Red Zone: Boys of Fall Read online

  Some of the aggression in Sadie’s dad diminished at that. “She bartends part-time for special events, to make extra money.”

  “Are you and Oakley bothering this girl?” Mom asked him.

  “No, Mom,” Joel said, his temper sparking though he tried to remain cool. He was a grown-ass man, whether she wanted to believe it or not. “We aren’t.”

  “Mmmhmm.” It was a typical reply. Whenever she didn’t believe him, she gave him that damn hum that let him know she’d be praying for his soul at mass. Joel tried to recall the last time his mother had paid him a compliment. It had been…years.

  She turned back to Mr. Milligan. He cast a pretty big shadow over her, yet in this instance, his mother looked three times bigger than the giant standing next to her.

  “You’ve raised a fine daughter.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Rodriguez.” For a second, Joel thought Mr. Milligan actually blushed, but that could be remnants of the anger that sent him over here to threaten him and Oakley.

  Oakley looked as bewildered as Joel by the exchange. “Uh, we gotta go…do some stuff,” his friend said in what was probably the most awkward attempt at escape ever.

  “I’ll see you Sunday, Joel,” his mother said. “Goodbye, Mr. Milligan. Oakley.” The last name was added with the same unimpressed look she always reserved for Oakley.

  Mr. Milligan tipped his hat once more, and then shot them a deadly look before heading off in the opposite direction.

  Oakley slapped Joel on the back. “And that, my friend, is why I moved as far away from my folks as I could. Doesn’t matter how old you get. Parents are always going to stick their noses in your business.”

  “Nelson Milligan is going to murder us. Painfully,” Joel said matter-of-factly.

  “Oh yeah. That’s a given.” Then Oakley grinned widely. “But you know what? It’ll totally be worth it.”

  That one line told Joel everything he needed to know. There wasn’t going to be an easy resolution to what they’d begun. Oakley was as smitten with Sadie as Joel was.

  This wasn’t good.

  * * *

  Oakley had just finished unloading the truck when his cell phone rang. He grinned as Sadie’s name popped up on the screen.

  “Hey, gorgeous.”

  “Hi, Oak.” The sound of her voice made him feel good all over. He’d been floating on this cloud of nonstop happiness since the wedding. Making a big enough jackass of himself that Coach had called him out for it this morning when he’d caught Oakley leaning on his pitchfork, his thoughts a million miles away and a goofy grin on his face. Coach had told him to get his head out of ass and pay attention to what he was doing.

  Oakley figured that was easier said than done. He couldn’t go two seconds without reliving some part of his time with Joel and Sadie. He was happier than he’d ever been in his life.

  “What’s up?”

  “I was at the ranch earlier.”

  Oakley was instantly disappointed he’d missed her. “What for?”

  “I’m helping Lorelie plan the after-party for Homecoming. We worked out the alcohol list. I was hoping to run into you and Joel and Woody in the barn.”

  His cock rose at the sexy tone. “Damn, sweetheart. I wish you’d told us you were coming. We could have postponed our trip to town.”

  “My fault. I was hoping to surprise you. Believe me, I won’t make that mistake again.”

  He chuckled. Woman had a sex drive that rivaled his. Which was scary considering he thought about sex approximately every three seconds.

  “By the way, Lorelie knows I’m sleeping with Joel.”

  Oakley frowned. “Just Joel?”

  “Yeah. It was a weird conversation. She could tell something was up by the way I kept looking outside for you guys. One thing led to another and she figured out there was some sex going down.”

  “Why would she think you were with Joel?”

  “She guessed it was you at first, but I was trying to put her off the trail. She said something about how you never sleep with the same person twice, so if I was there looking, it must be for Joel. I realized I was being dumb to play it off completely. If she thinks I’m sleeping with one of you, she won’t question it if my bike is parked outside your bunkhouse one night. Or several nights.”

