Calling the Shots (8 page)

Chapter Ten

Cold from the walk-in freezer clung to Oliver’s skin and clothing in a way he normally only felt in the middle of January. He’d spent the better part of the morning in the giant icebox stacking the limited food supplies they kept on site and making sure they had everything they needed for the week. Not that the process should have taken him as long as it had, but he was taking full advantage of his hiding spot, needing some time alone to work things out in his head. It was less obvious than a cold shower at any rate.

Being out in the main club so close to opening time was a bit much for his nerves tonight. Josh was already doing his sweep of the rooms, decked out in his standard ass-hugging pants and too-tight navy blue T-shirt. Two weeks ago, Oliver wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone what color Josh’s clothing was, let alone be able to describe in exacting detail how the material accentuated his muscles. Now, though, it disturbed Oliver how attuned he was to the other man.

And then there was Beth. She’d come in earlier and headed straight for the showers. The air changed the moment she arrived, like a circuit had been completed, encouraging a surge of energy to pulse through the club. It was as if someone had taken one of the violet wands from upstairs and run it over every inch of his skin.

Maybe he could get Josh or Beth to do that to him.

Oliver threw the last box on the shelf with a growl. The frozen mist of his breath rolled out into the room. He scratched his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t hide in here forever. He’d never considered himself a coward before. With the exception of Mallory, he’d tackled every challenge that came his way, head-on. Hell, he’d even refused his parents’ offer to help after Mallory had walked out on him, taking everything.

But this? To say he was confused was selling his emotional turmoil short.

He’d had sex with his bosses.

Not just any sex either—mind-blowing, perception-altering sex that still fueled his masturbation fantasies. He’d let another guy fuck him in the ass…and he’d
liked
it.

He wasn’t avoiding Josh and Beth, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to face them either. All week he’d bounced around inside an emotional rubber room, flicking between wanting to beg them for more and running to hide. They’d all agreed it was something they wanted, and if presented with the opportunity again, he’d take it with a grin on his face. But that thought scared him more than anything they’d done in bed.

It wasn’t every day a person figured out he was bisexual. Certainly not at twenty-nine years old. He hadn’t a clue how to go about being with a man, let alone wanting to find himself in bed with a man and a woman at the same time. Beth and Josh had, in a record period of time, become the focal points in his life. And when he started down this road, giving everything he was to his lovers, he would be the one left in tatters in the end.

Regardless, nothing permanent was going to come of this. Oliver knew upfront that Josh planned to move to Montreal when he was able to get the second club up and running. And without Josh around, Beth would be busy running the club. It was doubtful she’d have time to pursue something beyond sex with him.

Hell, he shouldn’t even be thinking of getting into a relationship with anyone. His divorce papers were still secured in their envelope back at his apartment, and he’d deftly avoided calls from both Mallory and her lawyer for months now. His head was still wrapped up in the shit of his disintegrated marriage, clearly not anyplace good and not something he wanted to lay on Josh or Beth.

He was still broken.

It didn’t matter that Beth and Josh had no intentions of hurting him. Even if he recognized logically that not every relationship was doomed to fail, a part of his heart just wasn’t going to open for anyone else. The risk wasn’t worth the reward. He’d need to be upfront with the pair that the last thing he wanted was to get emotionally involved. That way when he walked away there wouldn’t be any hard feelings.

Because he might need to walk away.

Oliver braced his hands on his knees and bent forward, as he suddenly found it hard to breathe. He pulled in several slow breaths through his mouth and nose. How he’d turned sex into a freak-out about a nonexistent relationship, he still wasn’t sure. It took a minute, but he was able to get himself under control.

What he really needed to do was go for a run. It would help to wear him out and exhaust his brain to the point where he couldn’t think. Then he’d like to hit one of the local bars, drink too much and listen to a band until his ears rang. God, it had been ages since he’d simply let go like that, let his brain shut off. It was the closest thing to good sex he’d ever come across.

Good sex. Like what he’d shared with Josh and Beth.

Fuck.

