CRAVE: A Small Town Menage Romance (Reckless Falls Book 4) Page 16

  "The falls are low," Jackson observed as he packed up the remnants of our picnic lunch. "I wonder what they look like in the spring."

  "I could hear them back then," I said. "But I didn't come up to see them." I screwed up my lips. "I kind of regret that."

  "We'll come here in the spring," Jackson promised. "This is too amazing for words."

  Time and again it hit me, especially when both of them said things like that. That we'd do things together in the future. The three of us, as a unit. Jackson was looking ahead, building up plans for his restaurant, maybe expanding to a location on the other side of town. I was looking to the future, baking dessert for Indigo twice a week while working on contracts at both the school and the hospital to bring in baked goods for their meetings.

  And Finn, of course, couldn't help but look towards the future. His mind was always five, ten years out, and when he spoke about his desire to build a house up on the western ridge, I knew he was thinking about the three of us living there together.

  And I knew he'd be the one to make it happen.

  None of these things had been spoken aloud yet. But then again, we'd never even really discussed this in the first place. Why talk about something that didn't need to be discussed? We were together. All three of us.

  A team.

  "What's that?" Finn asked, sitting up on his elbows.

  Jackson leaned forward. "Dammit," he grumbled. "People coming up here."

  "We can't really expect to have this place all to ourselves all day long, can we?" I teased him.

  "I wanted to," Jackson grumbled, trailing his fingers up my thigh. "Out here in nature? Doesn't that sound appealing?"

  A shiver went up my body. "It sure does." The thought of their naked bodies burnished in the late-summer sun sent a small thrumming pulse down to my pussy.

  But at that moment, a woman with bright auburn hair, emerged from the trail in the woods. "Beautiful day!" she called to us.

  "Sure is!" I called back, forever the hostess. "Would you like to join us?"

  She paused and looked behind her. From out of the woods a big group, two women and four more men.

  And one toddler who came tearing out of the trees and made a mad dash right for the water's edge.

  "Ellie no!" the redhead shouted.

  Almost before I'd realized it, I shot out my arm to catch the careening toddler, who landed with a heavy thump on her diaper-padded butt. She looked at me with her big brown eyes, and her lower lip wobbled for a moment.

  "Oh my God, thank you!" one of the other women cried, running up to collect the little girl. "She's a wild thing," she sighed.

  "She gets it from her mother," the blond man behind her said, and held out his hand in greeting. "Callum Reese," he said.

  Finn stood up and brushed off his hands on his pants before clasping Callum's. "Finn Walker," he said. "And this is Jackson Nye and Bee Henry."

  Callum squinted at all three of us. "This might sound weird, but, didn't I see you in the paper this morning?" he asked

  For a moment, all three of us froze. My jaw dropped and I turned to stare at Jackson who was standing stock still with his palms pressed together. Suddenly my eyes widened. "Holy shit, the review!" I squealed, clapping my hands.

  "I can't believe we forgot to check for that!" Finn exclaimed. "We knew it was coming soon..."

  "I didn't forget," Jackson rumbled. "I was actively avoiding it, honestly"

  Callum nodded. "Well it looks like they liked you," he said. "My wife Harper and I decided to call and put in a reservation this morning for our anniversary. Before this review gets too much attention and we can't get one at all."

  The brown haired woman, holding the squirming toddler squinted at Jackson. "Wait a minute, you're the new chef?"

  I grinned and looked up at him. "Oh yeah," I said. "He's the chef."

  Finn muttered something about ingratitude, and extended his hand. "Finn Walker," he said. "I'm the business manager at Indigo."

  "Harper," she said with a confident air. "My brother Rett is over there with his wife Brynn, with the blond hair. And you saw our friend Autumn first, she's got that red hair that makes me want to murder her," she laughed. "And her husband Cole is... somewhere. Probably doing some kind of business deal on his cell phone." She hoisted the squirming toddler up on her hip. "This is our daughter Ellie, and that's Grayson over there with the diaper bag."

