Chapter One
“I’m beginning to think all there is to do in Erwin, Tennessee is fuck.” Mason sat down to his fast-food breakfast grumbling like crazy. “If a fella isn’t fucking for pleasure, he’s fucking someone in business. If he’s not fucking for his sub’s reward or withholding it for punishment, he’s fucking for revenge or a prize. I mean, come on now. Don’t you think there’s a little more to life than just sex?”
Dante, Hales, and Dallas gave Mason one of those collective “are ya done yet?” looks. Then, Dante took a drink of his juice, swiped his forehead because he’d apparently broken a rare sweat somewhere—probably fucking either his right or left hand—and finally managed a comeback. “This coming from the man who gets more pussy than all his brothers combined.”
“That’s false,” Mason said, taking a hearty bite of his biscuit.
Hales smirked. “You don’t need to tell me. Lori Hammit told me everything I need to know.”
Mason stilled. “What does Lori have to do with this?”
Hales sniffed. “You tell us. From what I hear Lori recently told you, ‘I take small things and make them into big things, cowboy.’”
The brothers broke out in fits of laughter. Once it subsided Mason said, “The diabolical bitch wouldn’t wait until it was hard.”
“Did you hear that, boys?” Hales teased. “Lori is a diabolical bitch yet our little brother has been seen with her several times at one local theatre.”
“I plead the fifth.” After a minute, Mason revoked his self-inflicted oath of silence. “What can I say, there’s no better time at a movie than when Lori’s head is in a man’s lap.”
“Sounds to me like you’re contributing nicely to Erwin’s fucking reputation,” Dallas said.
“Not at all.” Mason tried to keep from grinning. Considering his cock was sore from overuse, he couldn’t help but silently agree. “Besides, I don’t fuck Lori. She’s never asked me. We just like hanging out in theatres.”
“You ain’t the only one she takes to the movies,” Dallas informed him.
“Ew.” Mason wrinkled his nose. “Too much information.”
“Where were you Friday night?” Dante asked.
“Melanie’s. Her momma baked me one of those chocolate cakes with butterscotch icing.” Mason smacked his lips. “Whenever that woman sees me coming, I’m guaranteed something sweet,
soothing, and hmm-um delicious.”
“I’m confused,” Hales said. “Are you talking about the cake, Melanie, or her mom?”
“Don’t answer that,” Dallas said, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl. “Let’s talk about your weekend. Where were you Saturday?”
“Let me think a minute. It’s Monday after all.” Mason ate his biscuit, chewing thoughtfully.
“He was with Sherry and just doesn’t want to say so,” Hales said, laughing.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s right.”
“And Sunday, little brother. Where were you on Sunday?”
Mason wadded up the food wrapper, swung his leg over the bench and said, “That’s easy. Where am I every Sunday.”
“Mary Lou’s,” Dallas and Dante chimed together.
“You guys keeping tabs on me or what?” Mason asked.
“Just making a point is all,” Dante said.
“You complain about too much fucking in Erwin and yet you’re part of the reason this town is so popular for such activities.” Hales held up his hand and made an “okay” sign by leaving three fingers in the air. “Melanie, Sherry, and Mary Lou.”
“False, true, and false this past Sunday.”
Dallas shrugged. He knew the truth about Melanie but as far as Mason knew, he hadn’t spilled the beans yet.
“Back up here a minute,” Hales said, never one to let anything die. “I saw you Friday night. You came creeping up the stairs a little after midnight with this silly look on your face, and pardon me for saying so, but you reeked of cheap perfume.”
Mason twitched his nose. If his brothers put two and two together, he’d never live it down.
“You’re bangin’ her mom!” Hales said, throwing his hand down on the table and jarring everything from dishes to the salt and pepper shakers.
So he’d never live it down. “I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.” Hales laughed that silly laugh of his and shook his head. “Well I’ll be damned.”
“And yes, you will be if you run off and say something where it gets back to Melanie. She’s a real nice girl and all. We don’t want to hurt her.”
“Maybe her mother should’ve thought about that when she caught you in the bathroom with your pants down,” Dallas said.
“You knew?” Dante asked, seemingly surprised Mason had confided in Dallas.
“Kid had to talk to somebody. Might as well have been me. Woman is a sex junkie. If Mason hadn’t gotten a hold of her first, he would’ve ended up at the other end of her paddle instead. Woman has a reputation for taking what she wants when she wants it.”
“That’s a fact,” Mason said, nearly hard thinking about Christine. Melanie’s mom had a way with men, or more precisely, Christine had a real nice understanding of how to work her way around a man’s cock.
“So wait a minute,” Hales said, leaning forward and apparently ready for details. “You and the mom are what? Into Domination and submission?”
“She’s giving him a few lessons,” Zak said, entering the kitchen.
All heads turned to Zak.
“Says the man who must be getting a few of his own.” Dante laughed. “Who whipped who last night, big brother?”
Zak grinned from ear to ear. He was so lovesick he probably didn’t even care that he wasn’t banging Coco’s sister Drina yet. All he seemed to care about was watching her dance, seeing her ride, inviting her for picnics, taking her rafting on the Nolichucky, and enjoying the whole dating game.
Mason envied the hell out of him. He’d love to do the whole flowers, dinner, and romance scene, too. Unfortunately, Melanie’s mom was one of the women he wanted to take out on the town and she’d already said it wasn’t happening.
“So when do we get to meet Miss Thing?” Hales asked, focusing on Zak and leaving Mason alone for the time being.
Zak affixed his watch on his wrist with great care. “I’m not ready to introduce you yet.”
“Why not?” Hales waggled his brows. “Is it my charming personality or the fact that everyone says we look alike?”
“How about we leave it at your charming personality,” Zak teased, grinning so wide his dimples slipped up the sides of his cheeks and framed his mouth.
Mason snickered. “You’re sunk, man.”
Dante crossed his arms. “Says the man who wants to put a ring on his girlfriend’s mother’s hand.”
“False.” Mason hurriedly grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and tossed his biscuit wrapper in the garbage. “I’ll see you guys later. Trucks will be here soon or I’d sit around and talk trash with you.” He walked outside on the porch and decided to devil his brothers a bit. He stuck his head back in the kitchen and said, “The ring part was all wrong. I want a collar on that babe’s neck.”
He stood there long enough to gauge their looks of surprise then shut the door. Seconds later, he hauled ass to the barn. It was a mighty fine day at Blazier’s Farm and Stables. They were out of the gun business and back in the farming business.
Life was good.