HazardsDare (16 page)

“Hazard, tell me about your dad,” Avery said.

“His name is Garth and he lives in Wyoming. In his youth, he
was a promising baseball star bound for the majors. Ultimately, he found most
of his success as a pitching coach in the minor leagues. He’s now the manager
of a minor league team in his home state.”

“Were your parents married when they were young?”

“Yes. I’m afraid a taxing minor league baseball schedule was
brutal on their relationship.”

“Your poor mother, she must have been terribly lonely.”

“She found ways to keep herself busy,” he said, remembering
how often strange men would visit or take his mom to the movies.

Avery pursed her lips and scowled. “Hazard, are you aware of
the distress in your voice when you mention your parents? You love them, don’t
you?”

“I do, Avery. I’m sorry if I sound bitter. They divorced
when I was only fourteen. It still hurts.”

“Don’t apologize. Divorce is tough, especially on children.
Do you have brothers and sisters?”

“Two brothers and a sister, Eric, Chloe and Jacob’s the
youngest.”

“You see them much?”

“When I can, certainly,” he answered. “Chloe’s son is
autistic. He’s a great kid and I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about it
and created a scholarship fund for autistic children and children with learning
challenges such as ADD or dyslexia to receive the education they need to
succeed.”

“That’s wonderful. You’ll have to let me know more about the
charity and if I can contribute in any way. I love children. You must too.”

Hazard panicked a little. Now would be the time to tell her
he couldn’t have children because of what he’d done to please the woman he’d
thought he’d live the rest of his life with.

“Kids are great,” he said.

“I’m sensing an amendment to that statement. You’d be a
great dad.”

“I don’t know about that, baby. As much as I love my
siblings’ kids, I’ve never wanted children of my own.”

“Why, Hazard?”

“Despite having four children, my parents’ marriage was
volatile and not one to follow as an example. They’d been young and in love and
irresponsible. I was conceived on the night of their prom and both of them had
to sacrifice their careers to raise me.”

“Wait, slow down,” Avery insisted. “That’s not your fault.
Tell me you know that.”

“I know it now. As far back as I can remember, they didn’t
temper their voices when they argued. My mom resented the loss of her freedom.
My dad sacrificed his playing career and took a job that kept him on the road
so that we had food on the table and a roof over our heads.”

“I’m sure they loved you. The resentment they felt was for
each other, not at you.”

“I guess that’s why I tried so hard with Marianne. I did
love her, Avery. But I made some foolish decisions during our engagement based
on fear of failing rather than love.”

“Will you tell me what they entail?” She sat up, propping
herself back against the headboard to listen.

“When Marianne and I got engaged, we decided that we didn’t
want children. Having a vasectomy seemed like the safest option. Her mother had
difficult pregnancies and two miscarriages, weight problems soon followed.
Marianne didn’t want that to happen to her. She had dreams of being a model.”

“Oh no, I’ve got to tell you that I do not like your ex-wife
one bit. She pressured you into getting the surgery, didn’t she?”

“I didn’t know it at the time, but yes. I didn’t want any
child of mine to grow up believing his or her parents didn’t love them
unconditionally and I wanted Marianne to be free to pursue her ambitions.
Pretty pathetic of me, I guess. If my teammates knew, they’d laugh.”

“No,” she bit out harshly, glaring a little. “If your
teammates are friends, they’d know you are human.”

“You’re not mad?”

“No, honey, I’m not mad. You did what you’d thought was
right for the woman you loved. I respect you. I could slap her silly, but that
wouldn’t erase what she did. She betrayed you horribly. Someday, I hope you’ll
tell me exactly how, although I can guess.”

“Sometime real soon, I will,” he agreed.

“I’m sorry about your mom and dad. I know it sounds weird,
but I understand what you went through as a child.”

It was his turn to scowl and prop himself against the
headboard. “Mind if I ask how?”

“For much of my childhood, my parents’ marriage was a sham.
They’d been groomed by their families to become a politician and his supportive
wife. There was even talk of Dad running for President. But then the pressure
and national spotlight would have exposed my dad’s mistresses.”