  It was a good idea, but there was something about Lorelie thinking Sadie was just with Joel that rubbed him wrong. He knew he’d always given off a vibe of carefree Oakley, the guy who never settled down, but that wasn’t for lack of desire. He’d always hoped to find someone and get married. Or at least someone to cohabitate with for the rest of his life. He was starting to resent that everyone thought he was a bad bet—Joel’s mom, Sadie’s dad, Lorelie. Maybe even Sadie and Joel.

  The thought of those last two stung the most.

  “That’s probably a good idea,” he said begrudgingly. “Ran into your pop today.”

  “Oh shit. What happened?”

  Oakley climbed the three steps to the porch of the bunkhouse and sank down on one of the two rocking chairs there. The bunkhouse was small, built at the same time as the ranch house. It wasn’t a huge spread, but it was big enough to keep them busy. It had been a shit ton of work when it had been him, Joel and Coach. Since Coach’s heart attack and recovery, the only thing keeping the ranch going was Joel’s former teammates. If not for them, he and Joel would have been working twenty-four-seven.

  “Let’s just say no blood was shed. Yet.”

  Sadie groaned. “Dammit. Asshole cabbie came to pick up a drunk at Pitchers last night. Started running his mouth about dropping the three of us off at my place. I told my dad—and the driver—to mind their own business. I thought that had taken care of it. How bad was it?”

  “It was a show. Especially when Joel’s mom hopped in.”

  “She was there?”

  Oakley understood her alarm. It had been a pretty uncomfortable scene. “Yup. Figure it’s just our rotten luck that my folks are the only ones who don’t live in Quinn. They’d get a kick out of our relationship.”

  “We’re not in a relationship.” Sadie had made that point clear to them every single time they’d hooked up. She insisted it was just sex. That was all it could be.

  Joel obviously agreed with that assessment. Neither of them thought a threesome could be more than a sexual fling. Oakley didn’t agree. He believed he and Joel could quite easily share Sadie for the rest of their lives. The three of them fit together.

  If that meant putting away a part of himself—the part that was attracted to Joel too—then so be it. He was relatively sure he could do that. He was sure as hell willing to try if it meant keeping both of them in his life.

  So he didn’t push the relationship point. It was still early days. Wouldn’t do him any good to spook them now. He was determined to show them exactly how good the three of them were together.

  “Fine, Sade. But you’re going to have to give me something to call this thing we’re doing. Feels like more than just a fling, you know?”

  “I’ll give it some thought and get back to you,” she teased. “And I’ll talk to Dad again. Tell him to stay the hell away from y’all.”

  Oakley chuckled. “Yeah. I don’t see that happening. He was pretty pissed.”

  “I guess that explains why he suddenly changed tonight’s schedule. He’s working until close with me. That’s why I called.”

  “Fuck,” Oakley muttered. They’d made plans to meet up at Pitchers. It had become a bit of a routine, locking the doors behind the last customer then meeting at “their table”. Sometimes Sadie went down on him, other times she offered that paradise to Joel. Then they took turns fucking her.

  It was completely hot, but Oakley was sort of anxious to break the pattern. He wanted to get Sadie in a bed, wanted to show her all the ways he and Joel could rock her world. “How late are you going to be?”

  Sadie sighed. “No idea. Friday nights are usually hoppin’. Could be well after two. Which doesn’t really work wit
h those up with the sun hours you and Joel keep on the ranch.”

  She was right. During the week, Pitchers shut down around ten or eleven depending on the crowd. Even getting an early start, it was nearly three a.m. before he and Joel got back to the bunkhouse. Three hours’ sleep was an ass-kicker, but they both agreed it was worth it. So much so they had been willing to pull an all-nighter tonight.

  “Maybe we should just pack it in on this evening. Try to hook up another time.”

  Oakley knew Sadie’s suggestion made sense. So many hours of lost sleep was catching up to him. But he didn’t like the idea of not seeing her.

  “I guess.”

  “I’m off Wednesday night. What if you guys come by my place? We can order pizza, drink body shots off each other and get silly between the sheets.”

  Oakley laughed, even as her invitation had his cock twitching hungrily. “Damn. That sounds like my ideal night. Not crazy about having to wait so long though. Woody misses you.”

  She laughed. “Anticipation makes it better.”

