Page 91 of Ride a Cowboy

Oakley apparently sought to prove that point by kissing Sadie. She’d laughed lightly at his joke before Oakley’s lips covered hers.

Oakley was trying to find a way to take the heavy, too-intense moment and turn it back into something they could all handle. It wouldn’t work, but Joel loved his friend for trying.

Loved him.

When they broke apart, Oakley looked over his shoulder at him. Joel hadn’t moved an inch. He still wasn’t sure which direction to go. That old song from The Clash drifted through his head. Should I stay or should I go?

“Coming back to bed?” Oakley asked.

For a moment, Joel had imagined their game was over. He was wrong. Oakley had just issued the final dare.

And just like last time, Joel found it impossible to resist.

Chapter 6

Sadie sat next to Oakley and pretended to watch the Homecoming football game. The Titans were currently pummeling their rivals and spirits were high. Even so, it would be no hardship for her to depart right after halftime. She was leaving early, heading to Coach’s ranch to help Lorelie do all the last-minute stuff before her party. The rest of the guests would arrive about an hour or so later once the game was over.

It had been nine days since Sadie had instigated that ill-fated Truth or Dare game. Nine straight days of an unending fuck festival. Joel and Oakley had come back to her bed that night like two men possessed, and they’d found a way to be together every single night since then, five times at her apartment, twice in the bar, once at their bunkhouse and one time by a lake in the back bed of their pickup truck.

It was insanity. Beautiful, mind-blowing insanity.

And despite the unending litany of orgasms, Sadie knew they were living on borrowed time. The kiss Oakley and Joel had shared had jarred something loose and, though they were trying to ignore the fact that it was teetering precariously, they seemed to have accepted there was nothing that could stop it from crashing to the ground and shattering.

Worst of all, it was her fault. Neither man blamed her, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t opened Pandora’s box. She had honestly thought Joel merely needed a little push in the right direction. She was certain she hadn’t misread his feelings, but what she hadn’t understood was how strongly he would fight against them.

Even though, she should have realized. She’d known Joel for years. Knew how strongly he stood by his convictions, how much he believed in doing the right thing, in keeping the people around him happy. He’d move heaven and earth for his mother if she needed him. And for Coach. For Oakley…and now, she suspected, for her. Once he cared about someone, there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to protect them. Even if that meant denying his own happiness or hiding some intrinsic part of himself that he thought others wouldn’t understand or accept.

“Sadie?”

She glanced up at Oakley’s voice.

“Man, that was a deep thought. I hope it was some dirty fantasy that involved me,” he said with a sexy grin.

She hadn’t mentioned her fears. How could she? She was the one who’d put the two of them in this untenable position to begin with. For years she’d refused their offers to date because she hadn’t wanted to break up their friendship. Looks like she’d managed to drive a wedge between them anyway…and not in a way she had expected.

“Damn,” Oakley frowned. “That’s no fantasy. What’s wrong, Sade?”

She shook off her uneasiness. “Nothing. Just bored. Football’s not my thing.”

“Don’t let Joel hear you say that. High school football played a big role in some of the happiest days of his life.”

“How long can you keep pretending?”

Oakley’s brow creased. He knew what she was talking about. He glanced around the stands and she cursed herself for starting this now. Here. They’d chosen seats amongst Joel’s old teammates and their loved ones.

She glanced down to the sideline and spotted the back of Joel’s head. He was standing next to Tucker and Caleb, waiting to take the field at halftime to watch as their beloved Coach was honored for his contributions to Maris football. Lorelie stood near the guys, next to her dad, looking so proud she could pop.

That left her and Oakley in the stands with girlfriends, wives and friends, all those who had come to cheer on the Titans of today as well as the state champs from fifteen years ago.

“Sadie.” Oakley stood up and offered his hand. “Come here.”

She followed as he led them out of the stands to a private place near the gate. “It’s not going to happen with me and Joel.”

“But you want it to. And so does he. I can tell. When we’re together, it’s…like there’s something missing.”

Oakley frowned. “Wait. You don’t enjoy what we do?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be stupid. You’re right there beside me. You know I love it. But I’m not blind and I have a really hard time not pointing out something when it’s wrong. What you and Joel are denying. To yourselves. To us. It’s wrong.”

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