Three Is Just Enough (14 page)

* * * *

“Calm down. I can’t imagine Dalton cheating on us. We talked about trusting each other, and he was onboard.” Tara tried to calm Cole, but he had been enraged for the last hour. She offered reasonable suggestions, but Cole wasn’t in the mood to be calm. Eventually, Tara curled up in one of the chairs and sipped coffee while Cole paced back and forth across the floor.

“I’m telling you, I know what I saw. He was kissing that friend of his that was at the farmer’s market.” Anger and betrayal flashed in Cole’s eyes.

“Honey, we’ll talk to him when he gets home. Why don’t you sit down, and I’ll get you something to drink. You’re not going to help anything if you blow up at him.”

Cole barked out a laugh. “A beer’s not gonna calm me down. I’m telling you, Dalton had a full on lip lock on the guy. Right in the union, in front of everybody.” Cole locked gazes with Tara and she could see the ache. “He’s never been willing to kiss me in public.”

“I know, sweetie. But maybe he has a good explanation.”

“Don’t honey-sweetie me, I’m pissed. I don’t think I can do this any more.”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. You need to calm down. It isn’t going to do any good to go off on him.”

Cole spun toward Tara, his face twisted into a scowl. “I’m pissed, and don’t you—”

The snap of the deadbolt opening echoed across the room and Cole spun to face the door. His arms were folded tightly across his chest as he glared furiously at the entryway. It swung open to reveal a Dalton who didn’t look much happier than Cole. He tossed his bag into a chair and started stripping off his winter gear with his gaze locked on the floor. He knelt down to unfasten his boots and finally glanced up at the pair.

“What?” Dalton asked.

Tara looked from one to another and decided to try and head off the problem. “Cole thought he saw you with someone today. We’d just like to talk to you about it.”

“Saw me? I was with a lot of people today. It’s a fucking university,” Dalton snapped.

“He saw you kissing someone…”

Dalton halted, looking first at Tara, then at Cole. “You were in the union when that happened?”

Cole’s face reddened more as he rounded on Dalton. “Yeah, I was. Long enough to see you swapping spit with your cute blond boyfriend. You didn’t seem embarrassed to be with him. I’m glad you worked through your issue over PDA’s.”

“No! That’s not what happened.”

“So I just imagined you lip locked with that guy at the union?”

“Shut up a minute and let me explain.”

“So you admit it! Asshole!” Cole stomped out of the house and slammed the door behind him.

Tara stared at the door for a moment and then turned to Dalton. “What happened? Cole’s really hurt.”

Dalton ran his hand over his face and sighed. “Damnit, Zach. This is all your fucking fault.”

Tara was losing her patience with Dalton. “What, exactly, happened? Cole said you were kissing some guy.”

“He was kissing me.”

“Sounds like semantics to me.”

“No, his ex showed up with a new guy and I guess Zach didn’t want him to think he was still single. He grabbed me and kissed me. I knew what he was doing, and let him. But I told him if he ever did it again, I’d deck him.”

“And they say women are complicated. I swear you guys have more drama.”

“It wasn’t my fault. Zach did it.”

“Cole’s all knotted up over this. And you let your friend do it. But you don’t want to acknowledge Cole in public. He’s pretty passionate about things in his life. He meant it when he said we’re exclusive.”

“I did, too, damnit. I didn’t ask Zach to grab me, but he’s my best friend so I didn’t want to make him feel worse. Damnit to hell!”

“You need to talk to Cole. He deserves an explanation, at least. I think he’ll get over it, but you have to understand he’s been through a lot.”

“I’ll talk to him as soon as he comes home. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I wish he hadn’t left and I could get this straightened out now.”

Tara smiled. “He didn’t leave. He’s in his pickup. He’d never just drive around and waste gas.”

Dalton smiled a little. “He’s sitting out in the cold?”

“Yup. Hang on.” Tara picked up her phone, touched it a few times, then held it to her ear. “Get in here.” Then she hung up.

“That should have him nice and furious.”

“Great…”

Seconds later the door swung open and crashed against the wall with a resounding bang. “What the fuck was that?”

“You need to talk to Dalton.”

“I don’t fuckin’ feel like talkin’ to your favorite boyfriend.”

Tara stepped forward and grabbed the big man’s chin and pulled on his face so their eye’s met. “Don’t pull that on me. You know it’s crap.”

