One Wicked Night

Chapter Three

Tyler automatically lifted a hand to his smarting cheek and rubbed it, stunned into speechlessness. Kaelin stood there, big brown eyes wide, mouth in an O of horror. The chatter of the guests faded into silence, only the faint saxophone strains of the jazz CD playing quietly on the outdoor speakers drifting on the evening air.

Jesus fucking Christ. She did not just do that.

The two of them stared at each other, the air around them hot enough to burst into flames.

“Omigod,” she said. She closed her eyes. Opened them. “Omigod.”

She turned as if she was going to run, and he reached out and grabbed her upper arm. “Oh no, you don’t,” he said through gritted teeth, heat still stinging his face.

“Tyler.” His mother appeared at his side and he became aware of everyone around them, gawking at them as if they were a car wreck on the freeway. Shit. He glanced at his mom, took in the tightening of her mouth, the snapping in her eyes. “What are you doing?” She hissed the words out quietly.

What was he doing? What the fuck? He was the one who just got decked!

Nick appeared now, too, calm, controlled. He looked back and forth between him and Kaelin.

“I am so sorry,” Kaelin whispered to Tyler’s mom. “I didn’t intend to cause a scene.”

Mom looked at Kaelin. “What did he say to you?”

Kaelin just stared back at her and shook her head. “I—it wasn’t his fault,” she finally stammered, shocking Tyler. His mom cast a look of disbelief his way. Of course it was his fault. It was always his fault.

“I’m outta here,” he muttered, trying to push his way past Nick. “Let’s go.”

But Nick didn’t move, despite Tyler’s shove, and then Avery arrived, her eyes wide and darting back and forth between everyone.

“Don’t go, Tyler,” she begged. “Please.” She grabbed hold of his arm. “Come with me.”

He let his sister drag him to the far end of the deck. Chatter started humming again as people began talking, punctuated with a couple of nervous titters. He couldn’t help but follow Kaelin with his eyes even as Avery talked to him.

“Please, Tyler, don’t go,” she said. “It’s my wedding and I want you here.”

He watched his mom pat Kaelin’s shoulder reassuringly before going back to her other guests. He watched Nick standing there, head bent to Kaelin, talking to her.

What the fuck was he saying?

“Tyler.” Avery pushed at his shoulder.

He tried to focus on her. “Why do you want me here?” he demanded. “It’s just making everyone nuts.”

“You’re my brother,” she said, voice thick and teary. “And I’m getting married. And I want my family with me. All of my family.”

Christ, what was he supposed to say to that? She was his sister and it wasn’t her fault he was such an asshole that he got slapped in the middle of a party. He rubbed his face, hardly able to believe sweet little Kaelin Daume had done that.

And created quite a scene. A girl who lived her life as carefully as possible so as not to attract attention or risk embarrassment. Wow. He looked over at her again, nodding to Nick.

A slow smile tugged his mouth.

“Why did Kaelin slap you?”

He focused back on Avery. “Because I was being an asshole to her. As usual.”

She frowned. “God, Tyler, haven’t you grown up yet? You always did like to yank her chain. Geez, you were like a little boy with a crush…” Her voice trailed off and her gaze sharpened. Tyler’s gut tightened. He looked away from her penetrating gaze. Avery opened her mouth to speak, and he shot her a glare. She closed her mouth.

“Well,” she said. “Then I guess you deserved it.”

“Of course I did. I always do. Right?”

She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. “I’m not so sure of that. Why do you just keep digging yourself deeper?”

“I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.” He smiled. “I’ll stay, but just for you, Sis. Just keep me away from Mom and Dad or I might kill them.”

“And away from Kaelin, apparently,” she murmured.

He couldn’t stand it. What were Kaelin and Nick talking about over there? Without him? Probably about him and what a jerk he was. “I’ll behave,” he promised Avery, moving back toward Kaelin and Nick as if drawn by a powerful magnet.

He stopped beside them and they both looked at him.

His gaze glanced off Nick and landed on Kaelin. Fuck, why did he keep hurting her? What was wrong with him?

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, I’m sorry. I was being a jerk.”

Kaelin and Nick exchanged glances that confirmed his suspicions about what they’d been discussing.

“I’m kinda tense right now.” Tyler rubbed the back of his neck, keeping his voice low. “It isn’t easy coming back here after all this time.”

“Well, maybe you should come home a little more often,” Kaelin snapped. “I’m sure your parents miss you.”