  She was right, but he wasn’t at a place where he was willing to put that theory to the test. If Oakley had his way, he’d be buried deep inside her every single night of the week. “Wednesday it is,” he said at last. “I’ll let Joel know.”

  “Cool. I’ll call you later about a time. I gotta run. I’m late for work. See you Wednesday.”

  As they hung up, Oakley did some quick math in his head. Five days until he saw her. One hundred and twenty hours.

  Jesus. He’d never make it.

  Chapter Four

  Sadie looked around the bar and sighed. She had told Oakley Friday was typically a busy night, but part of her had hoped it would be a slow evening, so she could bounce out early. Luck was not on her side. It was starting to get crowded. Her dad was clearly happy with all the business, but she was struggling. Her head was not in the game. In fact, it was approximately twenty-five miles out of town…on a ranch…with two panty-melting cowboys.

  She was hard-pressed to recall drink recipes when every damn order made her remember the guys and what she wasn’t going to be doing tonight. A group of rowdy women were enjoying round after round of Blow Job shots. Bitches. Some frou-frou chick out on a first date kept requesting Sex on the Beach drinks, giggling whenever she said the name. In addition to that, she’d made one Screwdriver, one Buttery Nipple and two Alabama Slammers. What the hell was wrong with these people?

  “You need a refill yet?” Sadie asked.

  At least Paige was just drinking a beer. “No, I’m good for right now, thanks.”

  “Yeah, you’re nursing that one good.” Sadie swished her rag over the bar debating whether or not she should start the conversation that had been niggling at the back of her mind ever since Paige walked into the bar alone and set up camp at the end of the counter.

  Rumors spread through Quinn quicker than the flu and, in addition to Sadie’s taxi departure with Oakley and Joel, there was an interesting one floating around about Paige’s after-wedding escapades. Ordinarily, Sadie didn’t pay much heed to the wagging tongues, but this story caught her attention.

  To hell with it, she decided as she leaned closer. She needed to talk to someone and if the rumor was true, Paige was the perfect person to fill that role. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”

  Paige nodded. “Sure thing.”

  “Is it true?” At Paige’s blank look, Sadie lifted her brows. “You know, about you and Colt and Drake possibly being in a compromising position. Post-wedding shenanigans. That kind of deal.”

  From the guilty expression on Paige’s face, Sadie had her answer. When the silence drifted a bit too long, Sadie tried to lighten the moment. “Yoohoo, Paige, you in there?”

  Paige smiled. “Yeah. Sorry. Just trying to come up with a politically correct way to say that I—”

  “That you banged two sinfully sexy cowboys?” At Paige’s silence, Sadie grinned. She’d found a confidante. “Just an FYI, I might know something about that too.”

  Paige reared back on her barstool, nearly toppling off the thing. She mumbled something that sounded like “You’ve been with them?”

  She’d only served Paige a couple of beers, not nearly enough for her to be tipsy, but the woman looked slightly off-balance. “Hey there, you okay?” Sadie peered closer at her face. “You didn’t have a few before you got here, did you?”

  “No, no, of course not. I’m not drunk. Did you…” Paige was flushed and struggling to catch her breath. “Did you sleep with Colt and Drake too?”

  Sadie’s lips twitched. “Too? That sounds like an admission of guilt. To which I say, you go, girl.” Paige’s blush bloomed even brighter, but she grinned when Sadie held her hand up for a high five.

  “To answer your other question…” Sadie propped her forearms on the bar and lowered her voice. “Hell no, I haven’t slept with them. Either of them. Never mind both. Do you really think I’d be asking you about it if I had?”

  “I don’t know.”

  While Sadie was thrilled to have someone to talk to about the rather unorthodox path they were on, Paige didn’t seem as comfortable with the discussion. She watched the other woman pick up her glass and chug the rest of her beer. “Gimme another, please.”

  “You got it.” Sadie took her glass and pulled the tap. Despite Paige’s embarrassment, Sadie wasn’t about to let the subject drop after finally finding someone with whom she could confide her secret. “I said I knew something about sleeping with two hot cowboys. Just not those particular two.”

