Chapter Four
Sabrina watched Wyatt walk away and the minute the doors closed to the kitchen, turned on the asshole. The big, gorgeous asshole, with pitch black hair and a jaw made of granite. And seriously sexy shoulders.
None of which made up for the fact that he was a massive ass.
“Are you trying to make Wyatt feel like crap? Because I think you succeeded. I thought you two were friends.” She rather thought they were more, but they hadn’t said anything. The idea they were a couple made it even worse.
Sawyer turned her way, brows rising over his deep brown eyes. “We are. I wasn’t trying to make him feel bad.”
How could he not understand what he’d done wrong? “You tried to make him look uneducated.”
“He is. Did you hear the part about the GED?” Sawyer’s brows formed a V over his eyes. “It’s not like he went to college or anything. Neither did I. You should know I’m not very educated before you make any decisions.”
What was his point? She didn’t know there were any decisions to be made, but she ignored it. “What I heard was the part about him working hard to make up for something that wasn’t his fault. He got his GED despite the fact he didn’t have any support from his family.”
Sawyer’s eyes found his beer. “I know he worked hard. I was only teasing him.”
“You were bullying him.”
His eyes came back up, a flash of annoyance there. “No, if I was going to bully him I would have done way worse. Look, Sabrina, I don’t know where this outrage is coming from. I thought we were just talking. I thought you should probably know we’re not in your league when it comes to the smarts stuff. You should be aware. Though he does read quite a bit. It’s kind of annoying. He reads a book and thinks he knows things.”
“Yes, knowing things is what happens when you read a book. It’s kind of the point.” What exactly did he mean? “Why should I be aware? And why would you think I need someone to be in my league? I’m not snobby. Smarts are about more than a formal education. You need to be nicer to your partner.”
Partner was a good word. It was one of those middle of the road words with the potential to mean any number of things.
“I know there’s more to life than college, but…” Sawyer seemed to stop, his body going oddly still. “Partner? What do you mean?”
What did she mean? Panic flashed through her. She shouldn’t have used the word partner because she’d started thinking they were a couple. Oh, Wyatt had told her she was beautiful, but he was only being kind. These were grown men, not boys. There was zero reason for them to live together unless they were…together. Was it hard to be a couple in rural Colorado? Was that why they weren’t open about it? Teeny and Marie seemed to be fully accepted. But then she had a student who didn’t feel like he could come out to his parents. She hadn’t been here long enough to truly understand all the ways Bliss worked. It might be why they lived on this mountain and didn’t seem to spend much time in town. “I mean you’re partners. It’s okay. I don’t have a problem with it.”
He leaned forward slightly, seeming to get serious. “Look, I have to be honest with you. We’ve definitely done it, but it’s not like we’re formally partners, though I do think it’s what Wyatt’s angling for. I just can’t give it to him. The sex, yes, but you should know I’m not great with anything long term. I’m not built for it.”
Poor Wyatt. Her heart ached for him, but there was something calming about having the truth out there. She didn’t have to worry she would make a fool of herself. She knew the boundaries, and she and Wyatt could be friends. Though she might advise him to leave the glorious grump and find a kinder boyfriend. “You should be honest with him about what you want. How long have you been together?”
“He’s been here almost a year,” Sawyer replied. “We’ve done it probably four times. I’ll admit I don’t do it the way I used to when I was younger. Ty and I used to do it all the time. Like we would walk into a bar, and it was a free for all. I’m getting way pickier as I get older. There’s a time and a place, you know. I’m worried Wyatt wants more than I can give, and that’s something you should think about when he inevitably talks to you.”
Was she about to become their therapist? And was he talking about the Ty her sister sometimes worked with? The EMT? They were exes? Well, Sawyer seemed to have a type. Hot and charming. “You want me to tell him you don’t want something long term with him?”
Sawyer sighed like he was happy she understood. “I want you to think about what he can offer you and how hurt he might get if you dive into something physical with him.”
She was so confused. “I don’t see what I have to do with the fact that you’ve only had sex with your boyfriend four times this year.”
Sawyer’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped, and then the most brilliant smile came over his face. “Baby, we’re not gay. We’re both straight. We’re trying to figure out how to seduce you. That’s what I meant by partners. Given who your sister is and the fact you live in the valley, I assumed we were using the word in the same way.”
The world seemed to stop. He…Wyatt…they… “I’m sorry. What?”
Sawyer was giving her his “you’re a dumbass” stare. “He likes you.”