Fuck. She had no idea what had happened. And he wasn’t about to tell her. “I doubt it,” he snarled.

“If I leave you two to go get us drinks, will another brawl break out?” Nick interjected.

Kaelin wrinkled her nose at him adorably. Sure, for Nick. “Of course not.”

Nick nodded and headed to the bar. Kaelin twisted her fingers together. Sticky silence surrounded them, there in the middle of a noisy party.

“That was about more than just my bugging you, wasn’t it?” He met her eyes.

She held his gaze but didn’t answer, and her pretty bottom lip quivered. And made him want to kiss it. “Fuck,” he muttered, dropping his head. His neck and shoulders were as hard as stone, that tight pain spreading up the back of his scalp. What could he say to her? How could he ever explain things?”

“It was a long time ago,” she said, her words clipped short. “It doesn’t matter.”

He lifted his head to look at her again. “Ah, Kaelin. You have changed.”

She lowered her chin. “You think?”

He smiled. “The Kaelin Daume I knew would never have slapped a guy’s face. Especially in the middle of a party.”

She licked her lips and it was so fucking sexy he forgot to breathe. “Well,” she said. “I don’t think that’s a good thing. And you’ve changed too.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “I thought we just established that I’m still an asshole.” Her cheeks went pink and he shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”

She bit her lip and looked up at him through her eyelashes. “I mean you’ve changed because you actually apologized. And admitted you were acting like a jerk.”

His mouth twisted and he had to fight the urge to shut her up by slamming his mouth over hers.

Nick returned carrying three glasses, handed one to Tyler and a wineglass to Kaelin. “Here,” he said. “I think we can all use this.”

“What is it? More Scotch?” Tyler grimaced.

Nick grinned. “Sorry, bud.”

“Better make sure there’s gonna be beer at the wedding,” Tyler said and took a swallow. His eyes damn near watered. “Avery!” he called to his sister. She turned, gave him a look, held up a finger as she finished a conversation with Aunt Mona.

“There will be beer,” Kaelin said. “I should know, since I booked everything.”

Tyler slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “Oh, thank Christ.”

He hadn’t thought before he’d done it, just reacted, but the feel of her soft, warm body against his, the smell of her hair, a sweet, fruity, floral scent that filled his senses, almost took him out at the knees and stalled his breath. He wanted to press his mouth to the top of her silky head, wrap her up and… His eyes met Nick’s over Kaelin’s head, Nick’s steady, knowing gaze, and he released Kaelin and stepped back.

She blinked and tugged at the neckline of her dress, cheeks even pinker now.

Avery arrived and her gaze tracked over Kaelin’s flushed cheeks, and Tyler’s own face heated up. “What’s up?”

“I was going to ask if there’d be beer at the reception, but Kaelin tells me there will be.”

Avery laughed. “Beer. Gawd, Tyler. Come on, my other bridesmaid just arrived. Come and meet her.”

Nick and Kaelin followed brother and sister to the French doors into the house where Scott’s best man Hardeep and his girlfriend Maddie stood. Kaelin had met Avery’s new friend a few times. She liked her, but sometimes it was hard not to feel left out when she and Avery talked about all the things they now had in common that Kaelin wasn’t part of. Plus, with Maddie and Hardeep being a couple, and Hardeep and Scott being good friends, the four of them spent a lot of time together. Maddie lived in Avery’s new world, with other friends Kaelin didn’t know. Although Kaelin and Avery shared a history and they would always be friends, their relationship had changed.

Last time Kaelin had visited Avery in Los Angeles, Avery had suggested Kaelin move there. “Don’t be silly,” Kaelin had said. “I can’t move away from Mapleglen.”

“Why not? Seriously. Your mom and dad are gone now. You can easily get a job here at some law firm.”

Kaelin looked down at her wineglass now, remembering how ridiculous and scary that thought had been, and yet…her life in Mapleglen was not the life she somehow had anticipated living. She didn’t even know exactly what she wanted, but she knew there was a hole in her life, an empty dissatisfaction that shifted from mild discontent to aching loneliness.

Maybe she should think about that idea again.

“Okay?” Nick asked in a low voice for her alone.

She smiled at him. “Of course.”

He’d talked to her after she’d slapped Tyler, made sure she was okay, agreed with her that Tyler could be a real jerk, made her laugh. And then he’d hugged her and a warm rush of affection had flowed through her. Well, and a little tingle of something else. Nick was really buff, big and strong and hard.

