Her Rebound Men (15 page)

It was refreshing to spend
time with people similar to Lilly. She knew her friend would fit right in.
 

Once dinner was finished
they all sat around the table and drank coffee. “Dinner was fabulous, Henrietta.”
She’d eaten more than her fair share. Henrietta sure could cook.

“My
pleasure, sweetie.”
Henrietta took
a sip of her coffee and watched her almost knowingly. “Kate, dear, why don’t
you tell us how you met
Kev
and Nate?”

Kate felt her cheek turn hot
and glanced worriedly between
Kev
and Nate. They both
smirked, because they knew she was going to have one hell of a time trying to
explain this one. No way could Kate tell their mother that her relationship
with her sons was only supposed to be a one-night stand. No doubt Henrietta
would look at her like the biggest slut around. Doubts plagued her thoughts
even though Henrietta hadn’t shown any disgust towards Kate at all.

“It’s just
Kev
and Nate
have
never brought a
woman home together. I want to know how you managed to get them both under the
same roof together. It has been too long.” Henrietta tapped her husband. “
Kev
brought that woman, didn’t he? What was her name?” She
paused
thinking. Glancing at
Kev
,
Kate saw she him tense. “Heather, that’s the girl. She was a weird one but
still. Anyway, details, sweetie, I need details.” It still seemed so bizarre
that their parents were fine with their sons having a
polyamorous
relationship, but who was Kate to question the beliefs of others? Before she
met
Kev
and Nate she never saw herself involved in a
threesome, but now the two men sitting beside her were all she think about.

“Well, Ma’am—“

“None of
that, sweetie.
Please, call me
Henrietta. ‘Ma’am’ makes me feel like my mother, and I’m not that old.”
Henrietta gave her a wink, and Kate felt herself relax. Nate and
Kev
chuckled, but that was the only sound that came out of
them. Neither of them
were
going to help her out.

Cowards!

“We met through one of her
friends.” Kate sent a silent “thank you” to
Kev
when
he responded to his mother’s question and then felt bad about thinking of him
as a coward, although they could have spoken up sooner so she hadn’t felt put
on the spot.

“Well, however you guys met
I’m glad my boys found such an endearing woman as yourself.” Their father,
Richard, grinned at her at the same time he pulled his wife closer to the side
of his body. Kat could see the similarities of
Kev
and Nate in their dad.

Without realizing what she
was doing, Kate asked, “You’re okay with both of your sons dating one woman?”

The room suddenly grew quiet,
and Kate looked around, suddenly wishing the ground would open up and swallow
her. She’s assumed they were all open and honest, and now she’d gone and
blurted her mouth off. Kate needed to remember she wasn’t the best judge of
character. Look at what happened with Jeff. Then instantly that awkwardness
vanished, and they all started laughing. For a moment Kate was taken aback and
just sat there with wide eyes staring at each of them.

“She is definitely a keeper,
boys.” Their father stood and slapped each of them on the back before making
his way to the fridge and taking out a chocolate cake. “I mean, I like a girl
with big enough balls to say it like it is.”

No one had answered her
question, but the easygoing way they acted led her to believe they had no
problems with their sons banging the same chick then bringing her to Sunday
dinner.

“I’ll be honest, Kate,”
their mother said at the same time she grabbed the cake from Richard and
started cutting it into pieces. “When the boys first told us they saw
themselves sharing one woman I was taken aback. Clearly this is not the norm,
but you’ll find Richard and I are very open-minded people, and if our boys are
happy and they make the woman they are with happy, then we approve of whatever
lifestyle they choose.” She handed out the cake, and a few minutes of silence
filled the room as they ate. “Not since Heather—”

“Mom, I’m sure Kate doesn’t
want to listen to all of this,”
Kev
said quickly
cutting his mother off. Kate looked at him and wondered who Heather was and why
he was so anxious to get off the topic. She looked at Nate and saw him focused
heavily on the half-eaten piece of cake in front of him. An uncomfortable
silence filled the small kitchen, and Kate realized this was obviously a very
delicate subject.

Feeling a little
self-preservation to save the situation, Kate quickly asked, “Did you make this
cake, Henrietta? It’s delicious.”

She cleared her throat
before she responded. “I did, sweetie. Thank you. This is
Kev
and Nate’s favorite. You’ll have to tell me what your favorite dessert is so
the next time you come for dinner I can make it.” Despite the wonderful feeling
Kate got at the thought of being with
Kev
and Nate
again, and visiting their folks, Kate didn’t want to make them feel obligated
to do such a thing. But before she could answer Nate spoke.

“I’d like to know that,
amongst many other things about Kate.” His smile was warm and honest, and she
felt herself smiling in return.

So, for the next hour Kate
revealed the little things about her, surprised that these people she had just
met welcomed her and the seemingly unorthodox relationship she was in with
their sons. Although Kate didn’t know if she was actually in a “relationship”
with
Kev
and Nate, but she’d like to think they
thought of her as more than just a fuck-buddy. Sure, they told her they wanted
her, but when it came down to it she was still was apprehensive because of her
less than desirable relationship with Jeff. They left Henrietta and Richard’s
house a little after ten, and exhaustion settled into Kate heavily. Nate drove,
and she sat in the front while
Kev
sat in the back.
In a matter of minutes she felt her eyes grow heavy and sleep take hold of her.

