Page 25 of Cowboy Triplets Next Door

I was suddenly a sexy villain from a Bond movie and I was loving the role after the morning rejection with Owen. I walked my fingers up Keaton’s chest and bit my lip. Watching the way his eyes snapped to my mouth, I made a show of slowly licking my lips. “Like I said, Keaton. I just want to chat.”

His hands rested on my hips and froze there, not pushing me away but not pulling me closer, either. “Okay. Let’s chat.”

“The whole reason you didn’t fuck me the other night was because I was a virgin, right? It put a real damper on things.” I ran my hands over his shoulders and played with the hair at the back of his neck. “If I hadn’t been a virgin, would you have fucked me?”

His expression was pained and he looked over my shoulder like he was looking for someone. I leaned in closer and felt his breath hitch. One glance down told me what I needed to know. He was turned on. His pants were tented and when my eyes made contact with the tent, it jumped. “Come on, B…this is torture.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why?”

His fingers tightened on my hips. “You know I would’ve fucked you every way possible, B. Fuck, I want to ruin your pussy so you could only find pleasure here. It doesn’t matter, though. We aren’t doing it. You’re innocent and should find someone better.”

I smiled as he led me to the thing I wanted most. In my anger, I wanted to shock the Hellstone brothers and throw them off. “What if I told you I wasn’t innocent?”

His eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean I’m not a virgin anymore. Owen was very thorough in making sure last night. So, there’s nothing stopping you now.” I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore. Any moment, I was going to regain my senses and die of mortification, but until then, I was doing my best to create a mess for them.

His mouth flattened and for the first time in the time I’d known him, he looked pissed. “Owen was with you last night?”

I started to pull back but Keaton tightened his grip and pulled me forward so I was pressed against him from knee to chest. “Yes.”

His jaw tightened and he shook his head. “As much as I’d love to play along with whatever game you’re playing today, I can’t. I need to go find my brother.”

I hadn’t planned on him being that angry at Owen. I suddenly felt like a jerk. Instead of admitting that and trying to explain myself, I stubbornly wrapped my arms around his neck and hooked my leg over his hip. The motion put his erection against my core and I struggled to remember what I was doing. “Keaton. Stay here.”

He searched my face and the anger faded. He dipped his head and lowered his mouth to mine, kissing me with the same passion he had that day on the porch. His tongue rolled over mine and the taste of his morning coffee had faded into something softer. He shifted his grip to my ass and I gasped when he put me on top of the rusted out old lawn mower at the back of the barn. Stepping between my legs, he kissed me again and then dragged a whimper from my lips as he stepped back.

“I want to bury myself so deep in you that you forget any other man has ever existed but I can’t.” He tugged at his hair as he backed away. “You’re torturing me, Bumble B.”

I sat there with my mouth hanging open as I watched him practically run out of the barn. Crossing my arms over my chest, I hopped off the mower and tried to tell myself I’d created enough of a mess for them and I could move on with my day. I had plenty of things I could do; I just didn’t want to do any of them.

The truth was my feelings were hurt, doubly so by Keaton’s continued rejection, and I felt like a fool. I didn’t know what I was doing anymore. The guys didn’t want me. I just kept pushing them into situations they hadn’t asked to be in. It was mortifying.

Deciding I’d had enough human interaction for the day, I went back home, grabbed Turtle from his nap, and got in my truck. Instead of driving into town, I drove around the outside of it and then got back on the main road and kept driving. I tried to imagine what it would be like to leave for good. If I said goodbye to the ranch forever, what would my life be like?

I wondered more and more with every mile I drove farther from Harmony Valley. Would I be happier? What would I do with my life? Where would I live? Eventually, the same panic struck that always did. The ranch was my home. It was where I’d grown up and it was where all of my memories with my parents existed. I couldn’t leave it.

I stopped on the side of the highway and let Turtle out to pee. I stared at the mountains in the distance, the same mountains that existed in my backyard at the ranch, and tried to find a solution to my issues with the Hellstone brothers. The way I saw it, the only thing I could do was put a stop to everything. I had to leave them alone and make them leave me alone. We just had to go back to the way things had been before I told Buster about that stupid sex dream.

CHAPTER 22

Keaton

I looked up from where I’d been sitting on the porch waiting for my brothers to come home and scowled at Owen the second I saw him. Standing up, I closed the space between us and shoved him hard. Gray was instantly between us, his face twisted in confusion and anger.

“What the fuck? What’s wrong with you?”

I met Owen’s gaze and saw he knew that I knew. I could tell by the shifty way he couldn’t hold my gaze. I could practically smell the guilt radiating off of him. “Guess who went back to finish the job with Billie.”

Gray turned to face Owen, a look of shock on his face. “What’s he talking about?”

“She came into the barn earlier and told me I could sleep with her since Owen had really made sure she wasn’t a virgin anymore.” I shuddered at the phantom feeling of her fingers on my chest. It’d taken every ounce of control to not strip her naked on the dirty barn floor and have my way with her. I hadn’t, though, because we’d decided it was for the best that we stayed away from her. Apparently, that was a rule only Gray and I had decided to follow.

Owen swore and walked into the driveway, moving our conversation away from the house, where anyone could hear. “I didn’t mean to.”

Gray scowled. “So, it was an accident?”

“No. I just…I saw that piece of shit Brad guy over there and I overheard him saying that he wanted her when she was basically still a kid. He was hinting at finishing what he’d tried to start and I saw red. I got him away from her and she was fighting mad. She has a mouth on her and it pushes every button I have. I fucking tried to walk away. She goaded me, said she was going to call him back to fuck her.” He ran his hands over his hair and shook his head. “I caved. And then I woke up this morning, I realized what I’d done, and tried to sneak out.”

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