Attraction: A MFM Menage Romance Read online

  “So, I was thinking that maybe we should take a trip you know? Visit Mom in Seattle or something. I’m needing a break from Maine right now,” Scout said as she drove to Zoey’s.

  “Like how long of a trip?” I asked, not really excited at the idea of spending longer than a couple of days with our mother. She’d left us with our dad when we were only ten, just disappeared, with no way to contact her and she never contacted us. Then, only a couple of years ago, she reached out to Scout and I and had been trying to mend things ever since. Scout was more forgiving than I was apparently.

  “Like a couple of weeks? Maybe over the holidays?”

  I looked at her as if she were crazy and shook my head Jaxonantly. “No, no, I’m not spending an entire two weeks with her. I’m sorry. You know I can’t do it,” I said. Scout sighed dramatically and gave me a long-suffering look.

  “When are you going to forgive her? You can’t hate her forever. My God, you’re so much like dad,” she murmured.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “That you’re stubborn,” she said pointedly. I shrugged and glanced out of the window, at the passing trees. That’s all there ever was in Houghton, just a bunch of trees and bears to hide in them as well as a bunch of other sinister things. It felt as if all the trees were watching me as we drove past. Even though I didn’t like the idea of spending so much time with our mother, I was beginning to think that spending time away from Maine might be needed.

  We pulled up to Zoey’s cabin house, and I got out before Scout could make a fuss about helping me down from the Wrangler. I felt a weird prickling on the back of my neck and glanced behind me. Zoey’s house was farther away from the major parts of town, so her cabin was completely surrounded by trees apart from where her driveway connected to the road that was itself hidden by a grouping of trees. I couldn’t shake the creepy feeling that I was being watched and hurried to catch up with Scout as she climbed the porch’s steps to knock on the door.

  “You okay?” Scout asked me, her gaze keen. “You seem antsy,” she added as if I needed the clarification.

  “Yeah, I’m fine…” I nodded. Then Zoey opened the door wide, a huge grin on her face. She was really pretty with her elfin features, big green eyes, and caramel colored hair.

  “Hey, guys! I was just going to call you to see if you wanted to hang out today. I’m as bored as a freaking tree,” she said while ushering us inside.

  “You and me both Zoey, you and me both,” I said sagely.

  “Whatever, Holden is supposed to be resting,” Scout said, and I rolled my eyes at her.

  “Zoey, please save me from Mrs. Doubtfire over here,” I said, making Zoey crack up.

  “Mrs. Doubtfire? Really?” Scout quipped.

  I giggled and nodded my head, “Yeah because you’re usually my fun older sister, now you’re all…” I gestured to her, and she rolled her eyes at me.

  “You girls hungry or anything? I was just making myself a mid-morning drink,” Zoey said while walking into the kitchen. Her house was an open concept; the living room was the first room you walked into and the kitchen was on the far left followed by the dining room which was just off of the kitchen and a bit closed off by an archway. On the right side of the living room was the hallway that led to her bedroom and such. My house had the same layout, apart from my rooms being upstairs instead of the same level.

  “Zoey, you drink too much. You know they say when you start drinking by yourself at weird times of the day, it means you’re an alcoholic,” I said loud enough for her to hear me.

  “What-ever, I’d like a mimosa please,” Scout said, winking at Zoey who blew her a kiss.

  “Okay now I’d like Mrs. Doubtfire back, please,” I joked, Scout lifted a pillow from the couch to throw at me, and I held my hands up in defense. “I’m injured!” I squeaked, the pillow came flying at me anyway, hitting me right in the chest. I faked being really hurt, clutching my side and groaning. Scout came rushing over while Zoey called out a worried, “What happened?”

  I started laughing, and Scout scowled at me. “Honestly, you’re terrible,” she said.

  “Hey Hol, do you want a mimosa too? Well actually you don’t have a choice,” she said, giving herself an answer, which was such a Zoey thing to do.

  “But guys…why are we having mimosas? Isn’t that like a celebrating drink?” I asked curiously.

