The Hardest Part (Brookside #2)

Chapter Four

S he blamed John Jacoby.

If it hadn’t been for that miserable old coot showing up on Thanksgiving like he did, the talk with Arien wouldn’t have gone down the way it had. Emily was sure he didn’t come by to wish Tanner a happy birthday. More likely, he wanted to check out Uncle Matty’s new wife and determine if her daughter was worthy of his grandsons.

Probably wanted to start trouble, too.

Which, of course, he did.

“You’ve broken tradition, yet you have been greatly favored,” Jacoby told his one-time son-in-law.

Innocuous enough, right? But that seemingly innocent statement was loaded. Her new cousin picked up on it right away, questioning the meaning behind the man’s words.

They’d talked it over together beforehand. Uncle Matty, his new wife, Jennifer, and the boys had decided an honest but gentle approach with Arien would be best. Emily, Billy, and Jake would extend their support and provide backup if needed. Because understanding life in Brookside wouldn’t come easy to someone who hadn’t been raised here.

“Me and your mama discussed how to explain our ways to you. Planned to sit with you tonight and do just that.” Clasping his wife to his side, Uncle Matty came forward. “I know you’re probably wondering how it is Kellan and Tanner are so close in age, especially their mothers being sisters and all.”

The boys were born three months apart, so Emily had a pretty good idea of what Arien must be thinking. She was wrong, though. And while she’d only known her since Sunday, she already liked her and wanted her to be happy here. Her arm linked with her step-cousin’s, Emily glanced down to see Tanner holding the girl’s hand so tightly that the whites of his knuckles showed.

“Our customs, how we live, the reason we prosper, goes all the way back to when Brookside was founded. I think you’ve already figured out we don’t do things the same here, and here…”

And here we go.

Emily watched her uncle’s chest rise as he paused to take a breath. “…marriage is between a man and two sisters or a woman and two brothers.”

“Huh?”

Arien wore the same expression on her face Emily often had during trig class.

Jake got down on his haunches in front of her. “Our unions are triads. There is a universal power in three. The nature of the world is tripartite—heavens, waters, and earth.” Then he took Arien’s other hand in his. “As are human beings—mind, body, spirit. The triad is the whole, you see. It is all. The beginning, middle, and end.”

Emily saw Arien’s hazel-green eyes flick over from Tanner to Kellan. Arms folded across his chest, he stood by the fireplace, the look on his handsome face inscrutable. Not even a smirk. She knew his tells, though, and the nervous tick in his jaw gave him away.

“Anthropologists call two brothers married to the same wife, fraternal polyandry, and two sisters married to the same husband, sororal polygyny. We call it the trinity, and to us, it is sacred.”

Arien drew her head back, shaking it rapidly. “You can’t do that. It’s not legal.”

“Not out there, no,” Uncle Matty said, his fingers running up and down his wife’s arm. “The elder sibling is on the marriage license at the courthouse…”

Emily squeezed her step-cousin’s shoulder, glancing again at Kellan. His usual smirk returned, and sliding his hand down the front of his jeans, he winked at Arien.

“…but what we do inside our gate, how we live inside our homes, is no one else’s concern.”

“You were married to them both at the same time,” Arien said softly under her breath.

Ding, ding, ding! Now you’re getting it, girly.

The Jacoby sisters, Heather and Amanda, the aunts Emily never knew, tragically died shortly after giving birth to Tanner and Kellan. And the animosity between their grandfather and her uncle that followed their deaths still lingered.

Arien turned to her then, pointing at Jake. “He’s your boyfriend too?”

How do I answer that? “Yes and no.”

With his index finger beneath her chin, Jake turned Arien’s face back toward him. “We’re to be married when Emily and my brother come of age.”

“I’m a junior.” Leaning forward, Billy grinned with a shrug. “So not this summer, but next.”

Then Arien laughed and said they were all fucking crazy.

Well, of course, she did.

They couldn’t ease into the conversation, regaling her with the stories of Brookside’s history as they’d planned to. If she’d gotten the chance to hear them, then maybe Arien wouldn’t have reacted so harshly.

But thanks to John Jacoby, she got slapped in the face with it. So, yeah, this was all his fault.

As soon as Tanner finished blowing out the candles on his cake, Arien stood, and excusing herself, disappeared up the stairs.

