Tequila Truth (2 page)

Chapter Two

It was early Friday afternoon when Heath let himself into the house and dumped his suitcase by the door. Colt was obviously waiting for him and hollered from the living room.

“I’m in here.”

Heath walked into the room to find Colt sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table, nursing a beer.

“Bit early to be drinking, don’t you think?”

Colt gestured to a second bottle near his feet. “Brought one out for you. It should still be cold.”

Heath smiled as he grabbed the bottle and dropped down into the recliner. He loosened his tie and took a deep breath. “Damn, it’s good to be home. I hate hotels and airports.”

When Colt failed to respond, Heath looked around. “Kylie still at work?”

“Yep. She should be back in a couple of hours.” Colt took a swig from the bottle. “Gives us time to decide how to deal with her.”

Heath started scraping at the wrapper on the bottle. He was still in shock over his friend’s phone call four nights earlier. Colt’s recitation of Kylie’s date from hell made his blood run cold.

“I’ve been thinking about it for days and I’ve decided it was that fucking Tequila Truth question of yours that started this mess.” Colt pulled his feet down to the floor and leaned forward. “That damn sex fantasy question. I’ve watched Kylie flirting with dangerous situations more and more these last few months and I know it’s all because of the seeds we planted. Hell, you had to pull her out of that sex club over the summer.”

Heath nodded. “As hard as she kicked me, I’m surprised she didn’t leave me with a permanent limp. She didn’t appreciate getting yanked out of there like a naughty teenager.”

“I don’t give a shit whether she appreciated it or not. You were right to do it. She could have been hurt in a place like that.” Colt ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair, a sure sign he was frustrated and pissed. “She’s not being careful. She’s messing around with things she doesn’t know anything about.”

“You’re right about the game exacerbating the problem, but you’re not going to heap all the blame for this at my damn door. This is our fault—together.” Heath stressed the word
our
. “We’ve always treated her like another one of the guys, never holding back our locker room talk. It’s no wonder she’s interested in doing a little experimenting. The way we go into fucking detail about every climax.”

“Thing is, Heath, we haven’t done that in months. Not since your twenty-fifth birthday party.”

He and Colt had been shaken to the core by Kylie’s sex fantasy, both imagining themselves in starring roles. Ever since then, they’d shied away from sharing their bedroom escapades and Heath wasn’t sure he could explain why. He felt, at least from his point of view, he was being unfaithful to Kylie somehow, which was utterly ridiculous considering he’d made no promises to her.

Heath leaned his head back and sighed heavily. “Well, maybe it’s up to us to give her what she wants.” He studied Colt’s face closely as he spoke, trying to gauge his friend’s reaction. He didn’t think Colt would be opposed to the idea and even suspected his friend had been considering the same thing. Since Colt’s phone call, he’d certainly had plenty of time to think about the two of them taking Kylie to bed and fulfilling all of her sex fantasies. “Think about it, Colt. One weekend with no-holds-barred where we give Kylie everything her little heart desires.”

Colt leaned back in his chair and as the minutes dragged on, Heath worried that perhaps Colt’s mind hadn’t been wandering in the same direction after all. His worries proved unfounded with Colt’s next words.

“Well, I’ll tell you right now, if she agrees, I intend to get a promise out of her that she’ll let us meet all of her boyfriends in the future on the first damn date.”

“That’s a good idea.” Heath was relieved by Colt’s agreement. However, he was less confident about securing Kylie’s. “You think she’ll go for it?”

“Think about it, man. Kylie is stubborn as hell when it comes to getting what she wants and in this case, she wants to explore her sexuality. Problem is she doesn’t know how to go about it so she keeps trying all these damn stupid, dangerous things. She’s dating assholes simply because she thinks they’ll be more amenable to playing kinky bed games. She went to that damn sex club—alone, for God’s sake. She’s too innocent to see she’s going about it all wrong. What would have happened to her if I hadn’t come home early the other night?”

Heath repressed a shudder at the thought that had been haunting him since Colt’s phone call. One of the things he loved best about Kylie was the unabashed, enthusiastic way she approached life. She held back nothing. What you saw was what you got with Kylie Halston. She lived with two men regardless of what society might say about it, simply because she preferred the company of men. If she saw something she wanted, she went after it because, as she was fond of saying, she didn’t intend to have any regrets at the end of her life.

“There is one thing that’s been bothering me, Colt. One thing that almost stopped me suggesting this whole idea. We’ve never shared a woman. I don’t give a damn how experienced we are, we’ve always operated solo. We could hurt her even worse than that prick from the other night.”

Colt grinned as if he’d expected this argument. “We won’t hurt her, Heath. I’d rather cut off my left nut than hurt that girl and I know without a doubt you feel the same way. She’s our girl. She has been since the day we met her. Besides, buddy, you are the only man in the world I’d share a woman with.”

