Sweet Thursday (15 page)

He crossed the room and knelt beside her, running his hands through her silky hair.

“Lil,” he whispered.

She blinked sleepily and it took several moments for her gaze to land on his face.

“Justin?”

“I think you and K fell asleep. Must have been a lousy movie.”

She sat up slowly. “It was. What time is it?”

“Little after midnight.”

She rubbed her eyes and he could see her becoming more awake, more aware.

“How was your date?”

“I lied,” he confessed. “I didn’t have a date.”

“Oh.” He waited for her to say more but she fell silent and he sensed her guarding her reaction. The idea that she didn’t feel free to rail at him for being such a bastard earlier reignited his annoyance at the situation.

“I guess I should go.” She started to rise but he stopped her.

“No, it’s late and you’re not going anywhere.”

“Justin?” Killian stirred on his recliner, pushing down the leg rest and standing up stiffly. “What’s going on?”

“Lily thinks she’s driving home. I told her it’s too late.”

114

Sweet Thursday

Killian glanced at the clock and Justin could see, on at least this subject, they were agreed. “He’s right. I don’t want you on the roads alone at this hour. You can take my bed and I’ll sack out down here in the recliner.”

She shook her head but Justin cut off her refusal. “You’re staying. No arguments.”

Lily leaned back against the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. “Were you always this stubborn in high school?”

Justin grinned. “I was worse back then. I’ve matured quite a bit.”

She sighed and he could see they’d won the fight. “Fine, but I’ll take the couch.”

“No. You’re sleeping upstairs with us. Where you belong.”

Killian and Lily looked at him, both startled by his declaration.

“Justin,” Killian started, but Justin waved him off.

“I’m not fucking doing this friendship bullshit anymore. We tried it and it didn’t work.”

“It’s only been two weeks. I wouldn’t call that much of an effort on your part.”

Killian put his hands on his hips and Justin was sorry Lily was here for this part. He was convinced he could sway K to his side, but doing it in front of Lily wouldn’t be easy.

He looked at Lily as he spoke. “It’s stupid. Stupid to pretend the three of us don’t belong together just because you’re freaked out about what people will think.”

Lily rolled her eyes impatiently. “You saw Chad’s reaction.”

“And as far as I’m concerned, that’s Chad’s problem, not ours.”

Justin turned and gestured to Killian. “And you’re wasting time worrying that your family won’t understand. Am I the only person in this room who knows how fucking awesome your family is? They love you and I’d bet a million dollars they’d accept you if you said you wanted to be a woman and change your name to Lola.”

Killian laughed, despite himself. “Lola?”

115

Mari Carr

Justin didn’t crack a smile. “By the way, Sean thinks the idea of the three of us going out is pretty cool.”

“You told Sean the three of us were dating? Why would you do that?” Killian’s smile faded and his fists clenched. Justin grinned. He’d been itching for a fight for weeks. The idea of relieving some of the stress he’d been suppressing seemed like a welcome idea.

“He may be your kid brother, but he’s not a kid. Guy’s actually pretty damn smart.

Looks like your younger brother got all the brains in your family.”

“What if he tells Chad?” Lily asked.

Justin looked at Lily, sorry to see she’d gone pale. Jesus, he was fucking this up.

“Sean won’t tell Chad anything until we do.”

“What the hell is the matter with you? This isn’t some kind of fucking game.”

Killian took a menacing step closer and Justin beckoned him to keep coming.

“You’re right!” Justin yelled. “It’s not a game. My life is not a game. I’m tired of letting you call all the shots while I follow you around like some goddamn dog on a leash.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t tell you how to live. If you’ve got a problem with where you are, take a look in the mirror, buddy. Take a little responsibility for once in your life.” Killian stepped closer, his hands shoving at Justin’s shoulders, pushing him back a step.

“Oh, I’ll take some responsibility. Take the blame for kicking your ass!” Justin caught himself and moved forward but before he could throw a punch, Lily was there, in between them.

“Stop it!” She put a hand on each of their chests and if Justin wasn’t so furious he’d laugh at the insanity of her attempt. There was no way she would be able to stop a fight between them—they had her by at least a foot each.