She set her spoon down because she wasn’t hungry anymore. What was Sawyer trying to do? “We just met.”
“You might have met him recently, but he’s seen you and liked you. It’s a dude thing. See, we don’t actually have to know a woman to know we want a woman. Same thing for me, but I thought you weren’t the kind of woman who could handle me. Now I know you’re mean.” The last was said with a smirk that lit his whole face with arrogant charm.
What the hell was going on? Ah, maybe Wyatt wasn’t the only one Sawyer was bullying today. She wasn’t sure why the man had taken one look at her and disliked her, but she wasn’t going to take his abuse. “That’s not nice of you, but it’s easy to see you’re not a nice man.”
“I never hid my personality.” He actually seemed happy she understood. “I’m not nice but I can be kind, and I can be good for certain things.”
“Like humiliating the women you take a dislike to?”
“What?”
She stood up, placing her napkin on the table. “I don’t have to sit here and listen to you make fun of me. I am well aware I’m not some bombshell.”
He stared at her as though pure willpower could keep her standing where she was. “Sabrina, why do you think I ran? And I did. I took one look at you with your soft eyes and hips I could hold on to, with all that hair, and a mouth I knew I’d want to kiss, and I ran like a fucking coward. Why do you think I ran? Do you think it was because I saw you and said no, I don’t want to know her? It would have been far easier to simply be polite to you and then never speak to you again. Instead, I made an ass of myself the likes of which the town below us still talks about to this day. I took one look at you and knew I wanted to fuck you, but I also made a few assumptions about you.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Assumptions?”
He stood slowly, unfurling his tall, muscular body like the gift it was. “I assumed you were the type of woman I stay away from. Innocent. Sweet. Nice. The kind of woman who would slap me if I offered her a hot night or two in bed. The kind who would never consider letting me touch her because I run a bar and I used to be a criminal. Think about the last part as you’re standing there looking like you could eat me alive.”
He used to be a criminal? She stashed those words away for later perusal. There was too much going on for her to handle it all. She had to focus on the immediate threat. “Not true. I’m not…looking at you like I want you.”
“You’re looking at me exactly the way you did the night I ran,” Sawyer said, his eyes narrow.
“I was only trying to get a drink.” It was the lie she told herself every time she thought about that night. Which was way too many times.
A low chuckle came from Sawyer. “Sure you were. You only wanted a drink. You didn’t want me. You shouldn’t want me. If you were as smart as I think you are, you would run the way I did.”
There was one problem with the scenario. “I can’t. If I leave, I’ll probably die.”
“And that’s why you’re going to fail, baby,” Sawyer said in a low tone that stroked over all of her senses. “You’re making all the wrong choices, and it’s going to get you straight into bed with two men you have zero business fucking around with. Do you have any idea the things we want to do to you?”
Wyatt and Sawyer? Both of them. At the same time. Four hands on her. Two pairs of lips caressing her skin. The thought took her breath away. She wasn’t sure why she was so shocked at the notion. A few days before she’d been on a date with two men looking for a Bliss-style relationship, but she hadn’t felt this wild thrill of anticipation. Along with the thrill was the utter fear he was making fun of her. There was no way big, sexy Sawyer had been plotting with gorgeous Wyatt on how to seduce her schoolteacher self. “Stop it.”
“I’ll stop it if you tell me you don’t want me. Make me believe it, Sabrina. Otherwise, you are fucking doomed, baby. You should have played it sweet, but no, you showed me your claws and I liked them.”
She had to force herself to breathe. “You’re being cruel now. You don’t want me. Wyatt doesn’t want me.”
“Wyatt took one look at you a couple of months ago and has been following you around ever since, and it’s played hell on my ability to get laid. Turns out despite all my trying to not fall into the whole Bliss-sharing thing, I genuinely prefer to have a partner. When Wyatt showed up I thought, good, while he’s here I’ll play the field a little. We only had a couple of women before he caught sight of you, and now he’s a fucking virgin saving himself for his wedding night, and the thought of going out and finding my own one-night stand holds no appeal at all. However, the thing that does hold appeal is spending the next couple of days snowed in here with you, fucking this feeling I have out of my system. What do you say, Teach?”
“You want to sleep with me?” Sabrina couldn’t believe she was asking the question.
One big shoulder shrugged, and he was far too close to her. So close she could feel the heat coming off his big body. “If we fall asleep, I won’t mind, but this isn’t about sleeping. This is about getting you out of my system because we can’t work.”