  “Really?” Finally Paige appeared to relax a bit. “Is that like a…thing ’round here, and no one ever told me because I’m too new in town?”

  Sadie laughed. “Girl, you aren’t that new anymore. Besides, you’re practically from one of the founding families of Quinn. Your people have roots here that go back eons.”

  Paige sat up a little straighter. “That they do.”

  “And no, I don’t think it’s a thing. People in Quinn can be a bit conservative sometimes, though I think that overall, they’re pretty understanding and decent when it comes right down to it. They’re just easily shocked by some of the goings-on is all.” Sadie flicked her ponytail back over her shoulder. “Like the things done by wild women such as you and me.”

  “Having a threesome makes me a wild woman?” Paige whispered.

  Sadie forced herself not to laugh at Paige’s earnest tone. “Well, it sure doesn’t make you an old fuddy-duddy.”

  “Good point.” Paige took another sip of beer. “So, um, who were yours? Your cowboys, I mean.”

  Sadie glanced around, realizing belatedly that starting this conversation at the bar—with her father roaming the premises—was probably a bad idea.

  However, before she could answer, Paige shocked her by guessing. “Not Joel and Oakley?”

  “What makes you mention them?”

  “Other than y’all been attached at the hip lately? I don’t know. I guess I’ve always seen sparks between you guys. Actually, more like flames. Forget sparks.”

  Sadie couldn’t fault that observation. “Let’s just say one is great, but two is spectacular.”

  Paige sighed. “You’re telling me.”

  “I am telling you because it’s nice to have someone to talk to. We’re kind of a rare breed ’round here. I mean, I’m sure a few others have had affairs with more than one guy, but no one will admit to them. Although probably no one in our group of friends. I can’t imagine Lorelie, AJ or Char—” She stopped talking when she realized why Paige was probably fretting over her threesome adventure. Paige’s best friend was Charlene. And Colt was Charlene’s ex-husband. “Well, now, that’s rather awkward.”

  “Yeah. Part of why I’m destined to only have that one night in my fantasies.”

  “You don’t want to hurt Charlene.”

  “No. I’d rather cut off my toes than do that.” Then Paige glanced down at her feet. “Actually, I’d rather lose a couple fingers. My toes look g
reat right now.”

  Sadie laughed. “I gotta say, it’s hard to figure Char being that hurt, considering she’s newly married and all. She and Wade have been making moon eyes at each other since high school.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Paige said softly.

  “Take my word for it. Char and Wade were meant for each other. Added to that, she’s a pretty reasonable lady, all in all. I can’t see her begrudging you some happiness if you found it.”

  “No, she wouldn’t, but she reminded me of the score last week.”

  Sadie held up a finger when another customer summoned her at the other end of the bar. “One minute there, Teddy.” She turned back to Paige. “What score is that?”

  Paige wiped up the condensation left by her beer on the bar with her finger. “The one that says Colt and Drake are the love-’em-and-leave-’em types.”

  “Well, honey, I can’t say if that’s so or not. Drake has had a few relationships since he’s been in town that I know of, and they weren’t real short. A couple of women, and there was that one guy, Robbie, I think was his name—”

  “Wait. He was in a relationship with a guy?”

  “Yeah, rumor has it. Was some years back.”

  “Sadie, I’m dying over here,” Teddy called out.

  “I’m coming.” Sadie winked at Paige. “Be right back.”

  Sadie set Teddy up with another beer, then took care of a couple other patrons along the way, hoping it would buy her a few more minutes to talk to Paige without interruption.

  “Sorry about that. Can’t keep a thirsty man—or woman—waiting long.”

  “True enough.”

  “So as I was saying, let’s say they are love-’em-and-leave-’em types, as you said. You’re not really looking for more than that, are you?”

  Sadie didn’t understand how Paige could hope for more. One of the reasons she’d agreed to the threesome was because Sadie had believed it would keep her safe. From getting too close. From feeling too much. But the hard truth was they were only a week in and Sadie was deeper than she’d ever been in her life.