Page 8 of Cowboy Triplets Next Door

The entire situation left me feeling so insane I didn’t argue with her. I just left the barn shaking my head and passed the raccoon on the way. It looked up at me with a scowl which matched Billie’s and I wondered for a second if the saying about dogs and their owners looking alike applied to raccoons and their owners.

I went back to repairing the fence and paused every so often as I tried to make sense of what I’d just done. Storming in there to demand she not call another man daddy and then offering to be whatever she needed? Worse, I’d stuttered in the face of her challenging me like a fucking virgin. I just hadn’t expected that from her and it threw me off.

I finished the repairs and walked farther down the fence, checking for any other damage, and looked up as Keaton joined me. I didn’t want to talk about what had just happened but he knew me as well as I knew myself.

“What’s wrong?”

I sniffed and looked out at the property and where it stretched into the mountains on the horizon. “Sometimes I wish we didn’t share the same fucking brain.”

He laughed easily and shrugged. “Can’t help that. You think I always want you two to know my every single emotion?”

“Your every single emotion is either happy or horny.”

“I’m an easy guy. What can I say? You, on the other hand, are stressing me out with your energy.” He glanced back at the old barn and lifted a questioning eyebrow. “Does this have something to do with Bumble B?”

I grunted. “Stupid fucking nickname. She’s living up to it. This is your fault. Or Gray’s. Whichever one of you called her that and got it to stick, it’s that person’s fault.”

“Just spit out what happened.”

“I heard her talking on the phone, calling some guy daddy. Fucking daddy.” I watched as Keaton’s face pinched and nodded. “Yeah, it pissed me off. Instead of doing the thing we’ve been doing for months, ignoring her, I marched in there and made an ass of myself.”

“Who the hell is she calling daddy?” He frowned and shoved his work gloves in his back pocket. “What the fuck?”

“That’s what I asked. Loudly.” I yanked my own work gloves off and leaned on a fence post. “She said she was talking to a friend about that friend’s love interest. Then she asked me if I was trying to volunteer to be her daddy.”

Keaton straightened. “And you said…?”

I looked away. “I basically panicked and ran out with my tail between my legs. I wasn’t expecting it. She wasn’t being serious. She was just challenging me, I think.”

“Wow.”

I growled. “Yeah, I know.”

“I mean…Wow.”

I shoved him away. “Fuck off.”

CHAPTER 8

Billie

I, Billie Myers, had a dark secret. It was my biggest secret, my biggest lie, and my biggest shame. I’d been homeschooled until I was in high school. Then, after one year in a public high school, my parents pulled me out and homeschooled me again so I could help out more around the ranch. I’d developed later than the other girls I knew and my parents kept a tight leash on me. I had a few crushes on the farmhands at the ranch, but my interactions with boys or men in personal situations were…basically nonexistent.

I’d worked hard on the ranch, so hard I never had the time or energy to go out, even after I’d turned eighteen. Then, my parents died and I was in charge of the ranch all by myself. I didn’t have time to go out and meet men. When I started going to Doll’s Club meetings with the other women in town and I started making friends, I realized how behind I was on life. Margaret, the owner of Good, Clean, Fun, the business front for Doll’s Club, sold sex toys and lube like it was nothing. Everyone just openly talked about their sex lives and there I was, lonely and terrified.

The first lie had just…happened. I made a joke about the imaginary guy I’d been sleeping with and everyone laughed and looked at me a little less like I was a child. After that, I just kept making little jokes. This guy I slept with was a dud. This other guy had never heard of a clit. I fit in better with the other women.

In reality, I was a virgin. After the Hellstone brothers stole the ranch from me, I had more free time and I tried to lose my embarrassing secret. I went out with a few guys, even got through a couple of bases along the way. I just hadn’t been able to commit to letting any of those guys take my virginity. It wasn’t like I was waiting for marriage; I just wanted to give it up to someone I was turned on by and so far, none of the guys I’d mingled with did it for me.

I’d let the secret of my virginity grow so big that my best friends didn’t even know the truth. I just wanted to be rid of it. I didn’t want to lie anymore. I didn’t want to stop whatever I was doing with men sexually because it didn’t feel good enough to give up my v-card. I wanted the freedom to have bad sex with men I met along the way. Until I got rid of my virginity, I wasn’t going to feel free.

It was unfortunate that the only men who’d managed to light my fire were the Hellstone brothers. That dream hadn’t been the first I’d had of the brothers. It was impossible not to notice them. I’d watched countless women go in and out of their beds, always looking satisfied with a hitch to their walk. I’d been forced to think of them having sex so many times I couldn’t help being curious. Then, that kiss with Keaton…the chemistry was there. I didn’t know if it was because of hate or what, but it was there. I’d never felt anything like that kiss, even when one of the guys I’d hooked up with had gone down on me.

The answer to my problem was right there, in a set of three. I hated the Hellstone triplets, but that didn’t matter. I didn’t need to like them for them to fix my problem.

After Owen stomped into the barn and acted all jealous, I’d been so turned on I snuck into one of the empty stalls and touched myself. They’d always been so bland with me. They kept it professional or at least quiet enough that it resembled professionalism. They didn’t fight back or get animated with me, no matter what I said to them. Until Gray heard me talking about the dream. That was a turning point, it seemed.

Seeing Owen angry had made up my mind for me. I knew it was probably incredibly messed up and that I probably needed therapy, but I wanted to get rid of my virginity and I wanted them to do it. Not just one of them. I wanted all of them, like my dream, like the other women got. I wanted to eviscerate my virginity so I wouldn’t have to lie anymore.

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