  The darker haired man stepped up to us and extended his hand, "Grayson Abbott," he said.

  I blinked. "Any relation to Jerry Abbott, the police officer?" I asked, excitedly.

  Grayson nodded. "He's my cousin. Reckless Falls is full of Abbotts."

  I pressed my fingertips to my lips. I wasn't really sure why that made me feel so excited, that I knew people here, that I had connections to this town now.

  But it did.

  Harper suddenly wrinkled her nose, and lifted Ellie upward. "Wow, little girl, how do you do that?" She turned and handed her to Grayson.

  "Daddy's got you," he said, with a smile, and took her off to the side with the diaper bag.

  I squinted, looking at the three of them. "Daddy?" I asked.

  Then I bit my tongue. It was none of my business.

  But holy shit. Were they a threesome too?

  Harper cocked her head to the side and regarded me with a penetrating look. "Are you new to Reckless Falls?" she asked.

  "Yeah, I moved here about five months ago," I told her.

  "All three of you?" she pressed. The way she asked let me know she suspected me, just like I suspected her.

  "Yeah," Finn answered, completely oblivious to the subtext. "Jacky-boy and I used to live in New York City."

  She grinned looking between me and Finn and Jackson with a rather knowing smile. "Me too. You all seem to be settling in pretty well," she said with a smile.

  There was something in her knowing tone of voice, and the way that Cal had introduced her as his wife, but Grayson had called their little girl his daughter that made me smile too, I reached out and grabbed her hand, and she squeezed it tight.

  "Well, it's a little late, but welcome to Reckless Falls anyway," she said. Then she lowered her voice and leaned in to whisper in a voice meant just for me. "You should come over for dinner to our place some time," she said. "All three of you."

  EPILOGUE CONTINUED

  Bee

  I ran out of the store, my arms laden down with every copy of the Times I could find. Finn chuckled when he saw me and ran around to open the passenger door.

  "I bought all the copies the grocery store had," I told Jackson, sliding back into the car and kissing him hard. "So you can mail them to people or maybe wallpaper a section of the restaurant if it's good enough." I was breathless with excitement.

  "Holy shit," he breathed.

  "Why are you nervous?" I asked.

  "Yeah seriously," Finn drawled as he slid back into the car and took one of the paper from me. "What happened to the confident genius asshole we know and love?" he asked as he leafed through the sections until he found the Travel pages.

  "He's having a minor heart attack, which will become major if you don't hurry up," Jackson snarled, reaching into the front seat to snatch the paper away. "Jesus, you're like an old woman."

  I laughed. Together, we rifled through the pages until we found the review. His dark eyes scanned a few sentences and then he shoved it away. "You read it," he begged. "I can't."

  I cleared my throat, and read aloud. "The accomplished Indigo elevates the sleepy little resort town of Reckless Falls to destination status almost single-handedly. Bold new flavor combinations by chef genius Jackson Nye..."

  Jackson shook his head, licking his lips. "You're missing the best part," he told me.

  "I thought you hadn't read it yet?" I accused.

  He shrugged. "I might have read it on my phone this morning."

  "And not told us?" I gasped, pressing my hand to my heart.

  He grinned. "Well I'm telling you now
. Here." Trailing his finger down the column, he tapped the fifth paragraph. "Read," he said.

  I widened my eyes. "Um, 'The bright, exuberant dessert menu was a welcome coda to the symphony of flavor,'" I read aloud, a smile spreading across my face. "'The homey yet refined creations of guest pastry chef Beatrix Henry of the neighboring Honey Bee's bakery make a truly delightful end of the meal.'" I felt my cheeks redden. "'One hopes that this partnership between the two locations will be a permanent one.'"

  "Me too," Finn echoed.

  He looked at Jackson, who nodded.

  "So," Finn started to say, then trailed off looking away.

