Chapter 4

Kyle wore dark red button down shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his arms. It was neatly tucked into a pair of dark, slightly distressed jeans. He also wore boots, but they were different from Travis’s.

“Are you sure?” she asked as she smoothed down an invisible wrinkle.

“Yeah. You don’t look like one of the guys now,” Travis said playfully.

He wasn’t far from the truth. For all intents and purposes, she was one of the guys. She wore football jerseys during football season and had huge Super Bowl parties. In the spring and summer she wore baseball jerseys and rooted for her favorite team while Kyle and Travis both rooted for theirs. She drank beer and played darts. She played pool and poker. For as long as she could remember, she was one of the guys.

Kyle took a step forward, standing directly in front of her. He was so close she could feel the heat of his body surging toward hers. The smell of his cologne drifted around her, and she took a deep breath. It was the same thing he’d worn since high school and she still loved it.

He cupped her neck slightly, causing her to swallow past the lump that had formed. With maddening slowness he rubbed his thumb over her the sensitive flesh where her neck met her shoulder. Her nipples jumped to attention, and this time she was certain there was no amount of padding that could hide the tight peaks they’d formed into.

“You were painting today, weren’t you,” he said through his slightly shaky breath.

Lily was having a hard time focusing on what he was saying.

“Painting. In class?” Kyle said.

“Oh, um, yeah,” she said, clearing her throat.

“You had some paint,” he said as he took a step back.

When in the hell had it become so hot in her apartment? She grabbed her beer from the counter and twisted the top. Without thinking she tilted it back and chugged the whole thing.

“Ahhh, there’s our girl. I knew she was under that dress somewhere,” Travis teased.

She belched lightly and wiped her mouth with a napkin. The carbonation from the beer was causing her eyes to water, but it had done the trick, distracting her.

“Think we should get going?”

Travis looked at his watch. “Yeah. Let’s go get our drink on,” he said with a loud clap.

“It’s a school night boys,” she said as she tucked her phone and her keys into the tiny black clutch she’d just bought.

“Shit, you sound like my mother,” Travis complained.

Lily frowned. “I know your mother, and I take great offense to that.”

“Then loosen up and have a good time tonight. When was the last time you let yourself go without thinking about consequences?”

“Consequences are inevitable. It’s a part of life,” she said simply.

“But not tonight. Tonight,” he draped his arms over her and Kyle’s shoulders and stood between them, “. . . tonight I am with the two most important people in my life after being gone for two damn months. I’m having a good time!”

His blue eyes landed suggestively on hers, and she took a deep breath.

“Then I guess we best be going then,” Kyle said as he moved out from beneath Travis’s arm. He placed his hand in the small of her back and gently guided her through the front door while Travis locked up behind them.

On the way to the club she was quiet, listening to the two guys chat and joke around. She was lost in her thoughts. When in the hell did both Kyle and Travis start having this weird effect on her? She was beginning to notice things that she’d never noticed before. Well, things she hadn’t even thought about since high school. She was horny.

“Hey, why are you so quiet?” Travis asked as he nudged her gently with his elbow.

“Lost in thought, I guess,” she said, feeling weird pressure from his blue gaze.

“Right, spill it. What’s going on,” he insisted.

I think I have a crush on you, oh, and while I’m at it I think I have a crush on Kyle, too. “Winston officially broke up with me today.”

“Are you at all sad about that?” Kyle asked as he scooted up from the back seat until he was between them. The scent of his cologne drifted around her lazily.

“No, not really,” she said with a shrug. “I just get tired of all the guys leaving me.” She hadn’t meant for that last part to come out, but it had. Feeling a touch ashamed of herself, she looked down at her hands that were nothing special. Her nails were trimmed short and stained with paint and pastels.

“Then they aren’t worth your time,” Travis said as he pulled his Hummer into his parking spot behind the building.

“I just get tired of going to bed alone, ya know?”

