthy.

He grabbed his duffel and headed inside, wondering what Edgard was doing after the last cattle check, wishing Chassie was here to meet him. Trevor hung up his coat and shed his boots, and noticed Edgard in the kitchen waiting for him instead. Automatically his heart lightened a bit.

“Hey. How were the roads?” Edgard asked.

“No problems except outside of Lusk. But even that wasn’t bad.” Trevor rubbed his cold hands together. “Hear anything else from Chassie?”

Edgard shook his head. “Nothin’ new. Damn shame about that McKay brother.

Gonna be rough on the whole family. I’d say he’s lucky to be alive, but that sounds a little hollow.”

“I know what you mean.” Trevor tamped down his nerves and moved in front of Edgard, setting his hands on Edgard’s shoulders.

Before the wariness in Edgard’s eyes scared him off completely, Trevor jerked the man into a full body hug. “I missed you.”