116

Sweet Thursday

“Get out of the way, Lil,” he said, reaching down to move her aside. He was surprised when she pushed him back with an amazing amount of force.

“
No
. This was exactly what I was afraid would happen. I’m not about to watch my two best friends in the world kick each other’s asses over me.”

“We’re not fighting
over
you, Lily. We’re fighting
for
you. What’s it gonna take to drive that point into your stubborn head?”

Lily narrowed her eyes at his angry words.

“Don’t you talk to her like that!” Killian also tried to move Lily out from between them but she shrugged him off as well and Justin barked an angry laugh.

“You’re not much brighter, K. Why don’t we all just stop fucking around and say what we want? Why not cut through the bullshit? I want to date you, Lily. I wanna go out with you. I wanna fuck you senseless and I want to try to build a real relationship. I don’t want to be just your friend. You mean more than that to me.”

Lily gasped at his words. “But Killian—”

“Killian’s a part of this. He’s been my best friend since forever. We lived through fucking hell on earth together and now we’ve got a chance to spend a little time in heaven…with you. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

Lily fell silent, but he could see his words had resonated with her. Glancing up, he suspected they’d struck a chord with Killian too. “What about you?” Justin prodded.

Killian sighed and closed his eyes wearily. “I want the same thing.”

Lily turned to look at his friend. Killian opened his eyes and grasped her hands in his. “Dammit, Lil. I thought I could give you what you wanted, settle for the friendship and everything would be fine. I’ve been wandering around ever since I left the military, looking for something and never finding it. I’m pretty sure what I’ve been looking for is you. Maybe we
are
crazy to try this. Maybe people really aren’t meant to live in threes.

All I know is if there’s a shot at making it work, the three of us will do it.”

117

Mari Carr

Lily pulled her hands away from Killian and dropped to the couch heavily. “What am I supposed to say to that?
God!
Why do you both have to make this so difficult?

What woman could resist that?”

Justin knelt in front of her. “Don’t resist it. Say you’ll stick around. Date us.”

She gave a sad little laugh. “Date
us
. Date both of you.”

“We said the one thing we had going for us was honesty. Killian and I have both been honest about our feelings, about what we want. What do you want, Lil? Just say it.

Say it and it’s yours.”

She licked her lips nervously as Killian sat down beside her on the couch. Justin didn’t leave his spot on the floor.

“I’ve been in love with both of you since I was girl. But I wasn’t raised this way. My parents, my brother, they won’t understand.”

“Are you living for your family or living for you?” Justin asked.

She considered the question. “For me.”

Killian nodded. “So am I.”

“And what would make
you
happy?” Justin put his hand on top of hers where it rested on her lap. Killian quickly claimed the other.

“I’ve only ever dreamed of being with you. Both of you. I thought sex would alleviate the obsession, you know? Satisfy the craving and I could move on. Turns out it wasn’t just sex driving my request at the reunion. I didn’t realize until I spent the weekend with you how much I’d missed you guys. Missed talking to you, hanging out, watching the football game. Just being together.”

“Stay the night, Lil. Let’s pick up where we left off two weeks ago. No limits this time, no deadline.” Justin squeezed her hand, silently praying she’d accept his offer.

“Just let the cards fall where they may?” She repeated his line, but he shook his head.

118

Sweet Thursday

“No. We’re not going to be that careless.” He’d been wrong to make that comment.

Try to brush off the seriousness of the situation with a freaking joke. This wasn’t a joke to him. Justin needed her to understand that.

Killian released her hand, putting his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close so he could kiss the top of her head. “Why don’t we take it one day at time? None of us is treading on familiar ground here. I don’t think there’s exactly a precedent for long-term, committed-ménage relationships.”

She smiled. “What about your family, K? I don’t see my folks very often and I do think Chad will accept it in time. You see your pop all the time. He’s gonna realize something is up between the three of us. Are you really willing to come clean about this to him?”

Killian shrugged. “Apparently Justin’s already started laying the groundwork with some of my family. I’ll figure out what to say to Pop. Let’s don’t worry about that now.

