Rescue Party (7 page)

“Sex. I hope it’s good sex,” Pam said.

Kacy nodded.

They’d all waited for good guys, and the waiting had grown tedious and frustrating. Kacy finally thought she’d met men she could see some future with. They had substance, jobs and a sense of community. They were good to her and each other.

They were also into sex parties.

Shaking her head, Kacy needed to hear it from the men. “I’m sorry, Moira. We’re all waiting for the right one. I know people in group relationships. There are plenty in Lucky Springs. Maybe it works for some people.”

“I never imagined it’d be you,” Pam said softly.

“Me either. And I’m not saying it is working. We haven’t discussed what it is. The flood sort of scrambled everything up. Emergencies do that.” Kacy let go of the fear and ate her dinner.

“Well, the flood excuse won’t fly for much longer. You’ll have to sort out the situation and decide where you want to live. Plenty of people would take that place you’re renting, once the flood damage is all fixed.” Pam nodded and focused on the food.

“Most places will have a little water damage. That’ll be nothing. Kacy has to figure out whatever is going on with those men and her future. Once you’re in that group, well it’s a small town,” Moira said.

“But plenty of people do it. Married couples and all that do the parties.” Pam waved it off.

“I’m not judging, I’m saying she has to decide what’s right for her. She needed to know all the facts. I never thought of her as a group-sex girl. But hey, more power to her. Sex parties are another step beyond, and she didn’t know. I never imagined we’d be having this sort of talk.” Moira finished her fries and sat back.

“Neither did I,” Kacy admitted softly.

* * * *

Steve hated the smell of wet dog, but the smell of sweaty teenagers was worse. He and the other guys piled back into the house after helping Dean settle in some new animals brought in from the floods.

The second he saw Kacy sitting at the kitchen table he knew something was wrong. She had that prim and serious expression he remembered from school.

“Have a nice dinner?” he asked.

“Yes and no. At first, I missed you guys.” She looked down at her hands. “Then I got some new information.”

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked.

“Sit down, please. We need to talk.” She took a deep breath.

The three men sat, and Steve exchanged a look with Dean. They’d expected her to have an issue with the arrangement at some point. Clay seemed the most nervous.

“What do you want to talk about? Moving in here permanently?” Clay asked hopefully.

“That would be very premature. I haven’t been invited. We haven’t been involved that long. It’s been mostly sexual.”

“It’s more than sex, Kacy,” Steve said.

“I was hoping so. And I thought it might have a future. Not that I relish telling my family I have three men in my life, but it felt so open and honest.” She shook her head.

“We are.” Dean shrugged. “We’re into men and women. Clay is newer to the group, but he knows we want him to stay. We want you, too. You’re invited to move in.” Dean reached over and put his hand on hers.

“That’s nice to hear, but what about the parties?” she asked.

Steve bit the inside of his lip to keep the cursing in. He believed she wouldn’t learn about that before they decided to tell her. Clearly, she’d gotten the full scoop. “It’s not what you think.”

“Really? I heard all three of you were at the sex parties and screwed my friend’s sister, Clara. You never mentioned anything about those parties or having an open situation.” She tapped her heel.

“We’ve done a lot at the parties. All of it was totally safe,” Dean said.

“So Clara isn’t who you want to date outside of the party? However, she’s good enough to screw while there?” Kacy shook her head. “I don’t get it. What’s going on here?”

“The parties aren’t seedy. It’s not as if we did anything behind your back.” Clay shrugged.

“I’ve never been invited, and you never said anything about it.” She looked at the table instead of the men.

Steve felt her shutting down and getting angry. “Listen, Kacy. Dean and I need a woman in our life. We hadn’t found the right one. So yeah, we started going to the parties to get that fix until we found the right woman. We found Clay there, and it’s worked beyond the sex parties. They aren’t cheating or shameful. They aren’t bad. They help keep people in their relationships because they can share the experience. You can pick your level of involvement and add a little spice.”

“A little?” she scoffed.

“There are plenty of couples who go there to be watched. That’s it. Some people just play the voyeur or others actually share someone. Some people are into some kink, but seriously, where around here are you going to get that freedom? It’s a place to be open. Clara isn’t right for us. You are,” Steve said firmly.