“I never said I wanted a boyfriend.” But hadn’t she taken one look at this man and wanted to know him? In any way she could. She’d been wrong about him. He wasn’t someone she could date, but she was stuck here with him. It was a terrible idea. Terrible.
“Good.” Sawyer seemed oddly satisfied. “Do you want a lover? Not forever. Just a couple of days and then we go our separate ways, and when we see each other we can be friendly.”
“I don’t think you can be friendly to save your own life.”
He loomed over her, his hand coming up to stroke her chin so she had to look up at him. “Probably, but maybe I won’t need to run every time I see you because I’m afraid I’ll do this.”
His head lowered and her breath caught in her chest as his lips brushed over hers.
How long had it been since she’d felt lips on hers? So damn long. She’d thrown herself into her work and starting her career, and then her mother had been sick. Then her sister. She’d forgotten how to live and this…oh, this made her feel so alive. Her hands went to his waist, and she wished there wasn’t a flannel shirt between them. Her impulse was to pull it out of the encasing of his jeans so she could feel warm skin.
Sawyer groaned and backed her up against the table as his tongue came out, running over her bottom lip and demanding entry. She gave it to him, her heart rate tripling as his tongue stroked inside. Warmth pooled in her pelvis, and she could feel her pussy softening up. One kiss. It was all it took for this man to get her wet and ready for sex when she hadn’t even felt the need in years.
“Let me in,” Sawyer said, the words rumbling against her lips.
“I already did.” She’d opened her mouth for him. She didn’t want him to stop. Time seemed meaningless right now. So did anything outside of this room. It didn’t matter. What mattered was getting him to kiss her again.
He picked her up and set her on the dining table. She heard something hit the floor, but it didn’t matter because he kissed her and eased between her legs. “This is what I want. Let me in, Teach.”
She didn’t respond. Couldn’t because his tongue was in her mouth again, boldly invading and stroking against her own. Somehow her arms ended up wrapped around him, and she felt her back hit the table, her legs around his hips. And there it was. Proof the man wasn’t lying. His cock was rock hard against her pelvis.
His hand stroked against her hair as he kissed her.
This…this was what she’d waited for all her life. This feeling. This was more than lust, less than love. This was addiction and pleasure and life.
“I think she’s going to have to call you back, Deputy.”
Wyatt’s deep voice broke through the haze of desire Sawyer had created around her. She gasped and started to push at his big chest.
Sawyer stood up, turning his partner’s way. “Sorry. I didn’t hear the phone ring.”
Wyatt offered her the phone. “It’s your sister. She’s worried about you. I’ll clean up the kitchen and see you two in the morning.”
Sabrina scrambled to get off the table. What the hell had she done? Bella seemed to be the only one happy about what had happened since she was currently cleaning the floor of the stew they’d spilled. She grabbed the phone like it was a lifeline. Wyatt simply turned and walked back into the kitchen.
“This isn’t over, Teach,” Sawyer said. “I’m going to go find out what got Wyatt’s panties in a wad. You talk to your sister, and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, simply turned and walked away.
“Sabrina?” Her sister’s voice came from the headset.
Tears pierced Sabrina’s eyes. What had she done? She put the phone to her ear. At least she had her sister to give her advice.
She was going to need it.
* * * *
Sawyer should have known it would all go to hell. Though he hadn’t expected Wyatt to send it there. One minute he’d been so close to heaven and then… Well, he wasn’t even sure what had happened. Why hadn’t Wyatt maneuvered himself in? Sawyer was almost certain Sabrina would have accepted him. She’d been so fucking responsive, so ready to take everything he wanted to give her.
He heard Sabrina say hello to her sister as she retreated to the back of the cabin. Likely to lock herself in her room.
Coward.
Now he did understand her actions. He knew why she’d retreated. The question was what had happened to his partner.
Bella licked the floor where the bowl had spilled. She’d already gotten everything in the bowl, but she wasn’t about to leave any deliciousness behind. Sawyer kind of understood the dog. He wished he’d had a chance to lick Sabrina. He reached down and grabbed the bowl, putting it back on the table. “Wish me luck, Bella.”
Sawyer pushed through the kitchen doors. Wyatt stood at the sink, the window in front of him dark with night, though he could see the snow was still falling. “Dude, what is your damage?”
Wyatt turned on him, his jaw tight. “My damage? Are you kidding me? You knew how I felt about her and you tried to fuck her anyway. Was this your way of showing me it can’t work?”