Cole looked sheepish until he spotted Dalton. At the sight, his face went dark red. He closed the distance between them as he took a deep breath. Dalton held out a hand to stop him.

“Hang on. Let me talk for a minute.”

Cole started to talk.

“Please.”

He froze for a heartbeat, then crossed his arms, a vein on Cole’s forehead throbbing in time with his speeding pulse. “Fine. Talk.”

“I know what it looked like, and it was a kiss. But I was ambushed.”

The muscles in Cole’s face relaxed slightly and he lowered his eyelids to glare at Dalton. “Ambushed?”

“Yeah, Zach’s ex showed up with a boyfriend, and Zach wanted it to look like he was in a relationship, too. So he grabbed me and kissed me.”

“Did you like it?”

Dalton started to answer instantly, then paused to consider the question. After a few moments he shook his head. “No. Actually it didn’t do anything for me. It was like kissing my mom.”

Laughter rippled from Tara. “If you kiss your mom full on the mouth.”

Dalton curled his lip. “Eww. Don’t put that image in my head.”

Cole’s arms relaxed and the bulging vein in his forehead was almost gone. “So. It wasn’t making out?”

“With Zach? Skinny hipster Zach? In the middle of the Union? I don’t think so.”

Cole’s gaze went from Dalton to Tara and back. “I won’t share. If you don’t want to be with me, it’s your loss, but be honest. I can’t handle being cheated on.”

Tara walked over and kissed Cole. Dalton came from the other side, wrapped his arms around Cole and kissed his opposite cheek. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be with anyone other than you two either.”

Tara kissed Cole again and then pulled Dalton around for a quick peck. “Me neither. You two are about all I can handle. Are we all good again?”

Cole formed a small smile. “Yeah, I’m good, and starved. How about we go to Chilly Billies. My treat.”

* * * *

Surrounded by hordes of shoppers, Tara could still hear the screams of excitement from the indoor amusement park only a level away, but she knew if she ever let the boys slip their leashes, she’d never get them back. And she needed them. She was Christmas shopping, and this was no time to mess around.

“Come on. This shop looks like it has a good sale going on.” Tara ducked into a store that appeared to be built, top to bottom, with tiny pink trinkets for young girls. She fought back a chuckle when Cole rolled his eyes and crinkled his nose at the sight. She glanced over at Dalton just in time to find him holding a little girl’s makeup bag like it was a dead rat. She grinned as she rifled through the sales bin and then motioned them out.

Tara glanced down her list, which was still intimidatingly long, and decided she needed to give the boys something to do. And if it would save her spending more time in the holiday crush of shoppers, so much the better. With a shy grin in their direction, she tore her list into two pieces. The list of boy gifts she handed to Dalton. “Okay, you two go shop for my brothers so you can at least be out of the parade of pink. If you’d go ahead and get it, I’ll pay you back when we get home. If that’s okay with you?”

Dalton nodded in agreement. “Okay, sounds like a plan. Then we can grab something to eat?”

“Sure, we can meet at Rainforest Café in about an hour,” Tara said.

Cole scanned the list and breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, these look a lot better. No little pink things.”

Tara motioned them away. “Go then. What’re you waiting for?”

The two were so relieved to have won their freedom that they raced down the aisle. Cole careened into Dalton in adolescent horseplay and Tara shook her head. Most days it was a relief they enjoyed each other’s company as much as they did. When it had just been her and Cole, sometimes he was a bit much. Having Dalton to do boy stuff with made her life easier. Tara realized what she was doing and blushed as she scolded herself. She had two men in her life, not two kids she needed to keep entertained. Although, sometimes they did act more like two adolescent boys who had all the toys.

She stopped to lust over a pair of boots in the display window, but at two hundred dollars they were completely out of her budget, at least for the foreseeable future. She stared at them wistfully one last time and then walked away.
When I’m making a living designing, I’ll have a closet full of whatever kind of shoes I want
. A couple of junior high boys were doing the same kind of horseplay as Cole and Dalton. She shook her head at how predictable guys were. They were all the same. Chuckling, she glanced down her list and shifted into hardcore shopping mode.

The outside light was fading and the evening mall crowd was starting to arrive. The huge clear panels making up the roof dimmed as the last glints of rare fall sunshine faded. Inside the giant mall, nightfall was irrelevant to the shoppers crowding the miles of walkways burgeoning with promised Christmas bliss, all for a low, low price. With only a few days until Christmas, the people around Tara wore expressions that would intimidate the meanest of the Viking linemen.