And so was Tyler. She sighed, thinking about her body’s reaction to Tyler’s casual hug. Man, maybe she should go back to Brent, just so they could sleep together. She was obviously sex-deprived. But sadly, sex with Brent hadn’t been all that great.

Avery introduced people and fetched drinks, and the evening sped by in a blur of conversation and laughter, a lingering awareness sparking her nerves every time she and Tyler locked glances, or she and Nick shared a smile.

“We’re heading out now,” Nick murmured to her later. “Guess we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh. You’re not staying here at the house?”

Nick shook his head. “No. Tyler wanted to stay at the hotel.”

“At the Red Maple Inn?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Well. That’s good, you’ll be right there for the wedding. And the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night. Mrs. Wirth has booked a private room there for dinner.”

“I won’t be at the rehearsal dinner.”

“Oh.” The dinner was the one part of the weekend Kaelin hadn’t had a hand in planning. Avery had allowed her mom to do whatever she wanted for the rehearsal dinner. Kaelin licked her lips, and looked up at Nick. “I guess it’s just for the wedding party.”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “No big deal. I can amuse myself for an evening.”

“I’m sure you still have some friends here.” Nick’s parents had moved away a few years ago, she knew, which was why he had an excuse for never coming back even if Tyler didn’t.

“Yeah. A few.”

Tyler walked up. “Ready to go?”

“Yup.” Guests had started leaving a while ago and the party was winding down.

“I told Avery I’ll help with whatever she needs done tomorrow,” Tyler said. “Apparently there’s all kind of shit to do—picking up decorations and crap.”

Kaelin grinned. “Yeah. Avery will be busy having her spa day.”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “I suppose you’re going with her.”

“Yes.” She sighed. “It’s not my thing, but Avery insisted on treating Maddie and me to manicures and pedicures and some kind of body scrub thing.”

Tyler eyed her body and heat followed his gaze.

“If you’re picking up the decorations, you can bring them to my place,” she said. “So I can take them on Saturday.”

“Where do you live, Kaelin?” Nick asked.

“Same place. My parents’ house.”

“Okay.”

“So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she rushed on a bit breathlessly.

She watched the two men leave out the front door, her nerves twitching, skin tingling. Exhaustion fell over her like a heavy blanket. Wow, what a roller coaster ride of an evening. Seeing Tyler again had her emotions all over the place, leaving her both drained and excited.

Bad. It was so bad.

She’d been so focused on pulling off this wedding for her best friend, making it everything Avery wanted it to be, she’d barely even thought about what it was going to be like to see Tyler and Nick again. It added a whole other dimension to everything, an unexpected, unsettling dimension. She covered her face with one hand briefly and lowered it just as Avery approached her. Avery wrapped her arms around her and hugged her.

“I’m sorry about the scene, Ave,” Kaelin said, hugging her best friend back.

“Don’t even worry about it. Every party needs a little excitement.”

“I don’t think your mom would agree.”

Avery snorted. “You know what she’s like.” She released Kaelin. “What was that about anyway?”

“Um…you mean with Tyler?”

“Yeah.” Avery’s searching gaze had Kaelin turning away to pick up some empty glasses off a table.

“Oh, he just drives me crazy.” She tried for a light and casual laugh but nearly choked on it. Avery followed her into the kitchen with more dishes.

“Mmmm.” Her noncommittal response made Kaelin nervous. “He’s such an intense guy.”

“Intense?” Kaelin shot Avery a glance over her shoulder from the dishwasher. “That’s not a word I would have used to describe Tyler. He always seems like he doesn’t give a shit about anything.”

“He seems that way,” she agreed. “So. Let’s talk about what’s happening tomorrow.”

The party finally over, the guests all gone, the kitchen spotless once again, Margot poured herself one last glass of wine. Ken had already gone up to bed, but she needed a few minutes to wind down. Her nerves were stretched taut, her face hurt from the smile she’d kept firmly in place all evening and she was exhausted from making small talk and her constant efforts to make sure every detail of the party was perfect. She really had to get over that, but it wasn’t so easy to let go of the few things she felt control over in her life.

She also wanted to sit down and think about her son.

Tyler. He’d walked into the house and her heart had leaped with joy at the sight of him. He was a man now, taller than his father, broader than his father, though with the same lean athletic build. Everyone said both her children looked like her, with blond hair and blue eyes, but she saw Ken’s strong jaw and high cheekbones in Tyler’s handsome face. She longed to run her hand over his cheek, as she had when he was small, to enfold him in a hug, except now he was a good seven inches taller and probably sixty pounds heavier than she. She smiled wistfully and carried her glass of wine toward her office.