“No shit,” Hazard muttered, stunned. “It must have been
rough to know your father betrayed your mother like that.”

“It was awful. To my father, infidelity was the norm. His
father had mistresses. His grandfather did before that. He taught the lesson to
Alex, who fortunately didn’t marry for all the wrong reasons. My father was
raised to believe wives were to be treated as the mothers of their children,
mistresses were for sex.”

“How is it your mom stayed with your dad through all that?”

“Crazily enough, they are close…now. It certainly wasn’t the
case before my sister Charlotte was born. My mom, who usually kept quiet about
his extramarital affairs, had enough when she learned he’d tucked his latest
mistress away in her own little house.”

“Good for her,” he said, silently cheering Mrs. Grant on.
“My mother cheated on my father, Avery. I can relate to what you’d been
through. Hell, the amount of time my father was away, I’m pretty certain he did
too. I’d just never witnessed it firsthand.”

“It took my mom going so far as moving out and drawing up
legal separation papers before my dad realized he’d better clean up his act or
he would have lost her. They were separated when she learned she was pregnant
again. She didn’t want to keep silent anymore and told my dad that if he went
to counseling, she’d consider moving home.”

“I like your mom, Avery.”

“She’s much stronger than she’s given credit for. My dad did
everything she asked, devoting himself to being a good husband and father
first, a senator second.”

“What happened?”

“They fell in love. Surprised the hell out of all of us, my
brother didn’t even realize it until Dad was hospitalized.”

“I’m glad they’re happy. My parents tried to stay together
through the rough times. They really did.”

Avery reached out and touched his hair, gently combing it
with her fingers.

“I’m terribly sorry your marriage didn’t work out, Hazard.
I’m sorry about your mom and dad. If I could time travel, I’d go back to the
time when you were a child and hold you in my arms to let you know that you weren’t
alone in your pain.”

“That’s sweet of you, baby,” he replied, appreciating her
support.

“Admittedly, I’m not feeling as sweet toward your ex-wife.
She betrayed your trust in the most horrible way. Once trust is broken, it’s
difficult, not insurmountable, but difficult to repair the damage.”

“Marianne wasn’t the only one who made mistakes when we got
married. I went into it for all the wrong reasons. In the end, love wasn’t
enough. It’s a mistake I’ll never duplicate.”

“Do you think you’d ever try marriage again?”

“I honestly can’t answer that yet, Avery.” Not that long
ago, his answer would have been no fucking way. In the last couple of months,
something inside him had shifted.

He no longer resented Marianne. He stopped hiding behind
orgies and wild no-commitment one-night stands and started talking more and
more to his coaches and teammates, recognizing what worked in their marriages
and seeing where he’d been at fault in his failures as a husband.

“Do we have a future?” she asked, looking a little sad, and
he immediately sought to reassure her.

“Yes, I just don’t know what the future holds. If I did,
it’d be like reading the end of a book before the first chapter. I’d rather
write our story with you, taking the good and the bad, hopefully having a lot
of great sex and everything in between.”

“That’s nice.”

“Did I mention the part about having a lot of sex in each
chapter?”

“I’d like nothing more. You really believe there’s a chance
for us, despite what I said at the bar about being fuck buddies.”

“You’re my lover now, Avery. There is a mighty big chance,”
he answered with all his heart. Raising his hand to place it over hers, he
stopped her in mid-comb and clutched her hand in his. “We’ll have to figure out
the logistics of how it’ll all work, but we have to be open to all
possibilities.”

“You don’t mean an open relationship. Tell me you don’t or
we’re done.”

“Never, but I’m aware that this week has become a sex
fantasy bucket list for you. You talked about the list when you were falling
asleep in the middle of the night. If one of those things on your list is a
three-way, tell me now. Be honest, baby.”

“Honestly, I’ve fantasized about it. Yes, it’s on my list.
Eve and Samantha and I have all gone out and talked about it, read about, even
watched porn together.”

“Now see, that’s a turn-on. Don’t misunderstand, but the
idea of three gorgeous women talking sex fantasies and three-ways is extremely
sexy.”