Her lips pursed, Emily glanced over at Jake. “That went well.”

Not.

“I should go talk to her,” Jennifer said with a sigh, extricating herself from her husband’s embrace.

“Give her some time, honey.” His hands massaging his wife’s shoulders, Matthew’s gaze settled on Tanner, who looked gutted, and a surlier-than-ever Kellan. “She’ll come around. You’ll see.”

“Believe me, I know how she’s feeling, and Matthew is right, my dear.” Grams spoke in that reassuring tone Emily knew all too well. With a toss of her pale-blonde curls, she lightly clasped Jennifer’s forearm. “You look exhausted.”

“I am.” She rubbed the back of her neck with a heavy sigh. “I don’t remember being so tired all the time with Arien.”

“Go on and get some rest, dear.” Grams gave her arm a gentle pat. “We can take care of the kitchen.”

With Uncle Matty and his wife tucked away upstairs, they went to work setting the kitchen back to rights while Jake and Billy remained with Kellan and Tanner. Emily could see the four of them talking in a huddle by the fire from her position at the sink.

“Those boys need to relax,” Grams said, handing her some dirty plates to load into the dishwasher. “Arien just had a bomb dropped on her head. What’s normal to us isn’t to most folks. I remember what it was like to be in her shoes.”

“An outsider?”

“Your granddaddy brought me up here to meet his family. Hell, I’d never been on a horse in my entire life, let alone seen heifers dropping calves.” She nodded, a soft snort coming from her nose.

Emily giggled at the sound of it. “Yes, for spring break. It was calving season.”

“Paul saddled up a mare for me.” With a far-off look in her paisley-blue eyes, Grams’ voice thickened with emotion. “Her name was Rosie. Such a sweet, gentle thing. He took me up to the lake, told me he loved me, and that he saw a future for us together.”

“How romantic is that?” Emily sighed. She could see it in her head, like a movie.

“Hmm, yes.” Grams chortled, her tone changing. “Then he explained the trinity and informed me that for that to happen, I’d have to love his brother, too.”

“Oh, Grams, what did you say?”

“I told him he was out of his ever-loving mind if he thought for one second I could ever love anyone else besides him.”

“But you did.”

“I did indeed.” A smile crossing her face, Grams took hold of both her hands. “Garrett was something else, let me tell ya. There was just no resisting that man. The three of us were married at the stones a few months later. It was the 70s—free love and all that. Our generation was more…open-minded, I guess you could say, so opening my heart to them both was easy for me.” And choking on a breath, she let go. “God, how I miss ‘em.”

“I know, Mom. We all do,” Kimberly said, hugging her.

Grams kissed her daughter’s cheek and turned to Emily, her smile back in place. “Arien is going to need some time, and a lot of love, patience, and understanding from all of us.”

“Matthew should have never shared his vision with the boys.” Her gaze darting to the fireplace, Kimberly shook her head.

Uncle Matty must’ve told them from the time they were little. Tanner and Kellan had always known of it. They’d been waiting for their dream girl to come along for a very long time.

“Why not?”

“What’s meant to be will be of its own accord,” Grams replied, patting the top of her head.

Huh?

“But Victor shared his vision with you.”

“With me. Not with you, your mother, or Jake and Billy, either.” Squeezing her shoulder, she smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear. “So as not to influence the choices the three of you made, Victor Gantry kept the future he saw to himself.”

And they’d chosen each other, exactly as he’d seen it, all on their own.

“Billy and Jake are my everything.”

“And you’re theirs, my dear girl.” Grams drew her into a warm embrace. “Never doubt it.”

With the dishwasher loaded and running at last, Emily strolled back into the living room to find her boys in front of the TV all alone. “Where’d everybody go?”

“Kellan took off.” Billy got up from the sofa and kissed her. “Don’t know where to.”

Jake lifted his chin. “Tanner’s talkin’ to Arien.”

“Oh.” Her gaze traveled up the stairs. “What do we do?”

“Nothing.” Jake took hold of her hand, pulling her to sit down beside him. “Arien, Kellan, and Tanner have to find their way to each other all on their own, same as we did.”

“I can’t not do something.” To stand idly by went against her very nature.

The corner of his mouth twitched up because Jake knew that, of course. “You can be Arien’s friend. She’s going to need one. Look out for her at school, answer her questions. She’s going to have plenty of them, I’m sure. There’s a lot we can do, but we cannot push them. Understand?”

