Nowhere to Hide (Masked Men Novellas)

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Tai

“Oh fuck,” I moan as Kennedy thrusts into me.

He’s jealous even if he won’t admit it.

I didn’t expect him to follow Archer and me last night, and seeing us with Riley has made him feel a certain way, but he won’t talk about it. He will be in denial and will want to prove his dominance over me instead. We play this cat-and-mouse game every so often, but luckily for him, I like him enough to put up with his moody ass.

The headboard bangs into the wall, loud enough for Archer and Riley to hear. My fingers fist the sheets, and my eyes roll into the back of my head. I’ll give it to the man—he knows how to fuck.

“Will you two come already? Some of us want to fucking sleep,” Archer yells, as he bangs on the wall.

“Jealous, Archie?” Kennedy taunts.

He wraps his hand around the front of my throat and pulls my head back. “Don’t forget who you belong to,” he snaps, as his thrusts get harder and deeper.

The door slams open and Archer’s frame stands in the doorway. “Will you stop marking your damn territory already? You are purposely being a dick.”

Kennedy being Kennedy doesn’t stop fucking me; it’s nothing Archer hasn’t seen before. He joined us once and decided it wasn’t for him, but he isn’t afraid to sit and watch us on the odd occasion.

“Oh,” Riley squeaks, her eyes wide and her mouth forming an O. “S-sorry,” she stutters, closing her eyes after getting a side view of us. “I heard a bang and... never mind.”

She scurries downstairs, and Archer shakes his head.

“You opened the fucking door,” Kennedy snaps.

Archer flips him off and slams the door closed.

Having succeeded at whatever it was he hoped to accomplish tonight, Kennedy stops and pulls out, but I just laugh.

“I hope you get blue balls,” I quip as he flips me off.

He rolls off the bed, grabs his towel, and storms out, so I pull on a pair of gray sweats and head downstairs. Once he is done, I’ll shower; he can stew in his mood for a bit.

Archer is handing Riley a coffee as I walk into the kitchen, so I snatch his cup from his hand and stick my tongue in it.

“You’re a dick,” he says, and Riley chuckles.

“I’m sorry I saw you two together... again,” she says, and the blush creeps up her cheeks.

“Again?” I ask, with a raised brow.

“The first day you were here. Did Kennedy not tell you? I’m sorry for invading your personal space.”

“Don’t sweat it, we are not exactly discreet. And don’t mind Kennedy, he is just being, well, Kennedy. I’m sorry you had to see it.”

Her face goes bright red. “Don’t be,” she whispers, and ducks her head. I put the coffee down and walk closer to her, lifting her chin so she is looking up at me.

“Don’t be afraid to like what you like, Riley.”

Archer slaps me across the back of the head. “Maybe she is embarrassed she saw Kennedy’s ugly ass naked.”

I snort because in no world is Kennedy ugly. “I-I liked it,” she says in a whisper. “But I didn’t know it was something that turned me on. I mean, two men together... not you and Kennedy specifically.”

“I’m glad we could be of service to help you realize something new you like,” I say with a smile, and she smirks back. “Just don’t tell your brother, he might kill us for not locking our door and being so careless around his baby sister.”

Riley’s entire demeanor changes and she snorts. “I’m not a baby anymore, and thanks to running Braidy’s socials, I have seen things I can’t unsee.”

I feel like a total prick for making her feel that way. She walks away from me and into the kitchen to put her mug in the sink. Archer steps up behind her, tucking her hair behind her ear, and I move closer so I can hear what he is saying.

“We know you’re not a baby anymore, Riley. And it makes it so much harder to be gentlemen, especially when your body could bring any man to his knees. Just know under different circumstances...”

Archer pauses and Riley spins around angrily and places her hands on his chest. “And what circumstances would they be? That I’m not your best friend’s little sister, or if I was more of your type? Maybe I’m simply not hot enough. I’m always the pretty one, or the cute one.”

“No,” he growls, right when Kennedy stalks in, who comes to stand beside me as we watch them. “You are the fucking hot one. But they’re different circumstances that you couldn’t imagine, and they have fuck all to do with your brother.”

She scoffs and pushes him away. “You know what? Fuck you, Archer. And you two as well. Don’t even pretend you didn’t know I had a crush on you all. You all flirted back. I didn’t imagine it and it wasn’t all in my head like Braidy made me believe—Tillie saw it as well. And a huge fuck you, Kennedy, because your rejection stung the worst when you said ‘eww’ when Braidy questioned you. I’m not the na?ve little seventeen-year-old girl anymore. I don’t need your head games. Yes, I liked seeing you two fuck, and maybe one day I will find two boyfriends who want to share a girl. Maybe I’ll even find a guy who wants to pull my hair and slap my ass, so fuck you all. You had your chance, but you cut me out of your life like I meant nothing at all to you.”