“Have you slept with three women at once?”

“Yes, sometimes other couples joined us.” If he wanted honesty
from Avery, he had to return the same.

“Like, how does that even work?”

“It’s difficult to explain and I’m too old and banged up to
consider it again. Multiple partners happened a long time ago. I guess they
were my way of rebelling after my divorce.”

“What about during your marriage?”

“Not once did I break my marriage vows. I’d never have been
able to look at Marianne if I’d done to her what my parents had done to each
other.”

“You mean that.” Avery tilted her head. Her glossy hair fell
forward across her face, yet was pretty as ever, especially when slightly
mussed from sex.

“I spent too many years dealing with lies in my
relationships to let them continue into what the two of us can have.”

Avery squeezed his hand, sending him a sweet smile. “I don’t
want any lies between us. From this moment on, I’m crossing the ménage fantasy
off my list. It would hurt you if I let another man touch me. It would destroy
me if I saw another woman touch you. Period. The end.”

“You’ve no idea how much that means to me. Tell me
something.”

“Anything.”

“What are some other fantasies on your bucket list? Be open,
I want to be the man you act them out with.”

“Since you asked, I have several fantasies. I’d like to try
anal sex, double penetration with a toy and your cock,” she said. “At the top
of the list is impulsive sex in a public place, where we could be seen, but no
one would know what’s really happening.”

“Then trust me to take care of you while we are living out a
week of secret fantasies, Avery. I’m not out to hurt you. I’ll not stray, lie
or play games with you.”

“I already trust you.”

“Then show me.”

“How?”

“Lay back, relax and let me eat you all up. You smell like
chocolate and I’m hungry for a taste.”

Avery grinned as if she’d won a high-stakes poker game.
“Okay, I’m all yours.”

“Yes, you are. But you need to be tied.”

“Tied, really?”

“Yes.”

As if she’d become a courtesan, she stretched herself out,
using the hotel pillows to prop herself up, placing her hands up over her head
on the pillow. “If I promise not to move, is this proof enough?”

“Hold just like that,” he told her.

He got up off the bed, went to his suitcase and pulled out a
bondage ribbon he’d packed when he’d stopped in at his condo earlier.

Before taking the ribbon back to the bed, his cellphone
played
Abracadabra
. “Sorry, baby. I have to take that.”

“Not going anywhere,” she said, looking at him in such a way
that it left him spellbound.

Quickly locating his phone still hooked to pants that were
lying across the back of the chaise, he tried to intercept the call before it
went to voicemail.

He missed Gabriel’s call despite his efforts and dialed his
friend’s number. Keeping his eyes on Avery as she lay among the plush hotel
bedding, he couldn’t help but get heavy and hard as a hammer.

“Gabriel, hey, man, what’s up?”

“Hey back, buddy,” Gabriel answered. “Afraid I can’t get
tickets for tonight, but I can give you two passes for my private box for
tomorrow evening’s late showing.”

“Hold on, let me check with Avery.” Lowering the phone from
his ear he said, “Would you be okay if we waited until tomorrow night to see
Gabriel’s show?”

“I’m fine with that.” She looked slightly disappointed, but
there wasn’t much he could do if the shows were filled to capacity.

“Avery and I will take the passes, thank you, Gabriel.”

Hazard ended the call with his friend, made a quick decision
and texted the lead guitarist in the Truth or Dare Club’s house band,
rescheduling his set.

Anxious to get back to Avery, he playfully ran the ribbon up
and down her fit, gorgeous body, teasing her nipples, her abdomen and between
her legs before wrapping her wrists without putting pressure on her bones or
threatening circulation.

“One thing before we continue. Since we can’t go to
Gabriel’s show until tomorrow night, I switched my set. Thought it’d be nice to
order pizza later, rent a movie and get started on that bucket list of yours.”

“Can the pizza have pepperoni?”

“Whatever you want, baby.”

“Would you mind terribly if we rent something really naughty
and erotic?”

“Do you know many men who’d pass up watching porn?”

“Thinking on it, no, I don’t. We could always up the ante
and act out what we see.”