Closing the freezer door behind him, he straightened his shirt and began his rundown of the bar inventory. He couldn’t run and he didn’t want to go to a club other than Mavericks. He needed to focus on his job, and everything would be fine. Later. He’d deal with everything else later.

The club was still and for a moment Oliver enjoyed the calm. He could hear laughter and the murmur of voices bantering above him. Beth and Josh were most likely in the office getting ready for tonight. Oliver found himself wanting to lean toward the sounds, sneaking closer to them to let the warmth of their voices chase away the chill that had settled deep inside him.

“Excuse me?”

Spinning to face the front door, Oliver was surprised to see a man standing on the edge of the club floor. His suit screamed of money, the kind investment bankers or lawyers wore on TV cop shows.
Shit, that door should have been locked.
“Can I help you?”

“Yes, I need to speak to the owner of this establishment.” The man stood eerily still, hands unmoving at his sides, his gaze locked on Oliver. “Josh Scott?”

Oliver said nothing as he crossed the club to the man. He didn’t like surprises and, given the current environment in the district, an unknown showing up wanting to speak to Josh didn’t sit right. The man didn’t break eye contact and Oliver got the distinct impression that his very worth as a person was being evaluated…and most likely found lacking.

Well, fuck him.

“Can I ask what this is about?” Oliver crossed his arms and lowered his gaze. While he wasn’t as intimidating as Josh or some of the bouncers, he could play the part when necessary.

The man’s expression wasn’t exactly a sneer, but more of an ugly turn of his lips. “It’s a business matter. Not something I want to discuss with an employee.”

Oliver didn’t like the way the man spat the final word. “I’m the head bartender here. If you let me know what this is about, I’ll pass the information on to Josh or the assistant manager.”

“I’m sorry, no. I need to speak with Mr. Scott in person. No one else.”

Oliver let his arms drop and fought the urge to growl. “May I have your name then? I’ll see if Josh is available.”

“Robert Kingston.”

Assuming Josh was in the office, Oliver took the stairs two at a time. He didn’t like the vibe coming off of Kingston, and the sooner Josh got him out of the club, the better. Oliver strode into the office, nearly running Beth over. On instinct, he wrapped his arms around her. “Whoa. You okay?”

Oliver’s world narrowed as he was caught by her brown gaze. She’d been laughing, smiling at something Josh must have said, and the pleasure was still there. God, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever been with.

“I’m fine. I thought you were downstairs or else I would have invited you in.” Beth lowered her lids and gave Oliver a smirk that went straight to his cock.
Wrong time, dude.

“There’s someone here for the boss-man. He won’t talk to a minion, so I came to get you.” He stepped back, needing to put distance between them. There was unrepressed lust on Josh’s face, and Oliver knew he was going to need to spend more time in the freezer. “The guy said his name was Kingston.”

Josh frowned. “Never heard of him.”

“He seems official, but didn’t say what it was about and didn’t give me a business card.”

“I better check him out then. He could be from the community watch. I’ve sent out a few emails to some other groups.”

Oliver pulled Beth close when Josh squeezed past them. For one glorious moment, all three of their bodies pressed together. Oliver’s eyes slipped closed and he could imagine being back in Josh’s bed, naked limbs entwined with come and sweat cooling on their skin. Ghosting caresses, sense memories from their prolonged sex marathon, made his muscles tense and warmth flood his chest. Fuck, he needed to touch, be touched and never let go.

“Oliver, if you keep this up, I’m not going to make it downstairs and will have you pinned against the wall.”

He snapped his eyes open and stared at Josh, who’d lost his earlier smirk. Beth’s hand curled around Oliver’s side, her nails pressing into the thin fabric of his shirt. They were both so close. It would be easy to drop to his knees and beg them to take him, make him theirs. Over and over…

Beth cleared her throat and stepped into the office. “You better get down there. We don’t want to keep Mr. Kingston waiting.”

Before he realized what he was doing, Oliver had locked his gaze on Josh’s retreating form. The flex of his muscles under his clothing was hypnotic and set him at ease as it turned him on. God, he had to get a handle on things.

“You okay?”