  "You want me to say it?" Jackson drawled, in a teasing voice.

  "Yes," Finn said, and his voice was strangely choked. "You say it."

  I looked from Finn to Jackson, mildly alarmed that my control freak go-getter was unable to finish his sentence.

  "So, the big dude and I have been talking," Jackson said slowly. "And really, this article says it best. We want our partnership to become a permanent one."

  "You make it sound like a freakin' business deal," Finn complained. He fixed me with his blue eyes. "Look," he said taking my hand. My heart started beating rapidly, even as my mind struggled to catch up with what he was saying. "We don't know how to do this. There's no rule book for what we have. This is all new, to all of us. We're just trying to find our way in making this work for the three of us." He glanced down at my fingers and stroked his thumb over my palm. "But it does work, don't you think?"

  I nodded rapidly.

  He smiled. "So, let's just keep making it work, for the rest of our lives." His voice caught. "Bee, will you marry us?"

  I burst out laughing. "Of course!" I said. "That's the best idea I've heard all day!"

  "Seriously? What about the one where we fuck you at the top of the falls?" Jackson interjected.

  I laughed harder. "That was the second one." I clapped my hands together as tears suddenly pricked the corners of my eyes. "Oh my God you guys, are we doing this?"

  I didn't even give them a chance to respond. Instead I leaned in and kissed Finn, and then turned to kiss a bewildered looking Jackson. "How the heck do we do this though?" I asked.

  Finn nodded, with a wink. "Don't worry," he said looking between me and Jackson. "I'll figure something out."

  I grinned. "Of course you will. You both will." I lifted my chin. "And I'll help."

  THE END

  Curious about Harper, Callum and Grayson? Keep turning the page for their story! TWICE is your free bonus book! Thank you for reading!

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  BOOKS BY VIVIAN LUX:

  Sons of Steel Motorcycle Club:

  Steel My Heart

  Steel Me Away

  Steel My Love

  Steel My Soul

  Rockstar Romance

  JAX: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance

  RANE: A Rockstar Stepbrother Romance

  WILDER: A Rockstar Romance

  LOW: A Rockstar Romance

  TRUE: A Rockstar Romance

  The Reckless Falls Series:

  KEPT: A Small Town Second Chance Novella

  WRECKED: A Small Town Bad Boy Romance

  TWICE: A Small Town Menage Romance

  TIED: A Steamy Small Town Romance

  CRAVE: A Small Town Menage Romance

  PLAYED: A Small Town Billionaire Novella (May 2017)

  Sports Romance

  FORCE: A Bad Boy Sports Romance

  IMPACT: A Secret Baby Sports Romance

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  TWICE:

  A Small Town Menage Romance

  RECKLESS FALLS BOOK TWO

  by

  Vivian Lux

  Prologue

  Callum

  I stumbled, bleary and scratching, into the kitchen. On autopilot, I opened the cupboard to pull out the canister of coffee.

  Only to find that the coffee was already out, grounds sprinkled liberally over the countertop like a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the coffeemaker.

  Which was somehow already on, with a full pot sitting there waiting for me.

  I stared at the coffeepot warily, like it had somehow gained sentience, and tried to quell the anger that was already heating up my bloodstream. But as I did, I became aware of several things.

  The first thing I noticed was the overwhelming silence in the house. Grayson's snores were normally the soundtrack to my mornings, so loud they rattled the windowpanes.

  The second was the already brewed coffee itself.

  The third thing was the open carton of milk sitting on the counter — sweating condensation and slowly spoiling — number one on my list of pet peeves.

  The pieces slid together and I sighed heavily as I reached up for my mug. I was pretty fucking proud of how even my voice sounded as I called, "Merry Christmas, you're up early. You trying to catch Santa?"

  I heard the scrape of a chair across the floor as my housemate leaned back. "I'm not up early," Gray protested. "I'm usually up and out the door by now."

