Four Good

“I’ll help you cook,” Jonathan tells Jay.

“Does Roscoe like the beach?” Corbin asks. “We could take a walk while they cook dinner.”

“He loves it. Let me grab an extra sweater, and I’ll be ready to go.”

“Do you have something warm enough?” he asks. “You can wear my jacket.”

Before I answer, Corbin grabs a coat from a hook by the entryway and drapes it over my shoulders. The material is infused with his spicy scent, and having it wrapped around me makes me feel warm deep inside. Its large size reminds me of how it feels to have his body over mine, and I’m tempted to suggest we skip the walk and head to the bedroom, but that wouldn’t be fair to Roscoe.

“I’ll come too,” Brendan says.

The sun has just set, leaving the sky painted with shades of red, orange, and purple. “It’s beautiful,” I say, in awe, as we start walking along the sand.

“You say that like you’re not used to it,” Corbin says, “but you live here in this beautiful place.”

“I’m normally inside at Rusty’s when the sun sets,” I say. “Also, you need to be on the beach for this kind of view. I should make a point of coming on my days off, though. Roscoe would like that.”

The men are going to think I’ve been lying about how lazy he usually is. Right now, he’s practically running circles around us as he follows invisible trails of scent up and down the beach.

“Views like this feed the soul,” Brendan says, his eyes fixed on the horizon.

“I’ll bet you see a lot of beautiful views on your trips.”

He slides his arm around my waist, under his brother’s jacket, and pulls me close. “None of them have been as beautiful as what we’ve seen here.” His eyes are all over me now, instead of the sky. His hand brushes hair back from my cheek before he brings his lips to mine.

There hasn’t been much kissing outside of sex, and my heart glows at his flattering words and tender touch, even as my mind tells me not to like any of this too much.

As I tilt my head, inviting Brendan to deepen the kiss, a hand squeezes my shoulder and another warm body presses against me from the side. Corbin’s there, caressing my back as his brother kisses me.

After a moment, Brendan pulls his head back and turns me toward Corbin, who smiles as he rubs his warm nose against my cold one. He presses his lips to mine, gently at first, and then with more need.

We stand in a cozy huddle like that for several minutes, the brothers passing me back and forth between them, one kissing my neck while the other tastes my lips, one squeezing my ass while the other strokes a hand up my back.

My legs are starting to get weak, and I’m about to suggest we go back to the house, when Roscoe growls and then lets out a long howl. The men and I break apart, looking for the source of Roscoe’s alarm, but we quickly realize he’s howling at us.

“My dog is jealous,” I tell Brendan and Corbin, who both immediately kneel to give Roscoe the attention he’s looking for. “It’s too bad your life doesn’t suit having a pet,” I say, once we start walking along the beach again, the men close on each side of me.

“Someday,” Brendan says.

“Have any of you ever been married?” I ask, realizing I’d assumed they hadn’t, but I never asked.

Both of them shake their heads. “We haven’t.”

“Because of your work?”

“Not as much our work,” Brendan says, “as how we enjoy women. As you know, we like to share, and that doesn’t work well with marriage.”

I nod silently, not liking the feeling I get when I think of them with other women.

“How about you?” Corbin says. “Why didn’t you ever remarry?”

“I used to think I would, but the right person never came along. Then, the older I got, the more I valued my independence.”

Several yards ahead of us, Roscoe is pushing his snout into the sand at the water’s edge. Then he pulls back, shakes his head, and starts digging, kicking up big clumps of wet sand.

“Oh no, he’s going to be a mess,” I groan, “and he’s going to track sand all over your rental.”

Corbin is chuckling as he watches Roscoe. “There’s a hose outside. It’ll be fine. And there are house cleaners coming who will take care of any messes after we leave on Sunday.”