Kate was roused by the
sensation of being lifted. When she opened her eyes it took a moment for them
to focus.
Kev
held her in his arms, and although she
felt silly being carried, there was no comparison to the feeling of being in
Kev’s
arms, the steady rise and fall of his chest, and the
sound of his beating heart against her ear. Nate led the way, and soon she
found herself in
Kev’s
apartment and in his bed. They
were diligent and kind as they helped her undress, and although she was fully
awake now she let them take control. There was something sweet and
all-encompassing in the fact that these two men wanted to take care of her in
the most elemental of ways. When she was in only her panties they undressed
themselves and slipped in on either idea of her. Having them so close, and
feeling their combined body heat had her body coming alive. But all they did
was
hold
her and murmur for her to close her eyes.
That was exactly what she
did,
feeling the safety of
being in their arms and wondering if this feeling would last.

Chapter Seventeen

The following morning
Kev
climbed out of bed first. He glanced at Nate and Kate
as they were wrapped around each other. Peace settled over him. In all of his
adults years he’d never felt so relaxed as when he did when he was with Kate
and his brother. Shaking his head, he gathered his clothes. He padded down the
stairs and started up the
coffee.Turning
around he
jumped as his brother slumped on the seat against the counter.

“Where’s Kate?”
Kev
asked, grabbing some milk out of the fridge.

“She’s still asleep. I heard
you leave and thought now would be the best chance for us to talk.”

Making up two mugs of
coffee,
Kev
handed him one but remained standing
rather than take a seat. Last night had been amazing. All he’d done was hold
Kate in his arms, and he wanted to do it again.

“What do you want to talk
about?”
Kev
asked, sipping at his drink. The liquid
burned his throat, but he needed the burn to make him feel alive. The last few
days were starting to feel surreal.

“Heather. I want to talk
about Heather.”

Kev
stopped with his cup pressed against his lips. He’d
never shared anything of Heather with Nate. How did he know about her? Their
mother had mentioned her yesterday but not enough to give Nate any cause to
question her existence.

“What do you want to know?”
Kev
kept his gaze on his cup rather than look at his
brother.

“She’s the reason you’ve
withdrawn yourself, isn’t she?” Nate asked.

“You don’t know what you’re
talking about?”

Nate let out a long sigh.
“You’re an asshole.”

“You’ve not got a clue what
you’re talking about,”
Kev
said, sipping at the
liquid. He needed the burn now to stop himself from losing it with his brother.

“No? Okay, how about this?”
Nate pointed at him and then raised one finger. “She’s the girl you met about two
years ago. We’ve shared all of our lives, but when it came to Heather you
didn’t want her to have anything to do with me.” A second finger was raised in
the air. “You never introduced us. I saw you with her numerous times that I
lost count.” A third finger joined the other two. “You’ve been different since
she’s been in your life. You’re always trying to pull away from me, and I know
it’s not because I smell.”

Kev
chuckled even though he didn’t want to. He hated the
fact his brother knew him so well.

“Come on then,
Kev
. No more hiding. What gives?” Nate asked.

Staring at his brother,
Kev
knew he couldn’t keep hiding from his past.

“Heather killed herself
because I wouldn’t share her with you, and I finally wanted to end it. She knew
about how you and I shared our women. For some reason I didn’t want to share
her. I wanted her to myself, but as our time together grew, I started to
realize I didn’t love her. She wouldn’t accept my answer and asked for a
chance. I agreed for us to keep going. I didn’t care about her.”
Kev
saw Nate was shocked. “There wasn’t an investigation.
It was a suicide. She slashed her wrists in the bath and left a note and
everything.” He cleared his throat giving himself extra time in order to
answer. “The note explained how she loved me and how she wanted everything to
be perfect, but I couldn’t love her properly. She blamed me for everything and
that I wasn’t strong enough for her. I never kept the note. I couldn’t. I gave
her false hope. I thought I loved her. It wasn’t love at all Heather wanted
both of us, and I told her no. She didn’t think she was good enough because I
refused to let her meet you, and then I wanted to end it. I kept her away, and
because of that I was the man holding the knife. If it wasn’t for me and what I
wanted she’d still be alive.”

Kev
laughed humorlessly. He put his cup down. The thought
of drinking or even eating was too much for him. He didn’t deserve to do
either.

“You never said anything,”
Nate said.

“No, why would I? What
exactly could I say? ‘Mom, Dad, Nate,
erm
, do you
remember the woman I was screwing? Well she killed herself because I didn’t
give her to my brother, and then I realized I didn’t love her,’”
Kev
said.

“Don’t do that.” Nate stood.
“It’s not your fault she wasn’t strong enough, that she was unstable. There
could have been any number of reasons as to why she killed herself.”

He shook his head. “No,
there’s only one person responsible, and that’s me.”

“You can’t do this to
yourself,
Kev
. You’re going to kill yourself.
Working like this.
Whatever was wrong with Heather is not
your fault.”

Kev
glanced around the kitchen. “I shouldn’t be here.”
Minutes ago he was going to make Kate some breakfast and had looked forward to
taking her to work. It was Monday, and instead he remembered why he wasn’t
allowed the freedom to do that. He’d promised himself after Heather killed
herself, he wasn’t going to take another woman or be in love.

“This is where you should
be. You love Kate,
Kev
. Don’t do this,” Nate said.

Pulling away from his
brother,
Kev
started to dress.

“What are you doing?” Nate
asked.

“What I should have done in
the beginning, I’m leaving.”

“No, you shouldn’t. Please,
don’t walk away. You love Kate, and you can’t deny it, and that is what
frightens you.”

Kev
paused. He did love Kate, and that was why he needed
to get away. “I’m a selfish bastard, Nate. I’ve got to get away before I
destroy her the same way I did Heather. I won’t share.”