Homewrecker (Into the Flames #1) (33 page)

I throw my hands up feigning exasperation and I turn to walk away but he grabs my arm. “Try to do something nice by washing some clothes and it gets turned into a seventies porn intro in here.”

Dropping his lips against my ear, Dixon sighs. “Fortunately for you, this can’t be a seventies porn because your pussy doesn’t resemble a shag carpet.”

I gag at the thought which makes both of them laugh at me. “That’s just gross.” Sliding my hand around his hip, I snap the waistband on his boxers. “Am I going to have to put you in the washing machine with your clothes on, or are you going to do as I asked and strip?”

“Mmmm, bubbles and a spin cycle. I could honestly go either way on this one.”

I look at Gunnar for some help, but he does nothing but shrug. “I’m with him on the spin cycle thing.” Beside me, Dixon throws his hands in the air and does a victory dance. “But, I’m with Kennedy on the get your ass clean part. Shower now so we can talk and get some shit done tonight.”

His arms fall in defeat and Dixon pouts. “I feel ganged up on all of a sudden. All to get me naked. I almost feel violated.” Hanging his head he walk past me like a scolded child. I reach out as he steps by me and pinch his ass, making him jump. “Help I need an adult!” he yells and runs away from me. “Preferably a sexy naked wet adult that will let me stick it in her butt.”

I laugh and make my way over to the couch, dropping down next to Gunnar. “For someone who doesn’t listen when I say get naked, you’re awfully specific when it comes to your wants.”

“Wanna stick my dick in your twat,” he sings, finally dancing his way down the hallway. “Oh, if you ride me it would hit that sweet spot. Make you scream around your husband’s cock. I want my dick in your twat!”

I can’t breathe as I roll into Gunnar’s side and laugh so hard my stomach aches. He wraps his arm around my shoulder, laughing right along with me.

“How the hell did we end up friends with that in school?” he asks after hearing the water turn on and listening to Dixon belt out a song about double dipping with their dicks. It’s not bad considering he manages to make it work with the tune of “The Twist” by Fat Boys. We make our way to the garage and load the washer with Dixon’s smoke covered clothes.

Shaking my head, I try to catch my breath before answering him as we head back to the couch. “If I remember correctly he walked up, said something to you about a car that made no sense at all. Then he made the mistake of looking at Lynsey and asking her if she wanted to play naked cowboys and Indians.”

“Oh yeah…” he nods, pulling me closer. “That was the first time I told Lyn I loved her. Watchin’ her punch him in the face was the funniest thing ever.”

“Now she just steals his beer and threatens to whoop peoples’ asses with giant rubber cocks. Where the hell did we go wrong with her?”

“Damn kids think they can have a mind of their own when they grow up. You have to admit that watchin’ her slap him in the face with a dildo at her birthday party was amazing.”

Before I have a chance to reply the bathroom door gets ripped open and Dixon yells down the hall. “Vietnam War flashbacks, damn it! Are you tryin’ to bring back the nightmares, assholes?”

“Oh, poor baby,” I tease. “How can I fix it?”

“The only way to counteract the dreams is with oral. Or anal. Oh hell, as long as you’re touchin’ my cock I’ll have a good night.”

Gunnar holds up a finger, telling me to wait a second so he can say something. “Dude, if you need Goodnites because of a bladder control issue we’re gonna have to make a store run before bedtime. No accidents in the big kid bed!”

Dixon’s feet slap against the floor as he runs toward the living room in nothing but a pair of Gunnar’s jeans. I brace myself because I know what he’s about to do and I can almost count down the seconds until leaps into the air. I draw my legs into my chest as protection. His knees hit next to me as he superman dives across the couch so he lands in Gunnar’s lap as well. When he stops bouncing I pull my legs up and drape them over his bare back.