But Tyler hadn’t been so happy to see her. Her heart constricted remembering his cool greeting, the way he’d rebuffed her attempt to hug him, the way he’d avoided her and any attempts to talk to him all evening. Now she ached, deep down inside, a sad painful ache.

She shouldn’t check her email again. There’d been nothing from him earlier, and now it was after midnight there likely wasn’t now. But she knew she was going to. Because chatting with him, telling him about her children, telling him what had happened with Tyler without having to hold anything back, was a bright glowing spot in her bleak, exhausting evening.

She opened the door to her office and stopped short in the doorway. Her husband sat at her computer. He turned to her, his eyebrows drawn into a bewildered frown, his mouth open. “Margot.”

Her heart actually stopped, and she put a hand to her chest as it then hurdled into a rapid, uneven rhythm. “What are you doing?” She thought he’d gone to bed.

“What are you doing?” he asked slowly, gesturing to her computer. “Who is this man you’ve been emailing with?”

Her mouth went dry and she swallowed. “Just a friend.”

He rose to his feet and stood here, looking back and forth between her and the computer. “You never mentioned a friend.”

“Ken.” How could she explain this to him? Why did she feel guilty? She’d never met Jeff in person. It was just a friendship, as she’d said. Someone to talk to and laugh with and maybe even flirt a little, but it had never gone beyond that.

He gazed at her and moved his head slowly from side to side. “Margot. I don’t understand what’s been happening with you.”

“I’ve tried to tell you,” she whispered. She clutched the glass of wine in both trembling hands. “I’ve tried.”

He squinted at her, as if having trouble seeing her. Since their children had both left home, she’d been increasingly unhappy with her life. She’d tried to keep busy, with the charity work she knew Ken liked her to do, with her golf and tennis and her friends. Shopping and decorating the house. But lately it hadn’t been enough.

The most embarrassing thing was that she wanted sex. Lots of sex. All the time. She’d chalked it up to some premenopausal hormonal surge. She’d bought sexy lingerie and tried to seduce her husband. It worked. Just not as much as she wanted it to. Perhaps sex every day was a little unrealistic for a sixty-year-old man, but she still believed a couple of times a week was reasonable. Wasn’t it?

Now they had no children around, no reason not to have sex anytime, anywhere they wanted it, but Ken still worked long hours, still came home tired. The frustration from that built on her long-buried hopes and dreams for her life.

“You said you wanted me to retire,” he said now.

“And you said you don’t want to.” She’d suggested they could travel. Maybe to Europe. Australia. Thailand. She’d always wanted to go to Thailand. He’d thought she was nuts.

“I’m not ready to retire. And I don’t understand this…” He threw out a hand toward her computer. “Why?”

She moved across the room on stiff legs. As if it hadn’t been stressful enough with Tyler coming home, disappointing her with his cool demeanor, and then he and Kaelin having that awful blowup, now she had to deal with this.

“I was going to talk to you after the wedding,” she said, sitting on the small couch. She looked down at her wine. “I don’t think I can go on like this.”

He stared at her, hands hanging at his sides. “What are you saying, Margot?”

“I’m saying…I don’t know.” She closed her eyes. Did she have the nerve to leave him? Probably not. Where would she go? What would she do? “I just wanted to get the wedding over with and then talk about it. I’m not happy, Ken.”

His face actually paled. He blinked at her. She’d kind of thought that if she left, he might not even notice.

But yes, he would, because he needed a wife to be out in the community, all smiling and happy and doing charity work and putting on a show of living the life he thought they should live.

“I haven’t been happy for a long time. You knew that.” She kept her voice soft.

She’d tried to explain to him how she felt, but he hadn’t wanted to hear it. He’d never been one to talk about feelings, always wanted to ignore problems. Which was probably why talking online to someone like Jeff had been so easy, so appealing. So dangerous.

Ken still just stood there. He turned back to the computer, where she’d apparently forgotten to delete those last emails. And had left her email program open.

She sighed. They said when people made stupid mistakes like that it was because they wanted to get caught. Not that she’d cheated on him or anything. But maybe it was her subconscious trying to make her deal with this, after so many years of trying to push it so far below the surface.

