Cowboy Love on Hold [Love: The Cowboy Way 1] (6 page)

“I do remember…and I don’t think I was treating you like a brother just now when I tried to get into your pants.” Wade was relieved when Brandon laughed, and some of the building tension between them lifted. “But you gotta give me some time, Buddy. I’ve never even considered that I would find myself feeling like this, or trying to put a name to what this thing is between us. This is all unchartered territory for me.”

“So what happens now?” A flicker of hope sparked to life in Brandon’s eyes, and it hurt Wade to diminish it, but he had to be honest.

“I don’t really know yet. Here, with you right now, it all makes so much sense, but when I’m alone and have some time to think, I might not be so sure. And of course, we’ve got to talk to Kimber.”

Brandon shook his head. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, Wade. You can’t unring a bell. What if she doesn’t want anything to do with either of us? I never really had her, but you’d be losing the best thing to ever happen to you. The risk for you is much greater than it is for me.”

“I’ve wasted too much time and told far too many lies already. We owe her the truth. I only had her because I forced you to leave town in the first place. I think it’s about time she got to call the shots. Agreed?”

“Okay, but you’d better do all the talking. She already thinks I’m the devil.”

Wade grimaced. “I’ve got a feeling that’s gonna change when she hears how badly I’ve treated you both.”

Chapter 6

Kimber opened the door and let out a little shriek before she realized just who it was standing on her front porch.

Wade had torn out of the house like his hair was on fire, vowing to beat the hell out of Brandon. As he’d taken the truck and left his cell phone at the house, Kimber had no choice but to wait for him to return, her stomach tied in knots. She couldn’t even call Brandon to warn him. So finding them together at her door, even looking as bad as they did, was a relief compared to what she might have had to deal with.

“What in God’s name happened to you two? You look like you fell down a mineshaft!”

She ran to the kitchen cupboard, grabbing a couple of garbage sacks and taking them back to Wade and Brandon as they stood in the hall, dripping dirty water all over her polished floor. “Put your clothes in here before you jump in the shower. Brandon, you can use the washroom in the den.”

Wade wiped his hand on his tattered shirt, reaching out to grab her wrist. “Kimber, we need to talk.”

Her stomach clenched at the tremor in his voice, and she knew that whatever was coming wouldn’t be pleasant. “We can talk after you clean up.”

Brandon cut in, seeming oblivious to the fact that he was the cause of all their problems. “It’s important. Please, just hear him out.”

Kimber glared at Brandon, then felt bad when he cast his eyes away, as if hurt by her anger. She reached out to touch his arm in way of apology for being so short with him. “So important that it can’t wait a little while longer?”

“I guess not.” Wade shrugged at Brandon. “We’ve waited almost twenty years, what’s a few minutes more?”

Brandon nodded and followed Wade from the room without looking her way again. Kimber got out the mop and cleaned up the mess they’d left, paying too much attention to the job but desperate to ignore the worry eating at her insides. Why had she told them it could wait? She hurried into the kitchen to put her cleaning utensils away and sat at the table, skimming through a magazine without actually reading it.

The rustle of plastic behind her told her one of them had finished their shower, and she spun around to find Brandon hovering in the doorway holding the garbage sack out towards her, naked, save for the white cotton bath towel sitting dangerously low on his hips.

Kimber swallowed against the throb of a pulse in the back of her throat, her mouth going dry at the sight of Brandon’s body. The last time she’d seen it, he was a wiry teenager with bony shoulders and a hollow chest. But now here he was in all his glory, at full potential and as beautiful as he was ever going to be. Brandon stood in his bare feet in her kitchen with his skin gleaming from the heat of the shower, his blond hair plastered around his head in a sexy mess, and Kimber wanted nothing more than to relieve him of his towel.

He moved closer, and then she spotted the bruise forming on the side of Brandon’s jaw. “Oh my God! Did Wade do that to you?” She rushed to get the first-aid box and made Brandon sit in the chair while she dabbed witch hazel on his swollen skin.

“It wasn’t his fault. I pushed him too far.”

“It’s not your fault either—it’s mine. I told Wade what happened up at Cedar Bluff, and what you said.”

Kimber packed away the medical supplies when Brandon didn’t say anything more. He’d held her gaze until she looked away, scared by the invitation she saw in his eyes and her reaction to it. She glanced at the towel where it gapped across his thigh, exposing a length of firm, tanned skin, dusted with wiry blond hair. Kimber couldn’t help but let her gaze roam upwards to his groin. Brandon’s cock hardened under her stare, and she closed her eyes against a wave of want so powerful, she had to lean on the table to stop herself from falling into his arms.

“Where do you want me to put this?” Kimber jumped at the sound of Wade’s voice behind her. He walked into the kitchen, also in bare feet but wearing his bathrobe. She took the bag from him and dumped it next to Brandon’s on the floor.

Wade looked at Brandon and winced, reaching out to lift his chin so he could see the damage he’d inflicted more clearly. “Ouch! Sorry, Buddy.”

Brandon smiled back at him with a look of such unbridled love that Kimber gasped. The pair of them turned to stare at her, their eyes wide as if they’d just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

“I need a drink.” Kimber stumbled from the room and into the den, pulling open the cabinet where they kept the hard liquor they barely drank and reaching for a bottle of whisky. She splashed some into a glass, her hand shaking as she took a healthy swallow, and she grimaced as the sour liquid burned a fiery path down her throat.