He was pretty shocked by Wyatt’s hostility. Were they even watching the same show? “I have spent all night trying to make it work. What are you talking about?”
Wyatt pointed a finger his way. “I’m talking about the way you’ve cut me off at the knees at every single turn. Every time she asked me a question and I answered, your ass had something to say about it. Always negative.”
Had he been? “I was being realistic, Wyatt. Look, I wasn’t trying to…”
Wyatt wasn’t listening. “You tell her how dumb I am.”
“I didn’t say dumb, but I didn’t want her to think we’re college graduates or something.” Now that he thought about it there might have been a better way to let her know about their differences.
“You tell her how shitty my family is.”
“Your family is a literal crime syndicate,” Sawyer pointed out. “Not any way out of shitty there, buddy.”
“And then when you’ve driven me off, you get her on the table and start to fuck her?” Wyatt’s tone was low and angry. “You couldn’t go to the bedroom or something? I suppose it would have taken me longer to find you if you’d had any amount of respect for her.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Sawyer insisted. “I totally respect her. She’s mean and she thought we were gay. I get it. We’re adult men living together. No biggie. But I wanted to show her we aren’t, and just saying it didn’t feel strong enough.”
He’d needed to drive the point home, and he would have. With his dick.
Wyatt had gone still, his expression blank. “She thought we were a couple?”
Sawyer shrugged. “Like I said, we’re roommates, and not many dudes our age have roommates.”
Wyatt nodded as though confirming something in his head. “She thinks I’m weak.”
His head wasn’t very smart. “What?”
“I did too much girl shit.”
Sawyer was deeply confused. “Girl shit?”
“Cooking. Trying to ask polite questions. I talked about fucking brownies.” Wyatt huffed out a laugh that held no humor. “Naturally she thinks we’re gay and I’m the wife.”
Sawyer took a deep breath and didn’t follow through on his first instinct which was to call the motherfucker out for being an asshole. This wasn’t about Wyatt’s feelings. This was all the bullshit his family had taught him. Wyatt had required some deprogramming, and it looked like he needed a reminder. “Cooking isn’t girl shit. We need to eat, too, and you’re good at it. Brownies are delicious, man. I keep this place clean because I like it clean, not because I’m getting in touch with my inner woman. All the shit your dad and brother told you was woman’s work was because they’re too lazy to know how to take care of themselves. Housework should be done by anyone who lives in a house. You want a relationship with a woman, not to find a woman who’ll do all the shit you don’t want to do. You want a partnership, and you’ve worked to learn how to be a good one. You’re upset, but you can’t let those voices take over, man. You know they’re wrong.”
Wyatt took a long breath, his eyes closing. When he opened them again he seemed calmer. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I struggle to figure out what’s right and what’s crap my family shoved down my throat so I wouldn’t see how wrong we all were.”
Sawyer nodded, happy the drama level seemed to be coming down slightly. “Exactly. Dude, you told me your brother said accounting was for beta men. Numbers, being smart enough to handle your own money, is for lesser men. Your family is fucked up. Stop letting them seep in and destroy everything. There’s no alphas or betas. We’re not a fucking werewolf pack. Some people need to be told what they are. You are not one of those people. You get to be Wyatt. You get to like cooking and accounting and still be a strong man.”
Wyatt’s head fell back, and when it came up again it was clear Sawyer had gotten through to him. He was surprised at the wave of relief he felt. “You know for a self-proclaimed feelingless asshole, you’re a good friend, Sawyer.”
Yeah, he didn’t like how that made him feel either. Kind of warm. He was going to ignore the whole feeling thing. “Now can we talk about what happened? Maybe you don’t know how these things work. I thought I’d taught you. When one of us gets the woman we both want on her back, you join in, not interrupt.”
Wyatt’s head shook. “What the hell happened? I got the feeling you two low-key hated each other when I walked out.”
“Hate is a strong word. I definitely don’t hate her. I explained why I had the reaction I had to her in the beginning. I also let her know I would be open to spending the weekend in bed with her. Both of us. Then she did this thing where she said she wasn’t attracted to me, but she kissed me back, and then it went the way these things go.”
“With you nearly fucking her on the dining room table.” Wyatt sighed. “We need to do better. Again, I’m sorry. I had a bad reaction. I got jealous because I thought she was choosing you over me. Which is fine if that’s what she wants.”
“We haven’t given her the option yet,” Sawyer pointed out.
Wyatt winced. “Isn’t it a little soon to ask her if she wants to go to bed with two men?”