  “Yeah, so what? We’re celebrating life and the fact that you escaped a bear attack in one piece,” Zoey called over her shoulder. She was mixing the orange juice into champagne flutes on the counter next to the fridge.

  “You know…now that I’m thinking about it, that really was a freak attack,” Scout mused. She had the remote to Zoey’s flat screen in her hand and her finger over the Roku’s Netflix button.

  “It was. There haven't been reports of a bear attack in so long and then I spoke to Hunka Hunka, you know Officer Roland? He said that it’s characteristic to get groupings of bear complaints, yours was a standalone. There hasn’t been any ransacking or reported sightings…nothing since.” Zoey spoke almost all in one breath. I knew she had a crush on Officer Roland, but I didn’t know she spoke to him all that much.

  “Since when do you call Roland ‘Hunka Hunka’?” Scout said and glanced at me as if she were perplexed. “I mean, am I the only one to have caught that? Can we just address this for a moment?” she said with a chuckle. I smiled and glanced at Zoey who stuck her tongue out at Scout.

  “Ever since we started you know…talking,” she shrugged a shoulder, trying to be all coy.

  “Oh, no don’t try that modesty with us. We need details,” I said, pressing my hand against my side when I felt a stab of pain. I had to remember to keep my voice level. I was so ready to be healed already.

  “Well I was at the lodge…” she started while finally bringing the mimosas into the living room and sitting on the sectional with us. “And he was there getting breakfast from the restaurant, and I just walked over and said hi. We started talking and…now we have each other’s number, and I may be going on a date with him tonight.”

  “What do you mean, ‘may’?”

  “She’s being Zoey; it means she’s going on a date with him and just might end up in bed with mister officer,” I used my best Marilyn Monroe impression when saying ‘mister officer.’

  “Oh please, we’re going to The Lodge of all places, it’s just an informal thing…” Zoey brushed her hair behind her ear and crossed her legs while she sat back on the couch. I gingerly reached forward to get my own drink and took a sip.

  “The Lodge is getting boring nowadays. You should tell him to meet you at the club,” I suggested. The Lodge was a hotel that had a restaurant and bar attached to it. It was pretty nice, but not compared to the club which had two fancy restaurants and a few bars at different points of the lot. Houghton was small, but it didn’t mean we were a bunch of hikers living in the bare woods.

  “It’s the first date, I don’t want him to think I’m high maintenance,” she said.

  “You? She who makes mimosas at eleven thirty on a Saturday for no other reason than being thirsty?” Scout ribbed. Both Zoey and I glanced at her with expressions of shock that was a little too sarcastic. “I’m sorry. I did it again, didn’t I?” Scout apologized, and both Zoey and I nodded. “Zoey, of course, you’re not high maintenance, I was just joking…” she added.

  “It’s all right I forgive you. I know I can be, just like Scout can be a bitch sometimes…” Scout shrugged, it was true. We were all close enough, having grown up together, that we could be this honest with each other and not end up fighting. “But I don’t want him to get spooked from the first date is all,” Zoey said, finishing her point.

  “Well I don’t think he’ll get spooked, you’re a catch and fine as hell,” I said, toasting my glass to hers.

  “Well, you know…I try,” she said ‘modestly.’

  “So, what are we watching?” Scout pointed the remote at the TV, and we al
l paused, thinking.

  “You know…we’re kind of lame, it’s Saturday guys,” I said. Usually, we’d be out Friday nights and all-day Saturday and Saturday nights if we could manage it.

  “I think you keep forgetting that you’re healing, Holden,” Scout said sharply, flashing back into Doubtfire mode for a second, the ‘fly-by fruiting’ version, not the motherly old lady version.

  “You’re the one that’s lame,” Zoey murmured, I looked at her in surprise, and she laughed a little. “What? It’s true, getting almost eaten by a bear is lame…” she shrugged. There was a beat of quiet and then we all burst into laughter. I had to clamp down on my laughter quick, though, because my ribs were in no shape to allow for too much of that.

  “Put on Stranger Things…” I said pointing to the title as Scout scrolled through the Netflix Originals page.