He took her other hand, but she was stiff and filled with anger.

“You never told me about the parties. Not after two weeks of sex and sharing. Did you want to keep me at home and sneak off to parties for the wilder stuff?” She pulled her hands away from the men and folded her arms.

“No! We were going to tell you when we figured out how,” Dean insisted.

Her eyes were frozen, and Steve could see the tension in her. “I’m sorry we weren’t more upfront, but we wanted you to stay and give us a chance after that first night. We didn’t want to scare you off.”

“Do you think I didn’t know about the parties? Everyone does,” she said sharply.

“We’d never do anything like that without you. Not now.” Dean shook his head. “We’d never cheat on you.”

“The parties gave you access to various women. You don’t want the parties now?” she looked Steve in the eyes.

“That’s a complicated thing to answer,” Clay said.

Steve wanted to punch Clay for a moment, but there was no quick fix for the long conversation ahead. They just had to keep Kacy from leaving them before they made their case and clearly got the message across. Angry women didn’t always listen. He’d learned that growing up with four sisters.

Chapter Five

The fact that they hadn’t handled this upfront, and they didn’t have any plan on how to talk about it, only pissed her off more.

“Complicated?” All along, she’d told herself this was a fling. This was her time to be wild, and no one would have to know. But she’d grown attached to them and thought they’d felt the same way. “Not, it’s really not. Is this even real? Have you moved in, Clay? Does your family know about this, or is it just a fleeting bit of fun?”

“It’s not. My uncle is judgmental, but my mom knows what’s going on,” Clay said.

“We didn’t want to scare you off with the parties. But we’d love for you to go with us,” Steve said.

For a second, the idea aroused her, but this wasn’t a fantasy. This was reality, and they’d waited so long to bring it up. Did they really want her along? “But I had to hear about it from my friends? I realized we’ve only been fooling around a couple of weeks, but we never talked about it being serious. Why not bring up the parties? If I’ll sleep with three men, what’s a party?”

“It’s different,” Clay replied.

Part of her
really
wanted to experience it, but they hadn’t been in any rush to share the adventure. “So I wouldn’t fit in. I understand.”

“People are really careful about who they invite and who sees them at a party. If the wrong people learn about them, there could be problems,” Dean said.

“Most people our age know about them. Not everyone goes, but I found out about you three going there. It’s not as secret as you thought.” She shook her head at them. What did she have to do to prove she wasn’t a prude?

It didn’t really matter. This wild detour was over for her.

“You learned about us because your friend’s sister goes to them. It's six degrees of separation, everyone knows someone who goes or has gone to a party. That doesn’t mean everyone comes back or is a regular. If you go for curiosity or to be with us once, people might get worried you’ll out them. It’s not something to rush into anyway,” Steve said.

Clay leaned forward. “We didn’t want you to feel pressured to go either. It’s not for everyone. I never expected to find myself attracted to two men doing each other there. We wanted to make sure you’re into us, and you weren’t going to find a better offer.”

“Right, because all the hot men in Lucky Springs are dying to date the goody-two-shoes from school.” She rolled her eyes, not buying the flattery.

“It’s true. Think about if you showed up there. Three men all over you and getting you off and letting others watch. You’d be in demand. People do invite others to play at the parties. You can say no, we can be a fixed group, but that doesn’t stop people from asking. We wanted to make sure you wouldn’t want anyone else before we even brought up the parties. Plenty of people know about the parties and keep it private from those who’d disapprove. It’s been happening for years.” Steve blushed and shrugged. “We don’t want to lose you. We love you.”

“After only two weeks?” She wanted to believe them. She wanted to give in and trust her own feelings, but, logically, it was too fast. It was insane. “That’s the flood stress and lust talking. When things are as crazy as they have been, feelings are skewed. It’s not possible.”

“You know how we feel better than we do? Maybe what rubbed people wrong was less the goody-two-shoes and more the Ms. Know-it-all?” Clay teased.