Tara’s hunt for Christmas booty had not been in vain either. She had presents dangling from every finger. She’d almost reached their rendezvous spot when she heard her name.

“Tara. Hey, Tara!”

She turned to see a tall blond man rushing her way. “Jody! Hey, how are things?” Tara shivered slightly at the sudden reappearance of her high school sweetheart. They had been an item back, then, but agreed it would be better if they saw other people, since she was going to the U and Jody had decided to take a year off from school. After that, they’d drifted apart and she hadn’t heard anything about him, until now.

Jody’s smile was brighter than ever and the short blond beard covering his face made him sexy as hell. He still looked as sweet as ever. She’d lost her virginity to Jody, without any regrets. Even at that young age, he had been considerate and gentle. Tara had never reconciled her emotions over her first love.

“How are things?” asked Tara.

“Good! I’m going to the U now.” He held up the few bags he had. “I was trying to snag a few Christmas presents before heading home. What’re you doing?”

“About the same. I’m here with my—roommates shopping for Christmas.”

Tara thought she detected a slight lifting of his eyebrows, but it passed. “That’s cool. Hey what would you think about—”

“Hey, Tara! They’ve called our name for seating. Let’s go.” Cole wrapped an arm around Tara and smiled at Jody. After a careful moment of scrutinization, Cole stuck out his hand. “Hey, I’m Cole. I’m one of Tara’s roommates.”

“I’m Jody, an old friend of Tara’s from high school.”

The two shook hands but Tara wasn’t fooled— there was an instant rivalry. If they could have gotten away with it, they would have been pissing everywhere to mark their territory. She caught Dalton staring at Jody with arms folded across his chest and his lips forming a thin line.

“Jody, wonderful to see you again. Maybe we’ll run into each other later.” Tara beamed at Jody as she grabbed Cole’s arm and tugged him toward the restaurant, hoping Dalton would follow.

“Yeah, good to run into you. I’ll probably see you around campus,” Jody said.

Tara waved at him and managed to fill Cole and Dalton’s arms with her purchases while chatting with them the whole time. With a hand on each man, she propelled them into the restaurant. As they rounded the corner, she dared a glance back, only to find Jody still in the same spot, gazing at her.

* * * *

“I’m not sure how we managed to convince the landlord that a giant shower was a good idea in a rental, but I’m sure glad we did.” Cole ran the thick towel down his legs and enjoyed the sensation of another towel running over his back. A kiss landed on the top of his shoulder blade, accompanied by the slight scrape of Dalton’s facial scruff. He took the smaller man in his arms and kissed him, then dried Dalton’s back and tossed the towel into the hamper as he pushed Dalton ahead of him. They slipped into bed on either side of Tara.

She laid her book on the headboard and smiled at the two goofy faces in the bed with her, each as eager to please as a new puppy. “What are you two up to? Like I don’t know.”

“You said we’d get goodies if we helped you shop,” Cole said.

“Oh? Is that how this goes?”

Dalton leaned closer and pressed his lips against Tara’s shoulder, at the edge of Cole’s tee she was using as a nightshirt. Cole’s crotch tightened at the sight of his two lovers touching. He leaned in and kissed Tara’s other shoulder as he reached over to run his hand down Dalton’s throat. Dalton moved closer and started making out with Tara while Cole nibbled up her neck to plant soft kisses on her ear. Their hands ran over her chest, Cole rubbed the nipple under his hand and he joined them in a hot three way kiss that left him hard. They all jumped when Tara’s phone rang.

Tara leaned over and read the display. She smiled apologetically. “Sorry, guys. It’s my mother. The fun will have to wait a little while.” She clicked the answer button and leaned back against the bed. “Hi, Mom.”

Cole waited for a few seconds, then crooked his finger at Dalton and they leaned over Tara, and started kissing. Soon their make-out session was having its intended effect. She covered the phone and pushed them away in a futile attempt to get them to stop.

Cole grinned at Dalton and cut his gaze to Tara’s breasts. The grin he got in return was the signal for fun. While Tara struggled to talk to her mother, they inched the tee upward until the bottom of her breasts came into view. Both men leaned in and ran their tongues over the breast nearest them and kissed the exposed skin. The shirt worked its way higher until her hard brown nipples were exposed. With each lick, Tara smacked the boys. When Dalton took a nipple between his teeth and nipped at it, a squeal erupted from Tara.