“I haven’t cheated on you,” she said, voicing that thought. “He is just a friend. Someone to talk to.” She pressed a hand to her aching forehead. “I can’t do this right now. But after the wedding…Ken, we seriously have to talk.”

He left the room, and she heard him climbing the stairs with slow, measured steps, up to their room, upstairs where Avery was now sleeping in her girlhood bedroom. She leaned back and closed her eyes.

At the Red Maple Inn, Tyler and Nick walked into their room, flicking on lights.

“Fuck,” Tyler said. “What a night.” He let out a heartfelt sigh and fell onto the bed. He stared up at the ceiling. He’d been back in town, back with his family, less than a day, and already he’d started acting out all the tension and anger that simmered below the surface with his family. Shit.

“Want one of these?” Nick opened the small bar fridge and held up a beer.

“Nah. Had enough booze.” He heard the fridge door close and then the bed dipped under Nick’s weight as he sat beside him.

Silence settled around them. Tyler lifted his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Neck sore?” Nick asked.

“Hell yeah.”

“Roll over.”

Tyler turned away from Nick, face-down on the bed. Then Nick’s hands found his shoulders and started massaging the tight muscles. His strong fingers dug into rock-like muscles and Tyler groaned.

“You always store all your tension here.”

Tyler grunted a wordless response, his eyes closing. Then the bed shifted again and he felt Nick moving over him, straddling his ass, still kneading tight muscles, using his thumbs to work his way down his spine.

Tension seeped out of him. Some tension. But then a different kind of tension filled him at the feel of Nick’s hands on his body and his muscled thighs against his hips. Tyler’s dick swelled against the bed and he imagined Nick’s doing the same, thickening and lengthening in his pants where he now pressed against his ass. He let the moan pass through his lips.

“Feel good?” Nick’s hands kept moving on him—mesmerizing, sensual, arousing.

“Yeah.”

Nick moved away. “Take your clothes off.”

They both tossed off their clothes, and Tyler resumed his prone position, arms bent, and Nick straddled him again, this time bare skin to hot bare skin. Nick’s cock rubbed up and down the crease of Tyler’s ass as his hands moved up and down his back, over his tight shoulders. Every nerve ending in Tyler’s ass jumped at the feel of Nick’s cock sliding there, and his own dick hardened even more against the mattress.

Tyler jerked when Nick’s tongue licked up his back, when his teeth nipped a shoulder muscle. He lifted his head as fire streaked through him, and Nick’s hand slid over his forehead, pulling his head back even farther, and rubbed over his hair. Tyler groaned.

Nick bent low again, slid his hands beneath Tyler’s arms and gripped his fists, cock sliding up and down, sending a barrage of sparks over those sensitive nerves, his body rubbing over Tyler’s back, his face rubbing Tyler’s face. If Nick’s goal was to ease the tension in him, he’d succeeded, but fuck, he’d created a whole other kind of tension. Tyler’s balls tightened and pressure built.

Still stretched over Tyler’s back, Nick released Tyler’s hands and slid his hands into Tyler’s hair. He rubbed his nose against Tyler’s cheek, paused, then licked around his ear. Sensation poured through Tyler, thick and hot. Nick pressed his face to Tyler’s and they lay like that for a moment, the heat of Nick’s cheek seeping into his face, the roughness of Nick’s stubble scraping against his, the weight of Nick’s body pressing him into the mattress, the sound of Nick’s harsh breathing loud in his ear.

Tyler turned his head a fraction more and found Nick’s mouth with his own.

The kiss started off slow and warm, soon passed hot, and exploded into scorching. Their tongues met and tangled, mouths opening wider. Never one to be on the bottom, Tyler rolled Nick off him and arranged himself on top, taking Nick’s mouth again and again, holding his head with both hands. He wedged his thigh between Nick’s, nudged Nick’s cock, and Nick let out a long groan.

“You were horny before we even started this,” Nick whispered when Tyler moved his mouth away to rub his jaw against Nick’s, to kiss his neck.

“Yeah.” Nick knew him better than anyone. Although that comment Kaelin had made earlier had startled him with her scary insight.

“You want her,” Nick said, then gasped when Tyler nipped his jaw. “You wanted her then. And you want her now.”

“I want you,” Tyler growled.

Nick laughed. “I know.” He grabbed Tyler’s head and kissed him hard. “You’re so fucked-up.”

“So are you.” Tyler reached for Nick’s crotch, cupped his junk and squeezed another sharp breath out of him. “Wanna get fucked?”