Once the laughter that fills the room calms down, Gunnar wraps his arm around me again and pulls me into his chest. I slide my fingers along the length of Dixon’s spine and run them through his wet hair. After everything we’ve gone through this is exactly what we needed. We needed to know that we could still manage to have the easy-going nature that we’ve always had. I know for a fact that losing that wouldn’t go over well with any of us. All the sex in the world wouldn’t replace the loss of the relationship we’ve worked years for.

In the comfortable silence, I draw in a relaxed breath. I know we have to discuss where we go from here, but the mood in the room is perfect right now and it’s something I want to keep.

“Mmm, snuggles are even better than bubbles.” Dixon rotates his head so my fingernails scrape the spot he wants them on. “And by the way, you asshole,” he blurts at Gunnar. “The only time the bed would ever be wet when I’m in it is if we just finished makin’ Kennedy wake the neighborhood.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be having a serious conversation?” I ask, figuring it’s now or never. Leaning over I press my lips against the hollow of Gunnar’s throat. “I will never understand how we always get so far off-track when there is so much to be discussed.”

Dixon’s eyes fly to Gunnar and they both shake their heads. “Does she not realize?”

“Nope,” Gunnar sighs, popping the p.

I slap my hand down against Dixon’s bare back, causing him to jump. “Do I not realize
what
?”

“It’s so cute that you don’t know. And here I was thinkin’ Mark was the oblivious one of the group all this time.” I drag my nails down his back until I reach his ass. Digging them in until he yelps and I repeat myself. “Almost every time anyone wants to have a serious conversation, you change the topic and then get flustered when everyone else keeps the entertainment goin’. Like today, we have a serious topic that needs to be discussed and you meet me at the door and tell me to get nekkid. You start the shenanigans, and then wonder how we get so far off-track.”

“Oh my god,” I mutter.

Realization of just how right they are dawns on me and leaves me wondering how many arguments I’ve avoided by doing that. Would I have been able to talk things out with Gunnar and gotten him to open up and let go with me? Would anything have ever happened between Dixon and I that night? Holy shit… Was I like this in high school? If I was, how do I know that Dixon didn’t try to tell me how he felt only to be shot down with some lame ass joke?

Everything in my life could have had a completely different outcome. Who knows if I’d be sitting here right now with these two. Or either one of them at all. What if everything was different than it is right now? How do I know if I would even like the person I turned out to be, or the person I ended up with? I can feel the panic rising and tightness grips my chest as I let my mind race into overdrive.

“Babe,” Gunnar says, running his hand along my arm to soothe me. “Stop overthinkin’. We never said anything, because we never wanted you to change.”

“I don’t want to be someone that can’t have a serious conversation when I need to.”

Pushing himself onto his knees, Dixon frames my face between his hands. “Do you know how awkward this afternoon would’ve been if you didn’t meet me at the door like you did? Fuck, Kennedy, I had to force myself to come back here because I was afraid of how we were all gonna act around each other after last night. When I walked through that door, if you hadn’t have been there, I would’ve kept my head down and stayed quiet.”

“I don’t want things to be awkward at all,” I whisper through mashed lips because Dixon hasn’t let go of my hands.

“Then don’t change.”

“Kennedy, we’ve spent over twenty years together.” Gunnar pulls my attention when he starts to talk, but Dixon doesn’t release my face so I shift my eyes over to where he’s sitting. “Our personalities may be what kept us together this long, but you actin’ like yourself is what kept our group from falling apart more times than I can count.”

“Take a breath, focus on what we need to talk about, and if an inappropriate comment slips out we’ll deal with it. Between the three of us I’m sure one of us will slip up, but there are two other people to get us back on track.”

They’re right, and that’s really good advice coming from Dixon going into this relationship, so I store it away for a day that we will inevitably need it. I do need to remember that our personalities are the glue that have kept us all together this long. We’re all completely different from each other, but we fit together like a gang of misfits who are always there for each other.