“I’m going to be honest with you. This weekend is all I’m willing to commit to. I wasn’t lying to you. I can’t be in a relationship like the one you want. I don’t even want to be in a relationship.” He didn’t. He was happier alone. Though happy wasn’t the word he should use. Comfortable. He was more comfortable alone. Except he’d liked the last year of his life. It had been nice to have Wyatt around. But he wasn’t about to bring Sabrina in when he knew how people would react.
Wyatt stared at him for a moment. “You really don’t want to date her?”
The idea of him holding hands with a woman and taking her to Stella’s for dinner and then dancing at Trio was ludicrous. “I don’t have time to date.”
“Not everyone will leave you, Sawyer.”
He wasn’t doing this. “I mean what I’m saying. I would love to spend this weekend with her, but a weekend is all I have in me. If you want to try to see her afterward, then that’s your thing. I’m going to be open and honest with her about what I’m willing to give. And if you don’t want to, I’ll understand and I’ll back off.”
He didn’t want to. Every cell in his body shouted at him because he couldn’t conceive of never touching her again now that he had. Once he’d spent real time in bed with her, she would be out of his system, and he would be able to be friendly with her. Then it wouldn’t matter if she chose to date Wyatt. Though he still thought it was a bad idea.
Wyatt was wrong. He wasn’t backing off because his brothers had both left and didn’t seem to give a shit about him. He wasn’t staying away from close ties because his mom had died and then he’d watched his grandfather’s body and mind slowly decay. He simply knew himself and was realistic.
“All right.”
He wasn’t sure what Wyatt meant by those two words because there wasn’t much inflection behind them. “So you want me to back off?”
“No,” Wyatt replied. “Let’s talk to her. Be honest. See if she maybe is interested in a hot weekend and in getting to know me better. You’re only here for the sex. I’ll take care of her. She moved her whole life to Bliss. She’s got to be curious. Her sister’s in this kind of relationship. I can’t imagine she doesn’t want to try it, but hopefully she’ll also be open to dating in a more conventional way. Or we can find another guy.”
Wow. Those words had him standing up straight and for reasons he did not want to think about right now. Or ever. “You can’t bring in some random guy. You have to have a partner. You don’t, like, audition for a third. The guys have to be long-time friends.”
Wyatt’s brows rose in question. “Like Alexei and Caleb?”
“Okay. They weren’t exactly friends.” Caleb had pretty much hated Alexei. Or so he’d heard. It wasn’t like he sat around gossiping about the town citizens. He sometimes happened to be in the room where his servers were gossiping. Or he overheard Lucy and River talking about it.
Wyatt wasn’t done. “From what I understand, Michael didn’t know much about Ty when they started dating Lucy.”
Now he did know about that particular threesome. “Ty screwed up with Lucy or they wouldn’t have needed Michael at all. Michael kind of slipped through the cracks, and now they can’t get rid of him.”
“They’re happy together,” Wyatt shot back. “I’m keeping my options open, and you should understand if you decide to be stubborn, you don’t get a say in what happens to us after you’re gone.”
What did he mean by gone? “Well, I didn’t say I was leaving. I kind of live here.”
Wyatt’s eyes rolled. “You are so literal. I’m saying if you’re out, you don’t get a say in what I do when it comes to Sabrina.”
Sawyer wanted to argue because sometimes he thought Wyatt was a baby bird except with muscles and a rap sheet, but he was right about this. “All right.”
Wyatt seemed to ready himself for battle. “So we’re going to walk out there and ask her to sleep with us while we’re snowed in.”
“Or I could just kiss her and then we don’t have to talk about it.” He didn’t see why they had to be so formal. He’d told her what he wanted. She’d let him lay her out on the dining room table. Talk over. “This time, you come in from behind. Like kiss her neck or something.”
“We’re talking to her. I need verbal confirmation of consent,” Wyatt replied with a long-suffering sigh. “Buck it up, Sawyer. I’m in charge of this. I know that’s going to be hard for you, but this isn’t some tourist we’re picking up. I like this woman.”
Sawyer liked the tourists. They tended to be nice ladies. Well, he thought they probably were. It wasn’t like he spent a lot of time with them.
He would be spending days with Sabrina.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Locked up in a cabin with a woman he had no business being friends with, much less lovers.
But Wyatt was walking out of the kitchen, and Sawyer found himself following.
This was going to be a train wreck.
Or an amazing night. He wasn’t sure which one he hoped for.