“A fuckin’ yuppie, come on!” Connor said as he playfully punched Bentley on the arm.
These two men take turns fucking Lauren. That’s the life I want. I want my Dominic and Pike to be Bentley and Connor.
“Connor, if you weren’t here in this community, you’d be wearing short white shorts, a sweater vest, and would be warming up out on a tennis court right now,” Bentley said as he put up his dukes to spar with Connor.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he agreed. “But I’d be sure to call you up if the net got loose.”
“Or to fix your pansy ass racket,” Bentley added.
“Boys…boys…boys,” I said. “I’m so glad to see you’re in good spirits.”
“Damn right we are,” Connor said. “Heard you and Pike are an item now. That means he can stay the hell away from Lauren.”
Bentley shot Connor an upset glance. It wasn’t meant for me to see but I’m not as young and naïve as they thought. Bentley was sweet for not wanting me to be reminded that my new husband had been busy trying to steal their wife a short time ago.
“I think I’ll wait for a third husband,” I told them, mostly to see their expressions. “No need to rush into it.”
I wondered if they weren’t tied down if either of them would’ve been interested in vying for that third slot.
“Well I get the feeling you won’t be able to wait too long,” Bentley said. “These young men around here will be chomping at the bit to get to you.”
I grinned and I knew my smile was from ear to ear. I didn’t want my pleasure at his comment to be too obvious so I looked down at his feet, which, in the end probably only intensified my blushing.
In truth, the third slot was already taken. I’d promised it to Kent but nobody else knew that.
“Might have to put a muzzle on some of these dogs,” Connor said.
“So Lauren’s inside?” I asked.
“All morning. The biker chick too.” Bentley said.
“The outsider?” I asked.
“Yup,” he replied.
The Seven were gathered inside the chapel, just them, with a few members of security and the new girl. I peeked through the front door and quietly made my way in. I sat quietly in one of the pews at the back of the chapel. Lauren noticed me and put a finger to her lips to make sure I remained quiet.
Yes, Mom.
I wasn’t surprised it was just the woman present. I supposed the man was still laid up in bed somewhere, probably stitched up and bandaged. After all, he’d had a bullet pass through his chest. Now that the woman wasn’t slamming fists against Pike’s back and she’d had the chance to clean up, I could see how pretty she was. She looked so much younger than I’d originally thought. Her makeup was fixed and she wore clean jeans and a black top, probably given to her by one of the seven.
She looked back and watched me as I sat. Our eyes met once and she lowered her gaze. I couldn’t tell if she was ashamed, disappointed, or conniving. She was either confused about her emotions or knew exactly what hand she was playing. One thing’s for sure. I didn’t like her. My previous thought about hoping she could forgive me went right out the fucking window. I didn’t like this chick.
I couldn’t hear the question asked but the woman answered.
“Yes, my name’s Gwenneth. I’m from a copycat community in Dallas. We heard all about you and tried to start our own branch. I’m a Dove where we’re from.”
I’d heard of one other Dove community but that was it. It didn’t surprise me that others had followed suit. We had a great thing going. We were a peaceful folk in a land of maniacs. We were the eye in the storm.
Word traveled fast. Some of our community members found us that way, including Pike. Over the years we’d occasionally needed to use outside maintenance men, electricians, and other workers. Of course they talked about what they saw up here. So people knew we existed and I guess some of them liked the idea enough to try it themselves.
The Seven seemed amused. I couldn’t tell whether or not they believed the woman but they seemed to be open to the idea.
“And the man who came with you?” Bethany, one of the Seven, asked.
“My fellow, Roscoe,” she said. “He’s…he’s the only one I have left. I’m afraid my other husband was killed and so was my other potential fellow.”
Sienna smiled. The others did too or were busy whispering to each other. Lauren returned her attention to me. As our eyes met I shook my head “no.” I don’t know why I did it but I didn’t trust the two newcomers. Taking a bullet didn’t necessarily translate to “good guy.”