Tonight, let’s just concentrate on us.”

“Get upstairs.” Justin rose to his feet, helping Lily rise as well. His blood was still boiling but now it was lust—pure and simple—driving up the heat rather than anger.

“And take your clothes off on the way.” Killian turned Lily, pointing her in the direction of the stairs. “I’m going to need you naked by the time you get to my bedroom.”

Justin grinned at the raw hunger in his friend’s voice. Obviously the last two weeks hadn’t been as easy for K as he’d assumed.

Lily started up the stairs, her hands going to the buttons on her blouse. Justin followed closely, laying a firm smack on her ass. “Hurry up.”

She turned, startled by his rough touch, her face betraying not anger but need.

Killian must have spotted the look as well. “You like having your ass spanked, sweetness?”

119

Mari Carr

She blushed and Justin laughed. “Later, Lily. We’ve got all the time in the world.

We’re gonna make a list of all those naughty-girl fantasies and we’re going to do every single one of them. Now move.”

She giggled as they chased her upstairs and their song drifted through his mind. He sure as hell didn’t want to miss a single thing tonight.

120

Sweet Thursday

As they entered his room, Killian stopped in the doorway, watching Justin tickle Lily as she pulled off her blouse and jeans. He smiled as he tried to figure out how they’d gotten here. For the past two weeks, he’d fought to convince himself that remaining friends was the best thing for all of them. In hindsight, he could see it was merely the easiest thing. Trying to make a permanent relationship with three may be tough, but he couldn’t deny that in this instance, Justin was right.

“You just gonna stand there and watch or are you going to hop in?” Justin pulled his T-shirt over his head, grinning at him.

“There’s no way I’m going to let you two have all the fun.” He untied the drawstring of the sweatpants he’d donned before they’d started to watch the movie.

Lily’s gaze followed his progress as she slowly pulled off her panties and bra.

“Damn, Lil. You’re so pretty.”

She smiled sweetly, walking over to kiss him. When they pulled apart, she shook her head in disbelief. “How did we get back here?” He knew her question was rhetorical, that she wasn’t sorry about her decision.

“I was thinking the same thing.” Killian looked over at Justin. “Not quite sure where Mr. Putting His Foot Down came from.”

Justin laughed. “Your brother sort of got me fired up. Got me into fighting condition.”

“Remind me to thank Sean next time I see him.”

Lily giggled. “Thank him nothing. I’m baking him a cake.”

Justin’s eyes narrowed. “Why aren’t you in that bed?”

121

Mari Carr

Killian didn’t give her a chance to answer. Merely whisked her up and carried her over to the mattress, lightly tossing her in the middle. He crawled in beside her, her laughter dying as he kissed her. He heard Justin rifling around in the nightstand drawer a few moments before feeling his friend’s weight hit the other side of the bed.

“Stop hogging all the kisses.”

Killian and Lily broke away as she turned to face his friend. He watched them kiss and tried to understand the crazy part of him that was feeling like the luckiest bastard on the face of the earth right now.

“Come here again.” Killian dragged her over him and she quickly straddled his hips, planting soft kisses against his chest.

“I missed you both so much,” she admitted.

Justin knelt beside them and ran his fingers through her hair. “Never again, Lil.

Promise you’ll never leave us again.” Killian looked at his friend’s face and realized the seriousness of Justin’s plea. For a moment, he was reminded of the young boy he’d grown up with. The one who’d never let anyone see how much he was hurt by his mother’s abandonment.

Lily turned and kissed Justin lightly. “I promise. I won’t leave unless—”

“Dammit. There’s no ‘unless’. This is going to work.” Justin was adamant, determined, and Killian silently agreed. This was going to work. God knew he didn’t want to consider the alternative. He’d lived the past ten years without Lily. He wasn’t doing that again.

“Guess we’re just going to have to prove to our Lily how serious we are, Justin.”

Killian pulled her down onto his chest. “Lift your ass,” he coaxed, moving her into the position he wanted.

Justin grinned, his hands moving to her pussy. Lily’s eyes drifted closed, her hips thrusting back toward his friend.