Roommates Box Set #4-6

2. Kylie

2

KYLIE

“This is gorgeous,” I said as the tractor drove through the rows of trees. “Like I'd imagine the Tuscan countryside looks.”

“I've been there, and it is pretty similar,” Sierra said. “Of course, there aren't as many ancient walled towns on hilltops in Napa Valley.”

“When were you there?” Alyssa asked, her voice jumping a few notes as the flatbed’s tires bounced on the uneven ground. Though the scenery was beautiful, and I was having a good time catching up with my friends, it wasn't the most comfortable ride. The bench seat had a thick layer of foam, but it didn't offer much protection from the bumps.

“Five or six years ago,” Sierra answered. “I had a small part in a movie that filmed a few scenes there.”

“Is that normal?” Alyssa asked. “To go on location like that?”

“Not so much anymore. Nowadays, a lot of movies and TV shows film in Canada and do their best to make it look like other places.” Sierra shrugged.

That didn't sound too bad to me. Canada had mountains, or at least parts of it did. Though the rolling hills and the greenery surrounding us was beautiful, my soul cried out for the rising peaks of the Rockies. But we'd be home in a few days.

Sierra was busy telling Alyssa about her new project. When I'd first met the gorgeous star, she'd been filming an action movie. It was a big movie that had done very well, but Sierra hadn't liked the fact that she kept getting roles that basically amounted to being eye candy for the male lead. So now she wrote her own scripts, and she'd just finished acting in one that had been directed by a famous female director she truly admired.

“I'm happy for you,” I said, jumping a bit awkwardly back into the conversation.

Sierra smiled but gave me a slightly quizzical glance. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Just used to a bit of a smoother ride.” I glanced up at Mark, but it didn’t seem likely that he could hear us over the noise of the tractor.

Alyssa reached out and squeezed my hand. “Worried about your uncle?”

“Yeah.” It was true, but it wasn’t something I wanted to talk about at the moment. The man who’d raised me was ill, but I had Mason, Jude, and Parker to talk to about that. Especially Parker. He understood my worries and always made me feel better. They all did in their own way. Mason was the strongest physically but the weakest when it came to talking about feelings, but he still demonstrated that he was there for me, every single day. Most of the time, I felt like the luckiest woman in the world, but it seemed like my two friends had lucked out, too.

So many times I thought I’d never meet one good man, and now I was living with three. We worked together, we slept together, and we played together. Played a lot together. That last thought lifted my spirits.

Sierra gave me a knowing smile. Perhaps as an actress, she was better than Alyssa at reading people’s expressions. “Do you think the owners of this place have noticed how often we blush?” Or maybe I was just obvious.

Alyssa giggled. “Hopefully not.” She glanced forward, but Mark didn’t appear to be listening. “I think they’ve got their own issues with the baby on the way.”

“And it can’t be easy, running a place like this,” Sierra added, and I nodded. I’d read through the information on the vineyard’s website, since my guys and I ran a nightclub that served food and provided entertainment to guests. The place had been in Mark’s family for three generations. Reading between the lines, it had seemed like a big responsibility for the young couple. And a bus full of tourists would be a lot for any two people to handle.

Alyssa was staring at the scenery, but her eyes were unfocused. “Are you okay?” I asked, nudging her foot with mine.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I was just thinking about how unusual this is. Our situation.”

I knew instantly what she meant, and so did Sierra. “I certainly never thought I’d be in a relationship like this,” the actress said. “Well, I never thought I’d be in a relationship at all, actually. The jerks I met on movie sets never gave me much confidence that good men were out there.”

Alyssa laughed. “Who knew you’d have to get trapped in a blizzard to find them.”

“Or move to Louisiana,” I pointed out, grinning at Alyssa.

Sierra looked introspective. “I don’t think this kind of thing was on my radar at all, but if it had been, I would’ve thought it was all about, you know, sex.”

She flushed in a way that had me biting back a grin. I was pretty sure that she’d been a virgin before she met her guys.

“I thought it was just like a thing that happened in porn,” Alyssa confessed. “I didn’t know you could love more than one person.”

“Me either,” I said, though I did now with all my heart.

“But it’s not that surprising, is it?” she continued. “After all, I love the kids. And my men. And you both. And Nana. So of course it’s possible to love more than one person.”

“But those are all different kinds of love,” Sierra pointed out.

“Love is love,” I said.

“True.” Sierra was quiet for a moment and then smiled. “I blame Ronnie for starting all of this.”

I laughed. Our friend Ronnie, a stuntwoman, had been the first person I’d ever met who was in a relationship with more than one man.

“I was so shocked when I figured it out,” Sierra confessed. “But… it worked. Or at least it seemed to me that it did.”

“Even though Aiden Hunt was such a jerk to you?” I teased.

“Yeah. And he’s not like that now.”

“I wish I could meet them,” Alyssa said wistfully. I knew her well enough to know she wanted to meet Ronnie just as much as Aiden, who was a huge movie star. And Ronnie’s other two men did stunts just like her.

“You will. Next time we’ll all come out to our place in L.A.” Sierra said.

“Sounds great.” I could just picture myself mixing drinks in Aiden’s huge mansion which surely had a bar somewhere. But that thought made me think of my uncle. He was the one who’d taught me to mix drinks in the first place.

I was still thinking about it when the tractor circled around and started back. The view was still incredible, but I kept looking without really seeing. At least until the tractor slowed.

Peering ahead, I spotted my men walking down the dirt path toward us. The tractor stilled and Mark spoke to them. Almost without thinking about it, I scooted to the edge of the flatbed and hopped off. “I think I’ll walk back with them.”

“I don’t blame you,” Sierra said. “See you at dinner?”

Parker moved toward me. Even after all this time, his smile was a bit on the shy side. But now, it always met his eyes. It didn’t used to. He put his arm around me, and just like that, my worries melted. And when Mason and Jude joined us, it was like I was home—even though I’d never been to this place before.

“Um, maybe,” I said to my friends. “Or we might just stay in our room.”

“Good call,” Jude whispered in my ear.

“Have fun,” Alyssa said, not looking at her brother, but I knew she genuinely was glad he was happy.

“I will,” I promised, and I reached past Jude for Mason’s hand. Jude stepped back because he knew what Mason needed. And what I needed.

We understood each other. We loved each other. That was the most important thing.

As long as we had that, everything else would work out.