  “Oh no, I don’t think so. They live in a little wooded town, too, I’m not up for being even more creeped out by the trees,” Scout said.

  “Clearly Holden’s gone back into the woods, but have you yet?” Zoey asked my sister, who shook her head.

  “I just can’t…I used to feel like my dad was the woods and now…? It’s just so sinister to me, I can’t. I’m glad I live so close to the club and not surrounded by the forest like you two,” she said.

  “Well…you can’t live in fear forever. Going back into the woods would help you with handling his death,” Zoey said wisely. Hell, that had been what I was trying to do but look how that worked out.

  “Well, now that I have a sister who almost got eaten in the woods, it doesn’t make it much better,” Scout said, and I stuck my tongue out at her.

  “Whatever, at least I tried,” I mumbled, good thing she didn’t hear me. Or else I was pretty sure I’d end up with a broken rib instead of a cracked one. We watched a few episodes of House of Cards, and I found I kept glancing behind me, out the living room window. Was I so paranoid after the attack that I felt like bears were stalking me? Maybe Scout and I should have stayed home. That or maybe I needed a shrink because everything was starting to really get to me.

  “You okay over there?” Zoey poked my thigh with her toe. I shook myself out of the dark path my thoughts were heading towards.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, smiling at her. Of course, it was a fake smile, and she’s known me long enough to know as much. She gave me that look, the one that said, ‘don’t lie to me.’ “I guess I’m just tired…I didn’t get much sleep last night. What with my being unable to settle into any comfortable position,” I said, gesturing to my ribs.

  “Do you want to take a nap? We could go back home,” Scout asked, concerned, of course.

  “No, you don’t have to leave, use my bed,” Zoey offered.

  “Yeah okay, I’ll go back there…” I said and got up gingerly. I felt a weird presence sort of stretching through the window from the woods. Kind of like that monster from Stranger Things. I shook my head and tried to get a grip. Making an appointment with a counselor was seeming more and more appealing all of a sudden.

  Zoey’s room was always fastidiously clean and organized. Just like the rest of her house. I always thought she might be a closet perfectionist. But there could be worse things to hide, so I kept my suspicions to myself. I climbed into her bed. She was probably the only modern human with a four-poster bed. It had the little gossamer curtains and everything like she was a princess or something. I set up the pillows so I could be somewhat comfortable and climbed into bed. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until my eyes closed shut like magnets as soon as I laid down.

  The men dragged the bear away from me. Tearing at its flesh until it was nothing more than a limp floor rug, its black fur sticky from the stain of its own blood.

  “Do not be afraid…” the deep voice seemed to come from the trees themselves. Looking up at the silent towering treetops, I wondered, vaguely, if I was high. Or maybe I was dreaming. Looking down I saw that the landscape had changed. I was near my dad’s cabin. I could see it just around the bend in the trail. It was definitely a dream; Fir Point was nowhere near the trails by my house. Not in walking distance anyhow.

  “You’re in our territory, and we protect all within reach,” the voice came again, but this time closer. Right in my ear. I could feel the warm breath tickling my neck. I turned around and gasped. It was a gorgeous man. He was very tall, like maybe six-seven or something, and well-muscled too. He had disheveled black hair and an intense gray-eyed gaze. His features rivaled David Beckham, and he had the same wolfish grin.

  “Who are you?” I asked, reaching out to touch his chest. I mean it was all bare, and in my face, so I felt that it was an appropriate thing to do. Just then another huge man came out of the thicket of the woods. The man held my hand to his chest to keep me there as I watched the other man approach.

  “We saved you, we’ll always watch over you,” the first man said. He glided closer to me, and I found myself sandwiched between the two. This was the best dream ever. I looked down and realized that we were all naked then. In my bedroom at home…one brother pulled me towards the bed. He sat down, with me standing in between his legs. The other came behind me, his lips trailing from behind my ear to the back of my neck. I couldn’t look away from the first brother, his eyes were so pretty, his lips looked so soft. He tilted his head towards me, and I was eager to press my lips to his…

  “Holden…do you want pizza or tacos for lunch?” I was sucked out of my dream by Zoey’s weird whispered request. When I opened my eyes, I saw her face entirely too close to mine and recoiled. Pain shot through my ribcage and bounced around, making me a little nauseous.