They were all silent for a few moments. “I know what you mean,” Travis finally said. Of the three of them, he was the one she least expected to sympathize with her. Travis was a player. He often needed a revolving door because as one was leaving another was entering.

Kyle must have been shocked too because, like her, he just stared in shock at him.

“What?” Travis asked.

“Nothing,” she and Kyle said in unison.

Travis frowned. “Hey, just because I like the ladies doesn’t mean I don’t want something more,” he defended.

Lily just nodded her head. She couldn’t bring herself to tell them that they had been the reason that none of her relationships had worked out. She was beginning to see why. The blinders where Travis and Kyle were concerned were slowly slipping away. She was horrified, exhilarated, and scared half out of her mind.

“Okay, this conversation is too heavy for tonight. Out with you both, let’s have some good fun with some adult beverages.”

She didn’t give them a chance to say anything as she opened the door and slid out. Thankfully no one was around as her skirt had shimmied its way up her thighs. She was pushing it back down into place when both of them appeared at her sides, one on each side of her.

They stepped through the back door and were immediately in Travis’s private room. It was where he hosted his guests and allowed his VIPs to lounge about. This wasn’t the first time she’d been back there. In fact, she could come and go as she pleased, which made her feel more than a little smug when she walked passed the line that was usually wrapped around the building on the weekends.

The three of them passed through the lounge and emerged into the main part of the bar. The great thing about Vegas was that it didn’t really matter what time of the week, month, or year it was—they were almost always busy. There were some college kids taking breaks, businessmen burning off some steam or the housewife and her girlfriends eyeballing the men that walked by.

The interior of the club was sleek, with black marbled floors and red accents all over the place. It was seductive while at the same time managing to look elegant. She was extremely proud of Travis and everything he’d accomplished. He’d come a long way from being a bouncer at one of the strip clubs that was in the seedier part of town. He had made a life for himself and a good name. They all had.

“Well, well, well. Look who is back in town!” the bartender said loudly. “Ladies and gents, the man is back in the house. Give Travis a hell of a welcome home,” he called out over the crowd.

They were immediately greeted with a chorus of loud cheers and whistles and applause. Travis waved and pointed to the DJ, who promptly turned the music up. People turned their attention away from them and moved to the dance floor.

“Bobby, you son of a bitch, how are you?” Travis asked as he walked around the bar and clapped the big guy on the back.

“Doing great. Glad to have you back though. Hey, can I steal him for a few minutes?” he asked, looking over at Kyle and Lily.

“On two conditions,” Lily said with a flirtatious smile.

Bobby smiled at her, taking in her dress and appearance. “Baby girl, I’d walk through hell and back for you!” he said with a wink.

She chuckled. “Eh, it’s only Tuesday. Ask me again on Friday, and we’ll go from there.”

“Well, if you insist. What can I do for ya?”

“Hook us up with some drinks and don’t keep him for too long, okay? He’s been gone entirely too long.”

He chuckled and slung a white bar towel over his shoulder. “I can do that for sure.” Bobby popped the tops on three beers and slid them across the smooth surface of the bar. He then filled four tequila shot glasses with Patron. If she was going to drink and have no regrets, she might as well do it in style.

The four of them held them up and toasted before slamming them back. The clear liquid burned a trail all the way to her stomach before settling in and warming her from the inside out. She didn’t drink much, and she didn’t drink often. While it wasn’t in her contract that she couldn’t, showing up to work severely hungover was frowned upon.

After they took another shot and chased it with their beer, Travis and Bobby disappeared to the back offices, leaving her alone with Kyle.

The music pulsed enticingly. The bodies on the dance floor writhed and shimmied against one another. It didn’t matter if they were male or female, they were all dancing together. It looked like fun. A guy that stood about six foot three came up and stopped in front of Lily. He was an attractive man, with skin the color of smooth caramel and whisky-colored eyes.

“Want to dance?”