Beth’s quiet concern snapped Oliver out of his mental descent. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“It’s just you haven’t been acting like yourself since…” She shrugged.

“Since the three of us had unbelievable sex?”

Beth’s instant grin brightened the room. “I thought you might be regretting it, didn’t want to be with us anymore.”

“No! God, it was amazing.” He hadn’t considered how Beth might be feeling, especially after what had happened. Great, he was becoming as bad as Mallory. “You were so incredibly hot.”

Some things inside Oliver’s head chose that moment to slot together. If he was ever going to do this, take the chance to see if it was worth putting his heart out there again, then he had to stop overthinking his choices and simply act. He’d never considered himself a selfish person, but clearly he’d been wallowing again, making a mountain out of crumbs. Beth was too special to risk losing to indecision.

Crossing to her, Oliver pressed up against her side. She’d worn her hair in a clip like usual, the long strands piled up on the back of her head. Giving in to the temptation he’d been fighting for ages, Oliver buried his nose into her curls and breathed in deep.

His cock took an immediate interest, swelling so he was half-hard by the time he reached up and fingered the hollow of Beth’s throat.

“You were so hot that night,” he whispered against her hair, “begging us to fuck you.”

Beth’s sharp intake of air thrust up her breasts, exposing more of her cleavage. “Really?”

“Oh, yeah. I would have done anything for you. Anything at all. God, I’d do anything you want even now. Just say the word and I’ll do it, no questions asked.”

“Oliver—”

“I haven’t been able to get you or Josh out of my head since.” Oliver lowered his mouth to her ear. “Every night I go home and picture you spread out in bed, Josh rubbing against you with that…his…cock. You were both in control, but not fighting for it. Sharing.” He swallowed. “Sharing me. I want you again.”

Beth turned into him with a moan. “Josh has been teasing me. Keeps saying he’s going to tie you up and lock me in the room with you. I think he gets off on watching.”

Oliver couldn’t hear Josh speaking to Kingston downstairs, but he knew the other man would be detained for a while. “We should give him a show.”

Beth’s gasp was encouragement enough.

Dropping slowly to his knees, Oliver kept his gaze focused on Beth’s face. “You’ve been thinking about this too?”

She swallowed and stared down at him with her impossibly wide eyes.

“I didn’t want to let on how much it turned me on, being with the two of you.” He pulled on the button of her fly and tugged the zipper down. “I kept thinking there was something wrong with me. That I was becoming obsessed with the idea of you and Josh.”

“Why?”

“Every time I close my eyes the two of you are all I can see. Together. Separate. Begging me to do something to you. Anything. Everything.”

It would be so easy to lose himself in them, giving and giving until there was nothing left. It would be like Mallory all over again, only this time there’d be nothing left of him when the fire died and the ashes blew away. He’d be worse than broken if they betrayed him after that, he’d be obliterated.

But neither of them were Mallory. He couldn’t imagine Beth being so cruel to him, and Josh was possessive but not all-consuming. Oliver could do this, take what he wanted and walk the tightrope between lust and insanity.

He didn’t have to lose his heart.

He could walk away when they were done.

Oliver thumbed the soft skin above her panties. “I’ll fuck you until Josh and Kingston can smell you downstairs. I’ll do anything you want. Lick your cunt until you’re screaming so loud they hear you down at Pulled Long. Just tell me.”

Beth’s breath hitched, her lips parted in a wide O as he caressed her. “We shouldn’t do this.”

“Why not?” Oliver blew hot air against her denim-clad pussy, loving the way she squirmed beneath him. “I want to taste you. Feel your fingers pulling my head closer until you can’t take anymore.”

“Oliver…”

“I want to push my fingers into you and feel how wet you are. Please let me.”

“We’re at work.”

“I don’t think Josh would mind.” He pressed the heel of his palm to her pussy and leaned into the contact.

“But I do.” Her white-knuckled grip didn’t lessen. “Not going to repeat past mistakes.”

“What?” Oliver froze. The floor was hard beneath his knees, sending tendrils of pain through his legs. The discomfort rose until it took root in his chest, squeezing his heart.

You were a mistake, Oliver.

“I…”