Heath considered his words. Damn cop was right. Kylie was their girl and if he’d ever been tempted by the prospect of a ménage, Colt and Kylie were the only people he trusted enough to try it with.

He and Colt had been best friends since elementary school and Colt knew him better than his own mother did. Then Kylie drifted into their lives the year they all turned eighteen and something had clicked.

Nevertheless, he still wasn’t sure he should have initiated this conversation, regardless of Colt’s enthusiasm for the idea. His true concern had very little to do with sex and more to do with Kylie’s response. “She’ll resist us. Turn us down flat.”

“At first maybe, until she realizes what we’re offering her.”

“We’ve skirted around the sex thing with her in the past, Colt, and she always says the same thing. She’s not about to ruin friendship for sex.”

“Number one, we haven’t teased her about sex since the early days and number two, we all knew back then none of us were serious about it. It was playful talk after one too many beers. This time we’re serious and she’ll see that.”

“So how do you want to play it?” The more they talked about it, the more anxious Heath was to begin. The prospect of being able to take Kylie to bed was creating a serious tightness in his suit pants.

“We’re not going to play it at all.” Heath was confused by his words until Colt explained. “I think it’s time we let our natural impulses come out.”

Heath groaned. “Shit, we’ll scare the hell out of her.”

“Heath, think about it, man. We’re talking about all the fantasies we can squeeze into a weekend. She’ll know if we’re holding back. We’ll simply lay out the plan and let nature take its course.”

“We both lean heavily toward the Dom side, Colt. You don’t think that will present a big problem? Kylie’s way too independent to take orders from us lightly.”

“That’s just it. I’m not sure she wouldn’t love to be dominated in bed.”

“You think Kylie is a sub? How many beers did you drink before I got here?”

Colt shrugged. “It’s just a feeling I have. Besides, don’t forget, she wants to be tied up and spanked, not the other way around. She’ll love every command we give her. Dammit, it was your idea. Are you going to do this or not?”

Heath stood up and walked back toward the front door and his luggage. “Of course I am.”

“Good. Go unpack and then we’ll plan how to proceed.”

“Actually,” Heath confessed, “I did a little shopping while I was away. Come back to my room and I’ll show you all the stuff I bought for our weekend party.”

“Kylie won’t know what hit her.” Colt grinned.

Heath shook his head and held up his hand before Colt could state the obvious. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got the damn pun.”

Chapter Three

Turning off the car, Kylie sat in the driveway and studied her house. She was surprised to find it flooded with light. She knew Colt had the weekend off and she expected him to be getting ready in his bedroom to go out on some hot date with the newest member of the Bimbo of the Month club. Heath wasn’t due back for a few more days, so she anticipated having the house to herself. She certainly needed the time to evaluate where she was going so wrong in her life. The episode with Scott still haunted her and she hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since then. That, added to the fact the bruises on her ass were only beginning to fade, kept her irritable and on edge.

Her damn roommates had ruined her. All their talk about sex and bondage and toys and spankings and, oh hell, she felt like she’d spent the last seven years in a fog of sexual frustration. She wasn’t an innocent by any stretch of the imagination. Despite her lack of girly-girl genes, she dated fairly regularly, although she couldn’t recall having a real boyfriend since high school. Ever since she moved in with Heath and Colt, the men who drifted in and out of her life—and sometimes her bed—couldn’t compete. Her roommates were the yardstick by which she measured every man and sadly, every single one came up lacking.

She beat her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. She’d love to rail at the two men causing her all this angst, but neither one of them had a clue how much they affected her. To make matters worse, the cocky bastards would have a field day with it if she told them. Teasing was second nature to all three of them and she could imagine the fun they would have at her expense with such knowledge. Despite all her sarcastic comments about their cavemen attitudes, she desperately wanted them. Both of them. That was the other problem. When she thought about sex with her roommates, both of them were present. Sure, some her fantasies involved one or the other, but always there was the knowledge that both of them were with her.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Like that will happen.” She had no one to blame for her lonely state except herself. She’d rebuffed their flirting at the beginning, demanding to be treated like another guy and, as luck would have it, her demands were met tenfold for seven long years.

The front door swung open and she watched Colt step out on to the front porch.

“You gonna sit in that damn car all night?”

She grinned at his gruff manners. Colt was a true cowboy, born and raised on a ranch outside of Dallas. He moved with a slow, country grace that never failed to take her breath away.

Climbing out of the car, she laughed as she walked toward him. “Waiting for me?” She couldn’t help but be pleased at the idea, no matter how unlikely.

“You’re late.” His voice was rough and she got the sense he was angry for some reason.

“I decided to get my grading and planning for next week finished at school, so I wouldn’t have to drag it home. Now I have the weekend all to myself. Are you going out tonight?”

“Nope. I’m in for the evening. Don’t you have a phone in that classroom of yours? You should have called. I was starting to get worried.”