Pulling my face out of Dixon’s grip, I settle myself between them and grab each one of their hands. This conversation can’t wait any longer. We need to discuss how this is going to work outside of the bedroom, since we can’t always stay there. We need to talk about how it will change things, especially living arrangements. We’re doomed to fail if we don’t get that settled now. I want nothing more than to fall asleep with both of them surrounding me every night, just like last night.

“So while you were off saving lives today, we were here talking over a few things. I was not, in any way shape or form worried that you weren’t coming home. Gunnar didn’t need to calm me down at all,” I lie, smiling shyly when Dixon laughs and presses a kiss into my shoulder. “Anyway, we’ve hashed a few things out that were keeping Gunnar and me from moving forward to begin with, and then we talked about where we wanted to see this go.”

“And where exactly do you see us goin’, Sunshine?” Dixon asks as Gunnar raises his free hand and begins ticking off his fingers but I don’t understand why.

“To the bedroom.” I grin. “I’d like three tickets to pound town, please.”

“Annnd there it is,” Gunnar laughs, dropping his hand that now has all five fingers raised. That’s when it hits me that he was counting the time it took me to blurt out an inappropriate comment. I huff because the asshole knows me better than I know myself.

“Hatechu,” I mutter, shaking my head.

Dixon brushes the hair away from my face and waits for me to look at him. “Anytime you wanna take a trip to pound town,” he says, trying to conceal his humor. “Gunnar and I will be more than willin’ to let you ride the bologna pony expressway all the way to double penetration station.”

Gunnar barks out a laugh behind me. “We interrupt this multi-orgasmic trip plannin’ to resume our normally scheduled serious chat about our future.”

Cocking my head sideways at Gunnar, I press my lips into a hard line, but fail miserably at keeping a straight face and laugh along with them. “Annnnnnywaaaaaaay,” I say, rolling my eyes. “We were talking about living arrangements.” Looking at Dixon, I run my hand up his arm, hoping he doesn’t freak out. “We don’t think this will work if we’re here and you are out at your house. We all need to be in one place.”

“OK. So, what do you suggest we do then, Sunshine?” Dixon asks.

“Since the lease isn’t up for a couple more months here, I say we all stay here and see how things go. When the lease is up we can reevaluate and decide what to do. If that’s something you’re interested in trying.”

“Is this what you want?” Dixon asks, his eyes shifting between Gunnar and me. “Just wanna be sure we’re all on the same page here because I wanna be wherever you are.”

“Yes,” Gunnar says, nodding his head.

Leaning up, I brush my lips over Dixon’s. “We want you here. This is where you belong, Dixon. I need you both in bed with me at night, to feel your arms around me, and your bodies pressed against mine. If you aren’t at the station overnight, you’re in bed with us.” My lips twitch up in a smile. “I also think that for convenience sake we should all sleep naked.”

“I’ll be damned, Gun, we got a twofer,” Dix says with a laugh.

Gunnar laughs and my face flames. “I’m gonna have to agree with her on that one,” Gunnar says, wrapping an arm around me and pressing a kiss to my temple.

The conversation gets turned back on point again and we work out the details. Dixon will need to go to his place and pick up some of his stuff to bring back here because walking around in Gunnar’s pants will only work for so long. Since there is no real food in the house because we haven’t been here, we all get dressed to go grab groceries and stop by Dixon’s place on the way back.

When we finally get everything packed up that Dixon needs to keep him from having to stop here every night, I watch them load it all into the bed of the truck. Their easy banter, wide smiles and stupid jokes that no one would understand but us, make me happy. It puts my mind at ease to know that even after everything we’ve been through, they can set it aside and see that they need each other as much as I need them both. It won’t be easy, I know that. I’m not going into this situation with rose colored glasses on. I know that even though Gunnar looks like he’s handling everything well, that the part of him that was hurt when he found everything out is still there. It isn’t something that simply goes away. I am fully aware that at some point the animosity he feels about it could make itself known, but I hope we can handle it when the time comes. Come hell or high water, I know we will make this work somehow.