Goldie and the Three Wisconsin Bears

“That’s another reason I would have known about him if I was a groupie,” I say, putting it all together.

“Yeah, but other than that, Jeb kept a low profile. He didn’t do ads or appearances or what he calls ‘any of that PR nightmare shit.’”

“Jeb sounds like the walking definition of that S.A.T. word ‘cantankerous,’” I say before I can think better of insulting the beloved foster brother of the guy who’s planning to pay me a lot of money for one week of sex.

But Nico just laughs and says, “Yeah, cantankerous is exactly what he was. He didn’t party. Didn’t flirt. Didn’t socialize outside of us as far as we could tell. He just did his job and went home—either to the house we still share in Muskego or his hotel when we were out on the road. So Mitch and me were real surprised when Jeb walked in on us while we were with the same girl one night…and decided to take a turn with her too.”

My mouth drops open. “Holy shit.”

“Right?!” Nico agrees. “That was the first time, but it wasn’t the last. We had a good thing going with hotel weekends for a while. But suburban living is tough. Especially if you’re well-known like Jeb. Also, constantly switching out girls got old. I didn’t want to give up sharing—that’s a non-negotiable for me. But I also wanted to settle down with a wife we could call our own. Start a family.”

Nico’s expression sobers. “Mitch agreed it was time for us to settle down. His parents might have been inmates for most of his life, but at least he had them for a while. And he wanted the chance to do better by his kids without giving up his brothers. Jeb preferred working girls, and never for more than a couple of days. But he agreed to share a wife if we could find one. That’s how strong our brotherhood is, even though we’re not related by blood.”

My heart pangs, thinking of my two best friends, Cynda and Billie, who I used to call my sisters from other misters. But I didn’t want to get two other black women caught up in my mess with a cop who could make their lives hell, so they don’t even know where I am right now.

I must have let some of the torn emotions I’m feeling seep into my expression. Nico says, “Don’t worry. I know this thing with you is going to be temporary. We’re not planning on keeping you here and making you our wife or anything like that.”

“I didn’t think you were,” I assure him. “I know I’m not wife material.”

He crooks his head. “Why do you say that?”

“Why wouldn’t I say that?” I scrunch my brow, surprised at the follow-up question. In my experience prior to Tommy, guys who just wanted to have sex with you never asked personal questions. They didn’t care about what you were thinking or how you felt. They just wanted to smash.

Is Nico different from most guys? Does he look at me and see someone who would make a good wife, despite my circumstances? My heart secretly thrills at someone seeing me as the kind of woman I wish I could be.

But then Nico says, “I don’t know if you’d make a good wife. You haven’t told us much about yourself, Goldie.”

Understanding dawns. He’s not trying to compliment me. He’s fishing for information.

The momentary thrill withers away. But I can’t say I blame him. After everything he’s told me, it feels like I owe him something more than a fake name.

But telling him who I really am would be dangerous. For both these guys and myself.

“So how does this cabin figure into your ‘find a wife’ plans again?” I ask instead, changing the subject.

He gives me a knowing look but answers my question. “When Mitch got the opportunity to buy back his parents’ old cabin and land from the government, he jumped on it. We started renovating it during our last off-season. Getting it ready to fill with a wife and children. We thought maybe this year we’d have someone to bring home. Even managed to land a girlfriend.”

A stab of jealousy goes through me at the mention of them having an ex-girlfriend they hoped to make their wife. Stupid and completely unwarranted. I was their whore for the week, after all, not somebody they’d ever consider fulfilling the role.

But some masochistic part of me has to ask, “Then why am I here instead of her?”

“She broke up with us halfway through the season. She liked Mitch and me well enough, but Jeb never grew on her like we hoped he would. Can’t say his personality helped matters. He doesn’t have it in him to be charming, and I guess you can’t blame Charlotte for preferring one guy who adored her to two guys who liked her and one who acted like it was a chore to even talk to her.”