“What’s meant to be will be of its own accord.”

Free will. She got it.

“I just want them to be happy like we are, Jake.”

“I know you do.” Her hand in his, he brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them.

Encouraged by the gesture, Emily chanced running her fingers through his hair. For once, he didn’t stop her. “I was going to take Arien to Jackson tomorrow. She probably won’t want to go now.”

“Show up. Take her anyway.”

“She’ll go.” With a wink, Billy clicked his tongue. “There’s a Starbucks in Jackson. Tanner told me she’s always goin’ on about them fancy coffees they got.”

She’d resort to bribery if she had to. Suddenly elated, she grinned. “You’re right.”

Jake chuckled. “We better get goin’. Take a walk with us, Emily.”

Tucked tight between them, they strolled outside to Jake’s truck. Leaning back against the passenger side door, Billy pulled her into his arms to kiss her goodnight. Fingers tangling in his hair, she slipped her tongue inside, while Jake pressed in from behind her.

He’d never done that before. Most often, when Billy kissed her, Jake would look away or get in the truck to give them a moment, but not this time. He swept her hair to the side. Cool air grazing her neck, Emily felt the warmth of his breath at her nape. His velvety lips brushing over her skin made her shiver.

Made her want them even more than she already did.

Emily reached behind her and, holding onto Jake’s hair, kissed Billy harder. His cock, granite in his pants, dug into her belly. She could feel his brother, hard and thick, against her ass. God, she couldn’t wait for them to be inside her.

Together.

Emily dreamt of it all the damn time. One in her ass, another in her cunt, or both in her pussy at the same time, stretching her wide open. Fuck. Would it hurt? Maybe. She didn’t care if it did. She wanted them that badly.

At the thought, Emily whimpered and yanked on Jake’s hair. He kissed her neck, his teeth nibbling on her skin. Billy’s fingers slid beneath her sweater to squeeze her breasts.

“More,” she squeaked.

He grabbed hold of her nipples between his fingers, flicking and pinching them the way he knew she liked. His teeth grazing her neck, Jake pushed his cock against her, grinding himself on her ass, while Billy thrust at her front.

“I think our girl needs to come.”

Yes. Yes, I do.

“Then, by all means, make her come, brother.”

Billy’s fingers went to the button on her pants. As the zipper came down, Emily held onto Jake’s hair with both hands, keeping him there against her. She glanced down to see Billy pulling her jeans to her knees.

“Tell him what you want, wild one.” Smiling against her skin, Jake crooned the words in her ear.

“I want to come.”

“How do you want to come? On his fingers?” He licked up the side of her neck. “His tongue?”

Loving this side of Jake she’d never seen before, she said, “Both.”

“Good girl.” He sucked on her earlobe. “Now, tell him how many fingers you want inside that pussy, baby.”

With Billy running them through her slit, Emily answered, “Three.”

“Perfect, my love,” Jake whispered. “You’re fucking perfect.”

Licking her clit, Billy fucked her with his fingers. Jake held her, rubbing his dick against her ass while whispering how much he loved her and all the ways he was going to make her come once he could.

She came so fucking hard.

“Told ya so, sweet cheeks.” Billy sipped more kisses from her lips as Jake licked her cum off his fingers.

You sure did.

“Night, baby. I love you.” He kissed her once more. “Call me when you and Arien get home from Jackson.” Then he got in the truck and shut the door.

Jake turned her around to face him and held his lips to her forehead.

“I love you with every breath, michante .” My heart. “You know that.”

Spent and speechless, Emily could only nod against his chest.

“Say it,” he commanded, gently lifting her chin with his finger. “Tell me you feel it in your bones.”

“I do.” She wet her lips. “It’s just that sometimes…”

“I know. You need to feel my hands on you.”

And your lips. The taste of your tongue.

Not daring to say it, she closed her eyes and basked in the feeling of his fingers tracing her spine. The heat coiling between her legs. Without a coat, the November air was frosty, but in his arms, she was burning.

“I need you, too, wild one.” His dick poking at her belly, he pressed in. “We just have to wait a little while longer.”

“But it’s so hard.”

“I know it is.” Threading his fingers in her hair, Jake bent her head and kissed her crown. “It’s the hardest part.”