She stalks from the room, and we all look at each other, dumbfounded at how it escalated. Riley races outside, and I watch as she heads down to the dock and strips off her clothes until she is butt naked and jumps into the lake, Kennedy laughs as he shakes his head in amusement.

“That will teach us,” he says, sarcasm lacing his tone.

“This is all on you, dickhead. You were trying to prove you own me, but she doesn’t even know it’s us. If you wanted to be exclusive, that is a conversation we could have had. Instead, you act like a massive idiot. I’m going to take the girl a towel.”

“I told you this would get messy,” Kennedy yells out as I storm off to the linen closet to get Riley a fresh towel.

She has swum out quite far by the time I get to the edge of the dock, so I sit beside her clothes and watch her stroke gracefully through the water. Archer joins me a few minutes later.

“Kennedy was right, though. Last night has complicated shit for me. Have you ever fucked someone, and it just felt right?”

I look at him and shrug. “I feel it with Kennedy when he isn’t being an obnoxious prick.”

“Do you think we should stop? I sent her a follow-up email this morning to see where her head is at.”

I look at him. “Do you want to stop if she wants more?”

He shrugs. “I don’t think so. We know we need to do things differently when we leave here, and I feel like shit for cutting her out the way we did. I think I need to talk to Braidy when he gets here. Things are changing and he deserves a heads up.”

“I have your back, always.”

Riley has swum closer, and we both watch as she nears the edge of the dock. The water is deep enough to cover her body if she keeps swimming, but if she stands, the water would be little more than waist deep. If her look could kill, we would both be dead.

“Riley Bear, we’re sorry.”

“He is right, Rye, we have made so many mistakes when it comes to you. We never should have cut you out of our lives. We always loved spending time with you, but our lives got complicated. If we could go back, we would do things differently. We should not have treated you like a child.”

Riley stands, and I blink a few times before I realize what is happening. Archer chokes on his own spit and I reach over and pat his back.

“Either close your eyes or you are going to get a full-frontal view of me naked.”

I clamp my eyes shut out of respect for her and hope Archer did as well. Holding her towel in the air, I hear her chuckle as she takes it from me.

“It’s safe to open your eyes now.”

Doing just that, I see she is now wrapped in a towel, but it leaves little to the imagination.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she blurts out. “I’m just sick of everyone seeing me as Braidy’s little sister, and I was having a moment.”

“It’s okay, and you’re right. As of right now we’ll stop treating you that way,” I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her into my side.

Kennedy is standing out on the porch as we head back, and he smiles at me. I’m hopeful he is finished with his shitty mood.

“I’m going to get dressed,” Riley says as we climb the stairs. Kennedy watches her walk past him but says nothing. Archer and I take a seat on a couple of deck chairs, waiting while Kennedy watches Riley until she is out of sight.

“So, she is still pissed at me,” he asks.

“We apologized to her,” Archer says. “Maybe you should try it sometime.”

Kennedy scoffs. “But I’m not sorry, and I didn’t do anything fucking wrong. So what if I said eww years ago? She was fucking seventeen, and I was twenty-one. It was gross to think about her that way. Do you want me to go up there and tell her she is no longer eww?”

“For fuck’s sake, Kennedy, we don’t disagree she was too young back then, but there is a better way to handle things. Put yourself in her shoes for a few minutes. Or maybe let’s move on because you’re too pigheaded to see reason,” Archer snaps.

Riley comes back outside—now fully dressed—with four beers in her hands, which she puts down on the table. Kennedy grabs her wrist after she has placed them all down, and Archer tenses, his hands on the sides of his chair, ready to intervene if needed.

“I’m sorry I upset you, Riley. But I’m not sorry about what I said all those years ago—you were a kid, that’s what I meant when I said eww. It wasn’t because I thought you were ugly or overweight. I should have made it clear.”

“Thank you for your apology, Kennedy. I think it’s the first time since I have known you I’ve heard you say sorry about anything.”

“Enjoy it,” he grumbles. “It won’t happen again.”

Riley throws her head back and laughs. “I heard it with my own ears. It will be forever locked into my brain.”

“Brat,” Kennedy snipes, followed by a bark of laughter as he wraps his arm around Riley’s neck and licks her face.

“Kennedy, don’t,” she laughs.

“Don’t what? Take you for another swim, this time with your clothes on?” he says, scooping her up and he walking toward the stairs.

“Kennedy Carter, you put me down right this second or I will shit in your pillowcase.”

Kennedy drops her to her feet with a gasp, steadying her with his hands. “Riley, that is the Braidy-est thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth.”

Riley laughs at him, and the look on his face is priceless. It serves him right for messing with her. This time when we leave, we might all be friends, but something tells me this time walking away won’t hurt her. Instead, we might get a taste of our own medicine.