Wade walked in, followed closely by Brandon. They stopped on either side of her, their faces full of concern. Wade tried to take the glass out of her hand, but she held him off and tossed the last of her drink down her throat.

“Ugh!” Kimber closed her eyes until the burn of the whiskey faded away, opening them to find Wade had moved to the other side of the room. Brandon pulled up a stool beside her and inched closer, his thighs almost encircling hers where she stood. She looked from one to the other. “Okay, somebody needs to start talking.”

“You’re right, and I should be the one to start. Because it’s my fault we’re in this mess.” Wade slumped forward in his chair to rest his forearms on his knees. He peered up at her through the dark curtain of wet hair that had fallen across his forehead, almost obscuring his eyes.

Kimber listened, almost afraid to breathe as he spoke for fear he’d stop. Wade told her about the night Brandon kissed him, and how he had lied to her about the reason Brandon left town. “I told myself I was protecting the pair of you. Truth was, I didn’t want to admit to myself that I had those kinds of feelings for my best friend.” Wade clenched his hands in his lap. “I didn’t know what the hell was going on, Kimber. And that’s the truth.”

“So it’s all been a lie, is that what you are telling me? Our life together has been a lie?”

Wade surged to his feet, reaching for her until she put her hands up to stop him, so he sat back down. “You know that’s not true! To be honest, my relationship with you has been part of the reason I never really dealt with what happened. Remember, I was only twenty years old at the time and scared half to death by what I was feeling. Then I fell in love with you, and it only confirmed what I wanted to believe—that what happened with Brandon that night was just some freak incident caused by too many hormones and too much booze.”

Kimber knew he was telling the truth about their relationship. The early days with Wade had been a heady mix of newly discovered love, constant sex, and meaningful companionship. She’d been the one to hold back, hurt as she was by Brandon’s desertion. She turned to look at him.

“So you’re not gay?”

Brandon shook his head. “No, I’m not. Did you ever really believe I was?”

Her cheeks burned when she remembered how hot they’d been for each other, all those years ago and since he’d come back to town. “Well…no, but I didn’t think Wade would lie about it, although I had a hard time believing what he said.” Something still didn’t make sense. “Why did you kiss him?”

“Because I fell in love with him.”

“Instead of me?”

Brandon reached for her hand. “No, not instead of you. I loved you both. Still do.”

Kimber stared into Brandon’s eyes, unable to doubt the sincerity of his words. She heard Wade move in his chair, and her gaze snapped around to find him, sure he was on his way across the room to attack Brandon again, but he wasn’t. He’d sat forward to watch her closely, as if waiting to see what she would say.

“Wade?” She couldn’t move—couldn’t breathe, hardly. Kimber shook her head, unable to process what she’d heard.

Wade got up and stood beside her, his hand resting on her shoulder. “Honey, I know it’s a lot to take in. Neither of us really understands what it means, but the one thing we do know is that you are the key to whatever it is that’s happening here.”

“M…me?”

Brandon rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand, dragging her attention back to him. “Without you, it means nothing.”

Kimber snatched her hand away to press her fingers against her temples. “Hold up. Are you telling me that you love each other
and
me?”

Wade smoothed a tendril of hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Is that really so hard to believe? I know you love me…and I know you still love Brandon. You’ve never really stopped loving him, have you?” His gentle smile encouraged her to speak up and admit how she felt, but she couldn’t. Years of hiding her feelings for Brandon had buried them so deeply that Kimber just couldn’t bring herself to utter the words. She turned to Wade, shaking her head in apology when she still couldn’t think of anything to say.

He kissed her then, his lips gentle as his hands slid down her arms to grasp one of her hands and place it in Brandon’s. Kimber watched Wade walk back to the chair and didn’t resist as she felt Brandon tug her around to face him. He got to his feet, grabbing her other hand in his and pulling her closer.

She didn’t dare move as he took a step towards her, his body barely touching hers. “Don’t you love me, Kimber?” he asked, his voice soft and gently teasing. He placed his lips on her temple and then her cheek, finally taking her mouth. She sighed as his strong arms drew her in closer, and, just for a second, she allowed herself to kiss him back the way she wanted to. She heard Wade groan quietly, and she jumped away from Brandon and turned to look at him.

Kimber didn’t know what she expected to find, but it wasn’t Wade slumped in the chair, his eyes glazed with lust and his erection pushing at the folds of his gown. Brandon’s hand curled around her neck, his fingers shaping around the column of her throat as he stepped up beside her. Kimber watched Wade suck his bottom lip in between his teeth and his eyelids droop the way they did when he was hot for her. Brandon’s hand stroked her hair off her neck, and he kissed her there, his other arm circling her from behind and holding her firm against him. His teeth grazed her flesh, and a spear of heat burned a path through her body, coming to rest in her groin. A slow, heavy throb of want made her pussy convulse, and Kimber let her head fall back, unable to care whether Wade was watching while Brandon was making her so hot for him.

Brandon’s thumb brushed at her mouth, and she parted her lips to suck it inside. She heard Wade gasp again and opened her eyes to find him staring at them in rapt concentration, his robe open and splayed across the chair behind him, and his long, thick cock grasped firmly in his fist. Another surge of wet heat oozed from her at the sight of him, and she glanced at Brandon to see if he was watching, too. He looked over at Wade and groaned, and his grip on her tightened, leaving her in no doubt that seeing Wade pulling at his rigid penis turned Brandon on as much as it did her. He grasped her chin and turned her to face him.