“How was that for atater tot?”
Vail laughed lazily, and I shook my head, pointing at Fallon. “Doesn’t change a thing. Ye’re still eating healthy food and going to the doctor.”
The shame of what I’d done began niggling. Was this slow? No.Feck. Everything felt... off. I didn’t like the way Aspen’s and Cillian’s absence made me feel. There was a kind of urgency now, as though going to war with the Cartel had created a live or die sensation I neither craved nor cared for.
“You’re such a mom,” he grumbled.
I flicked him on the ear for that, and Vail laughed loudly. This was nice, even if Vail had scared us yesterday and Fallon had dismissed his appointment. I would be lying if I said I didn’t like spending time with them alone. With Cillian around, it was all about sex, sex, sex. While Fallon had just given me a blowjob, there was still a softness between the three of us that wasn’t present with Cillian.
He was too intense.
“So—” Fallon glanced between us. “—where are we going tonight? I want to get smashed.”
I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face. Maybe I needed to tire him out because I sure as hell wasn’t doing well at controlling him.
3
FALLON
The crackof the brilliant red Skee-Ball as it smacked the gray plastic at the top of the backstop and dropped to the lowest rung—a measly ten points—had Vail’s cheeks puffing up. He was never mean, so he struggled not to make fun of me. First his face blushed a sweet pink, then his eyes watered. After a valiant effort, he ended up gasping and snorting out a laugh.
“You’re terrible at this!” he said, loud enough to be heard over the other people talking at top volume in the bar. Fueled by alcohol, the men in suits at the table nearest ours were practically shouting a discussion about a boat one of them wanted to buy. They’d nearly convinced me it was the investment of a lifetime, and I didn’t even like the water that much. To my left an electronic dartboard blared as two women dressed in rainbow skirts put in quarters to start the game. Jay Z’s “Hard Knock Life” blasted from the sound system. My ears almost ached with all the noise.
“I got the looks, so it’s only fair I’m not great at everything.” I flashed Vail a smile and did an awkward shuffle that had him and Rowen shaking their heads and grinning. Rowen had been a good sport and agreed to come out tonight after giving us hell about all our life choices earlier, and I was glad. The three of us needed to unwind—together.
Rowen tugged on the collar of his green long-sleeved shirt and tipped back his mug while surveying the dim barroom. He smacked his lips as he lowered the mug. “I didn’t know a pub without a fried seafood menu existed in the Hamptons.”
I snorted and pushed his shoulder. “Are you happy or sad about that?”
“Neither, just didn’t know.” He winked at me.
Vail gulped the last of his beer as the Skee-Ball game made a sad honking noise at me. My turn was over.
“Hey, where are my tickets!” I glared at the dispenser attached to the game. Leaning down, I poked at the slot.
“You don’t get any when you lose,” Vail said, then cackled. If I didn’t love him so much, I would say he was being a tiny bit of a jerk, but he was cute, so I didn’t care too much. He handed me his mug, and I took a few steps and set it on the scratched round table that we’d claimed for the night.
Rowen examined his mug, and his cheeks flushed brighter than I’d ever seen them. “Me darlings, I hafta say, I’m not at all certain these are clean.” He scowled. “Aren’t there regulations about this type of shite?”
“Eh, the alcohol kills the germs.” I winked at him.
“Not enough in beer for that,” he said, but he took another sip with a shrug.
“You said you wanted to have a date night with me and Vail, if we were going out, and this is where we planned to go before we knew you were coming along.” I knocked my shoulder against his. “What? Aren’t you... up for it?” I took my life into my hands and tickled my fingers across his belly. The soft fabric of the shirt stretched over his hard muscles made me want to linger too long for this to be a joke, and he slapped his palm over my hand as I slid it lower.
He sighed and rolled his eyes, but his grin made my stomach warm. The combined essence of Rowen’s cologne and Vail’s natural, sweeter scent had my body heating more than was safe in public. Vail danced around beside me as he put money in the game, then picked up his ball. It was a thing of beauty to watch him take aim and sink his first fifty pointer in the finicky, hard to reach top hole.
“Why do ye like to come here so much?” Rowen slipped his hand around my side and caressed upward, something he wouldn’t have done so easily even a few days ago. I would blame the alcohol, but he seemed to loosen up toward me after my very fun trip under the dining room table earlier. Putting a guy’s dick in your mouth made him a little friendlier, but maybe it wasn’t just that I’d made him blow his wad. I didn’t really know. His eyes, more gray than blue in the low lighting, appeared to be stuck on me.
“Just watch,” I said with a laugh, turning to stare at Vail. He knew I loved to look at his ass in suit pants, so he’d worn the brown ones that did incredible things for his body, even though it made him stand out like a sore thumb in the dive bar. I was starting to have a very serious hard-on for his bow ties, especially this red one, and he took a lot of pleasure in giving me what I wanted. “I discovered this skill of Vail’s the first time we came here.”
Vail smirked—which was unusual—and took aim while bending far enough forward that his delicious ass stuck out toward me, and with a small hip wriggle, he landed another fifty pointer. Rowen grunted as if he was impressed, and I laughed.
“I need a kiss for luck!” Vail declared, and he came over and sucked on my bottom lip. The pressure of his soft mouth on mine got to me fast. I groaned and licked my tongue against the teasing tip of his, but before I could attack and devour him, he pulled back and moved on to Rowen. They shared a sweet smile that made my belly even warmer, then Vail’s mouth was on Rowen’s.
They clung together for a while, making out, and then Vail went back over to play the next ball in his game while Rowen blinked as if he was in a daze. I couldn’t help but notice the semi that had pushed out the front of his jeans. My fingers tingled with the urge to rub it. I liked sex a lot, but I almost enjoyed the confused expression on Rowen’s face more, and I wanted to keep it there. I could imagine the way his bulge would twitch under my fingers and beg me to keep playing with it. My belly clenched as I became ridiculously aware of my dick stuck in my jeans. I wasn’t embarrassing myself yet, but it wouldn’t take much.
“I’m up now,” Rowen said with a happy sigh, and I snickered. Rowen’s mouth fell open as Vail sank the remaining seven balls into the fifty-point hole. He whooped and jumped up and down in victory while a happy pink light flashed on top of the game. A cheer went up from the people around us who noticed Vail’s perfect score, and he took a bow. The guys at the game next to his gave him high-fives.