  “I didn’t want to scare you! That’s why I whispered,” Zoey said. Her eyes went wide as she reached out to help me sit up.

  “Are you drunk?” I asked her once I caught my breath.

  “No, but you were sleeping forever, and Scout and I were thinking about going to pick up some food,” Zoey said, smiling sheepishly. I glanced at the bedroom window. The sky had that late afternoon light.

  “Pizza…” I said while rubbing my side.

  “Okay, I’ll tell Scout…” Zoey was about to flit from the room, but she stopped short, sending me a worried glance. “You were breathing heavy in your sleep…did you have a nightmare?” she asked curiously.

  “Um…I don’t know, I can’t remember,” I lied…thanking God that my tanned complexion hid whatever blush was infusing my cheeks just then.

  “All right, don’t move. I’ll be right back to help you out of bed,” Zoey ordered, then disappeared from the room. I wondered if it was a product of my concussion that was making me have sexual dreams about…naked mountain men.

  3

  After having a late lunch with Zoey, and getting her ready for her date with ‘Hunka Hunka,’ Scout and I drove over to her place.

  “I think it might do you some good to have a change of scenery. So, yes, you’ve just been kidnapped,” Scout said as we walked up the drive to her front door. She lived in an arguably trendy neighborhood, by Houghton standards. The houses were all built by some fancy New York architect who was commissioned by the development owner. IsaacDenisonowned the largest plot of land in Houghton, and he certainly capitalized on it. The houses all had a fair amount of land surrounding them, so each neighbor had more than enough privacy. Even though it wasn’t your everyday gated community, the woodsy contemporary homes were expensive, and each looked like something out of a magazine. Isaaclived in the biggest house in the neighborhood, well tucked away from the rest of the homes.

  “I don’t feel like sitting inside, though…” I murmured. I was pretty sure Scout was bent on making me rest myself to death before my ribs healed.

  “You keep thinking you’re fine, Holden, but you aren’t one hundred percent yet. You were knocked out for the better part of the day today, remember?” She gave me a pointed look while we stepped inside.

  “Whatever…” I mumbled. We were greeted by Scout’s big Maine Coon cat,
Luis. He was the most self-sufficient animal I’d ever come across. And I’d seen my fair share of smart animals, being a vet. Scout could leave Luis alone for a week, and he’d be fine. As long as he had his feeder and his kitty door was left open. The cat was so well trained, it knew to use the bathroom outside and everything. “I would pick you up, Luis, but I can’t bend over,” I said. He meowed in response and settled for wrapping himself around my legs several times as greeting. I moved on to the living room and faced the wide glassed-in view of the trees out back.

  “Hey, are you hungry for dinner at all?” Scout asked, her laptop and a cat comb in one hand and Luis in the other, as she joined me on the white sectional.

  “Nah, I had too much pizza. How’s the store doing?” I asked. Scout owned a little boutique in the town center. She designed most of the clothes in there and had them manufactured in Canada, so she often made trips across the border. The store was doing so well that her lines were being picked up by several online stores too. She definitely did well for herself. Sometimes I mused that Scout was the one who belonged somewhere glamorous like New York. Me on the other hand, I loved taking care of animals and living away from the big cities.

  “Wonderfully…just checking some e-mails is all,” she said, her voice distracted as she set up the computer to where she could both comb the cat and tend to business. My boss at the animal hospital, Breanne, had ordered me not to even think about work until I was healed. So, I literally had nothing better to do other than sit and stare at Scout. Bored out of my mind.

  “I think I have cabin fever,” I said abruptly.

  “Well you’re not going walking in the woods that’s for sure,” she said without even looking up at me.

  “I can’t stand this sitting around and doing nothing!” I groaned. Luis meowed at me as if sympathizing. I reached over to give him a scratch on the head.