Page 7 of Taken By my Brothers' Best Friends

Sugar had taken every break she had from her dentist office,Moore Smiles, to decorate the back room for the club. She’d painted, ordered furniture and put it together herself, and she’d even decorated with pretty lamps and cushions. It looked nothing like the previously abandoned back room ofPearly Things. It looked…beautiful. She hadn’t installed walls of shelves to prepare for the sex toys, though. She couldn’t have known.

Margaret looked over at me and rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t let you start your ownDoll’s Clubwithout all the proper tools of the trade. Some of the women in Harmony Valley donated to make sure we set you ladies up right. Sisters supporting sisters, am I right?”

Ava sat forward and stared into the suitcase in front of her. “Wow.”

Coco, dressed in all black tactical gear, grabbed a foot long dildo and waved it around. “They’re not all beasts. This is for a more experienced woman.”

Sugar raised her eyebrows. “Experienced with what? Horses? I’ve never seen a man hung like that in my life. Are the men built different up where y’all live?”

Brenda flushed and grinned. “Some of them are.”

Casey and Mia, two stylists closer to my age than Sugar’s, looked at each other with wide eyes and then high-fived. Mia wasn’t shy as she pulled a rabbit from one of the suitcases. “Do you know how far we have to drive for sex toys? Sure, we can order them online, but it’s not the same. I don’t know what eight inches looks like until I see it in my hands, you know? Plus, Jimmy Pots shakes all the packages he delivers and tries to guess what’s inside.”

Bianca sat next to her girlfriend, Meredith, and they both looked thrilled. Bianca nodded at Margaret. “I want to be you when I grow up.”

Margaret, basking in all her glory, waved her hands in front of her, gesturing to the sex toys like she was Vana White. “Pick what you want, ladies. You should set up shelves here to display everything. And get ready for your group to grow. I find that if you have sex toys, they will come.”

“Especially if you give them the Peter Two Thousand.” Brenda pulled her purse into her lap and opened it to show us dozens of bottles of lube. “Pass these around, too. These are all free samples. If you ladies like the product, we can set up some kind of supply chain to get more to you. At a huge discount, of course. We’re thinking of starting a lube of the month subscription.”

“A lube of the month subscription.” Sugar fanned her face. “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

I met Margaret’s eyes and smiled. “Thank you.”

She nodded back at me. “This is special, ladies. Bring your friends and make this place an escape from all the male bullshit out there in the world. The only rule ofDoll’s Clubis that you don’t talk aboutDoll’s Clubto men or anyone you can’t trust. It’s like that movieFight Club, but this is a lot more fun to be a part of.”

“This is amazing. I’m so excited about it. I wanted to join a book club, but this is much better.” Meredith laughed at everyone’s shocked face. “What? I read.”

Bianca patted her girlfriend’s thigh. “Of course, you do, baby.”

Meredith grunted. “I fucking read. Y’all just don’t see me reading.”

“I’m going to run toI-Need-A Furnitureand find shelving. I’ll invite Anita to come, too.” Sugar stood up and tucked a toy into each of her pockets. “Until Steve notices me, I’m going to make good use of these babies.”

As everyone started talking excitedly about who they were going to bring, I stood up and moved closer to Margaret. “Thank you so much. This was above and beyond what I expected.”

“You’re family to Harmony Valley. You’re welcome back anytime you want.” She looked around. “It looks like you’ve got your own little family here, though.”

I looked around at the women I’d known most of my life and nodded. Some of them, like Ava and Bianca, were around ten years older than me but in a town so small, age wasn’t a hindrance in friendship. “I do. I miss Harmony Valley, though. I also miss not having my brothers breathing down my neck.”

“Have you told them about your writing yet?”

I looked around in a panic to make sure no one heard her and then I pulled her with me to a corner of the room, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. “How do you know about that?”

She grinned. “I know everything, Vera. I think you should tell your brothers. Let them see that you’re an adult with a life and career.”

“Please don’t say anything to anyone, Margaret. I don’t know how you found out, but no one else knows. Except Eve. I don’t want my brothers discussing my work the way they do everything else in my life. It’s mine and it’s safe from their judgment this way.”

She sighed. “I won’t say a thing. I just think you should show off and let people know how talented you are. I’ve been getting off to your books for years, honey. You’ve got talent.”

My face flushed blood red and my mouth flopped up and down as I tried to form words. I was hardly ever speechless but I couldn’t form a coherent word after hearing that.

Margaret laughed and wrapped me in a tight hug. “Close your mouth, honey. This room is loaded with dildos looking for a home.”

CHAPTER 7

Vera

A week later, we held our first official meeting of theDevil’s Den Doll’s Club. It was packed with women from town and it’d been so much fun that I felt like I was dreaming. The sex toys had been picked through during the week and we’d spent half an hour just laughing at how much happier we all were and how the men folk in town were probably so confused by our sudden happiness. It proved to me I’d been right in bringing the club to Devil’s Den. Already I could feel myself getting closer to women I’d been friends with for years but never anything deeper.

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