Red Zone: Boys of Fall by Mari Carr Read Free Book Online Page B

a hundred times in the last half hour. What the heck are you looking for?”
    Sadie wasn’t sure how to reply. She and the guys definitely weren’t advertising their unorthodox relationship—for lack of a better description. In fact, they’d agreed to keep it on the down low.
    She’d seen them three times since their first foray into the world of an explosive ménage, each meeting at the bar after closing and each encounter hotter than the one before. She was going to have to invite them to her apartment one of these days. It might be fun to actually have sex with them in a bed. That thought provoked a grin she couldn’t hide.
    Lorelie’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you up to?”
    “I’m not up to anything.”
    Lorelie rolled her eyes. “Sell it to someone else, sister. You have that recently laid air about you. So which one of the guys finally convinced you to do the horizontal mambo? My money is on Oakley.”
    Sadie laughed. Lorelie was four years younger than her, so they hadn’t been friends in school. Hell, they hadn’t even gone to school together. Lorelie had been in middle school when Sadie was a senior.
    Sadie hadn’t had any super close girlfriends in school. She wasn’t a fan of drama or girlie shit, so she’d always hung out with the guys instead.
    However, in the past year or so, she’d found herself in more and more social settings with Lorelie and her friends—Lela, Annabelle, Charlene and Randi—and she had to admit she really liked them.
    Though Lorelie was the one she had grown closest to. Probably because—like Sadie—Lorelie had been raised by a single father, spoke her mind and didn’t put up with a lot of bullshit.
    “Why do you think it’s Oakley?” she asked noncommittally.
    Lorelie shrugged. “The guy is relentless. I’ve seen him flirt with you. And let’s face it, there’s just so long you can play hard to get before you start to wonder why the hell you’re turning him down. He’s not hard on the eyes and the man has a six-pack on top of a six-pack. So how was it?”
    Sadie didn’t reply. In truth, she didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t supposed to say anything.
    Luckily, Lorelie didn’t always need another person present to have a conversation. She continued speaking without giving Sadie a chance to answer. “Of course, if it was Oakley, it’s probably over, right? I mean, that guy’s never gone back for seconds that I’ve ever heard of.”
    Sadie hadn’t considered that. Lorelie was right. While she’d heard some rumblings about Oakley’s flings, he’d never seriously dated anyone, and she had never heard of him taking a one-night stand and turning it into a weekend. For a second, she felt a twisted sense of pride. She’d kept Oakley interested enough to come back. Quite a few times, if she counted the failed attempt after the wedding.
    However, Lorelie misinterpreted her continued silence, her brows rising. “Joel? You fucked Joel?”
    Damn. Sadie really was going to have to join this conversation or Lorelie was going to keep guessing. God help her if her friend landed on the right answer. Then she considered Lorelie’s tone. “Why would that be so unheard of?”
    Lorelie opened her mouth to answer, and then closed it again. Clearly Sadie had stumped her.
    Sadie was really interested in hearing Lorelie’s impressions of her entering a relationship with the guys and was tempted to tell her the truth. After all, Lorelie knew Oakley and Joel better than anyone, given the fact they’d worked on the ranch for years. The men treated Lorelie like a little sister, and although Lorelie claimed the protective-older-brother stuff drove her nuts, Sadie suspected the opposite was actually true.
    “It’s not that it’s weird or anything. It’s just, you and Joel are very different. I think you and Oakley have more in common. Joel is just so serious and…”
    “Stuffy?” Sadie supplied helpfully.
    Lorelie considered the answer and then nodded.