She glared at him but knew part of it was true. “You sound like my sisters. I just didn’t want them to make the same mistakes some girls do. Men, I avoided making my aunt’s mistakes there. Better I talk back and show I’m smart than play dumb and be talked down to.”

“No one here is going to put you down verbally or anything like that. We know you’re smart, and you’re not the dependent type.” Dean smiled as if the very idea was truly funny.

“I don’t want you to need us. Sure, in the flood…that’s an emergency. Everyone needs help sometimes. But for a relationship, especially as odd as this is, you can’t need us. You have to want us. And it won’t be easy or free of issues.” Steve sat back. “Rushing into anything is a mistake, I admit it. If we’d just met each other, it’d be insane to think we’d fall in love in a couple of weeks.”

“We’ve known each other all our lives, really. People grow and mature, but I don’t see any major changes here.” Clay shrugged.

“You like dick now,” Kacy replied.

Clay laughed. “I do. If I were mature or open-minded in high school, maybe I’d have figured that much out. I had the popular older brother and jock dad pushing me to have lots of fun and win. Like Steve, he was a popular jock. It’s nice to be on top. Who doesn’t want that? It never consciously occurred to me I liked guys. I do like girls.”

He’d proven that enough. She had no doubts the men craved her maybe more than each other. She loved being the center of their attention. But all the attention of this relationship in the future might not be positive. Was she willing to face it all and trust they’d be together?

“I know we’re not strangers. I just think we rushed into it all and maybe my living here made it awkward. I’ll pack a bag and stay with some friends tonight. We need a break.” She headed for the spare bedroom where she’d unpacked her things.

Clay followed her. “Come on, Kacy. You don’t want to go.”

“You’re so sure you want to stay? It’s all happened so fast. How do we know what’ll last and what’s real?” She packed the essentials and hated feeling as if she were a nomad. Her house was done, but the furniture was being cleaned a second time to be sure. The stories of mold persisting in the humid climate had made her paranoid. Or maybe it was just another excuse to stay?

“I know what I feel. I know the parties don’t scare me. I’m not going to lose Dean and Steve. You need to try one to get it. Truly, we weren’t keeping it from you. We didn’t want to scare you off with the idea we’re swinging with everyone in Lucky Springs. Those two have been a couple since college. They need a woman in the mix and somehow I fit in. Without you, no one will be happy.” Clay shook his head.

“I’m sure there are other women at the parties.” She wasn’t going to let Clay or Steve, the two more aggressive men in the group, try to intimidate her into staying.

She marched to the front door with her purse over one shoulder, keys in hand and suitcase rolling behind her. “I’m sorry, but I need some time to think.”

Dean followed her out the door and into the driveway. “Think? I think we need to talk.”

She turned and faced him. “Love? Sex parties? We’ll talk in circles about that stuff. We need to regroup and deal with reality for a while.”

“We need to deal with it together,” he replied.

When she turned back and headed for her rental car, strong arms snagged her by the waist. Dean wouldn’t! The animal lover was strong but not a caveman. Yet here he was, carrying her back in the house. The suitcase was abandoned on the pavement, but she clutched her purse.

“Let me down, Dean. You’ve lost your mind!” She wiggled, trying not to let his hard and hot body arouse her. She had to stand her ground…if only her feet were on it.

Dean dropped her on the sofa and straddled her legs, sitting on her so she couldn’t get away. “We haven’t been to a party since we rescued you. We haven’t cheated on you, and we don’t need any other woman in our bed. You might not believe people fall in love fast, but they do.”

“Right. Prove it,” she said.

“I fell for Steve the first time I stayed over at my friend’s house. I never had a crush on my best friend, but I wanted Steve. It took years for us to figure out what was right for us. Liking women and each other. Then for a long time, we used the parties to get our woman fix.”

Steve sat next to her on the couch but made no move to free her. “It wasn’t really enough, but until we met the right woman, it worked.”

Clay sat on her other side. “I fell for those two right away. Seeing them at the party together was seductive. I’d seen men screwing before on the Army post. It was good for me to be in that different world after high school. I realized macho and gay weren’t mutually exclusive. Until I came home and found those two…I never loved a man or men.”