Kylie felt a tremor of confusion at his words. Although they typically called if they were held up, there was no hard and fast rule about checking in. “Sorry, Colt. I figured you’d be going out for the night. I didn’t think it mattered when I got home.”

“It matters,” he grumbled.

As soon as she walked in the house, Heath emerged from the kitchen with his hands on his hips.

“Well, it’s about damn time. Where the hell have you been?”

“Welcome home to you too,” she teased as she walked over to give him a friendly kiss on the cheek. “We didn’t expect you back until Tuesday.”

She was shocked when Heath turned at the last second and her welcome home kiss missed his freshly-shaved jaw and landed straight on his lips. She tried to jerk back, but two strong arms wrapped around her and held her in place as he deepened the kiss before finally releasing her.

The entire embrace couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds, but she staggered back when it ended as if she’d drunk a whole bottle of wine.

“Now that’s worth coming home to.”

Kylie shook off his actions and words, thinking perhaps it was her roommates who’d been drinking. She caught the light scent of beer on Heath’s breath.

“Start the party without me?” she asked.

“Nope. We were waiting for you.” Heath winked at her and returned to the kitchen. She stood for a moment trying to understand the unfamiliar tension she felt in the air, but before she could sort out her thoughts, she felt Colt’s strong arm encircle her waist. He pulled her back against his chest and his breath tickled the hair on the back on her neck.

“Colt?”

“You hungry, darlin’? We were about to throw some steaks on the grill.” At his words, he moved her into the kitchen with his arm wrapped tightly around her.

She glanced over her shoulder, uneasy with his casual closeness. Heath smiled at them as they walked in and acted like there wasn’t a thing in the world wrong with the way Colt was holding her.

“I picked up some T-bones on my way home from work. Hope you’re hungry.”

She was completely flummoxed. “Are we celebrating something?”

“The weekend,” Colt replied, releasing her with a quick kiss on her cheek. He crossed over to the refrigerator to pull out a bottle of her favorite wine. When he reached for three wine glasses, instead of one, she narrowed her eyes. Colt and Heath never drank wine—ever. They were strictly hard liquor or beer men.

“Okay, that’s it. What the hell is going on here?” She placed her hands on her hips and struggled to stop her toe from tapping in annoyance. Her mother was an angry toe-tapper and Kylie had, much to her chagrin, picked up the habit. To add to her aggravation, both men merely laughed at her pose and continued about their duties as if she hadn’t spoken at all.

Once Colt had the wine poured, he carried a glass over to her.

“Watch your mouth, darlin’. Ladies shouldn’t cuss.”

“Lucky for me I’m not a fucking lady. Now what the hell are you all up to?”

Colt shook his head at her response, putting her wine glass down on the kitchen table. Then he even had the nerve to
tsk
at her. “I’m afraid that filthy mouth of yours is going to get you in a whole heap of trouble. What do you think, Heath?”

She watched Heath’s expression flicker between amusement and anger before he turned his smoldering gaze toward her. “I think it’s a shame that ass of hers is too sore for what I’ve got in mind. You’re looking to get punished, Red, but after that stunt you pulled the other night, you no doubt need more time to heal. Best not push us too far.”

She felt her face flush with embarrassment and fury. She whirled on Colt. “You told him?”

“’Course I did, darlin’.”

“It was none of his business. Shit, it wasn’t any of yours. This is unbelievable.” She felt betrayed and mortified and completely out of her element.

“None of my business?” She flinched at Colt’s heated reply. “Is that what you just said? Let me tell you something, Kylie Halston, you made it my business when you brought that son of a bitch into our house and let him abuse you. You listen to me now and you listen good. Your willful, impulsive, reckless days are at an end.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She was taken aback by the anger in Colt’s face. Never in all their years of friendship had he lost his temper with her and she didn’t doubt she’d tested him plenty. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Heath coming toward her and was shocked to see the same intense look in his gaze.

“It means,” Colt said, stepping closer, “that from this point on, you answer to us.”

She burst into laughter at his haughty reply. “Ha!” she yelled before common sense kicked in. Neither man seemed pleased by her dismissal.

Heath reached out and ran the back of his knuckles down her cheek. She gasped at how much the simple touch affected her. “Ah, Kylie. It would seem you need a bit of convincing.”

“Can you two please stop talking in code? I haven’t understood a word you’ve said since I got home. It’s like I’ve dropped into the Twilight Zone.”

Heath’s hand stopped caressing her face and ventured around the nape of her neck where his grip tightened and he pulled her closer to him. “You want plain-speaking? Fine. The terms of our friendship are on hold. For the rest of this weekend, you aren’t simply our roommate or our buddy. You’re going to become our lover as well. From this moment on, you’re ours.”

Speech seemed to desert her. One word kept resonating in her brain. The only word she seemed able to process amidst the rest.

“Ours?”

Heath grinned as he repeated the word. “Ours.” Then he bent down and kissed her.