  Frustration mingled with disbelief as I turned to face my best friend and recently acquired housemate. It was in the spirit of Christmas itself that I didn't leap across the room and strangle him to death.

  "Bullshit," I said deliberately as I poured the milk into my coffee. Then I made a great show of opening the fridge and placing it back on the shelf with much flourish and fanfare. "See? See how easy this is?" I repeated. "I'm not asking you to move fucking mountains here. Just to put the fucking milk away when you're done with it. Like I've asked you to. Thirty billion times."

  Gray grinned. "Sure man."

  I closed my eyes and counted to ten, trying to call up happy memories that would remind me that I'd miss him once I buried him. "You got something going on this morning?" I asked. My voice sounded high and tight and unnatural.

  But if he heard the tension there, he ignored it. Like he always did. Instead he blinked and said, "Nothing," far too innocently.

  I turned and stared him down with my arms folded across my chest.

  He tried to maintain eye contact over his coffee mug and failed miserably. "Just going out and getting a tree for the party."

  I lifted my chin and resisted the urge to yell out "Gotcha!"

  "The party," I said instead.

  "Yeah," he said, squirming and not meeting my eyes. "The party, you know?"

  "The McCabes' party?"

  "Yeah man," He actually had the nerve to look excited. "Ma McCabe was all worried and shit about the tree they already have set up. Thought it was too little for that new place they have. I told her not to worry about it, that I'd handle it."

  "Uh huh."

  "What?"

  "Nothing," I seethed. "So you're heading over to your uncle's place to buy a tree? Is he even open today?"

  Grayson grinned. "Who said anything about buying?"

  "Isn't Uncle Gerry gonna notice a giant tree missing from his farm?"

  "Nah," Gray said, waving me off. "He always spends Christmas Eve until New Year's blind stinking drunk. It's a brotherly tradition."

  I winced at the thought of Pierce Abbott, Grayson's piece of shit father and Uncle Gerry's sadistic older brother, getting blind stinking drunk. When Gray lost h
is job in August, he'd made mention of moving back into Pierce's house to save money on rent. I told him to cut the shit.

  And that's how he ended up here, at my place, snoring like a motherfucker and leaving my milk out to spoil on the counter all the time. "So you're gonna give Ma McCabe a stolen tree for Christmas? You're one classy motherfucker."

  Gray shrugged and slurped his coffee. "That's for damn sure. And I'd better get going, too."

  I startled so badly that I nearly sloshed coffee down my chest. Fucking hell, I thought I had more time, I thought to myself. "You're seriously leaving now?" I said. "It's barely even eight o'clock."

  Gray stood up from his chair and gave me one of those grins that made me want to smack him upside the head. "Aw, Callum, are you going to miss me?" he teased as he came over and dumped the rest of his coffee down the drain. "Did you want to wear matching footy pajamas while we open presents?"

  I rolled my eyes. "No, asshole. I'm trying to figure out what you're up to."

  "What?" Again with that innocent look and inability to maintain eye contact. "I already told you. I'm picking up a tree for Ma McCabe. I'm gonna cut it down and then run back here for a shower before I go to drop it off."

  I stabbed my finger into his face. "Aha!"

  "What the fuck, dude?" he asked as he swatted my finger away.

  "You're showering before you bring it over."

  "Yeah, you know, wrestling a tree into a flatbed is hard work. You'd know that if you bothered to do a bit of manual labor in your life."

  "Fuck you, I lead outdoor expeditions for a living."

  "Yeah, for overweight yuppies from the suburbs."

  He had me there. I leaned back on the counter and flipped him off. He laughed that big dumb laugh of his. "So can I go now, Mom, or are you not done giving me the third degree?"

  I sighed. I was. There wasn't any reason to ask anymore. I knew exactly what he was up to, because I was up to the same goddamned thing. Even though it was Christmas, we were both up early, ready to spend the day helping our friend's parents get ready for their annual Christmas Party. The earlier we started, the more time we'd get to spend staring at her.