9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan (12 page)

“Where’s the booze?” S
heila
asked, making a beeline for the wine bottle on the counter. “I need a drink.”

“What’s up with her?” Peyton asked Mandy as she shut the
door behind them. “It’s not like her to jump into the alcohol so fast.”

“She’s had a rough day. She just found out
about you and Jason.”

Chapter Nine

Peyton knocked on the bathroom door after Sheila took one
of the bottles of wine and locked herself in. “Sheila?”

“Leave me alone, Peyton. I hate you.”

“Then why the fuck did you come to my house?”

“Because you’re
one of my best friends.”
The sound of a sob
broke through the pane of the door.

“I don’t get you at all.”

“I love Jason Young and you’re fucking him.”

“Oh please. You do not love him. You went out with him
what?
Once or twice?”
Peyton tapped on the
door ag
ain. “Come out of there.”

“Not until I’m good and drunk so I don’t punch you.”

Peyton leaned against the wall near the door, sipping a
glass of wine she’d poured before she went after Sheila.
This whole thing is stupid.
“Try it, babe. We can
go round all n
ight if you want. I’m game. I haven’t
been in a fight lately.”

“You’d hit me?”

“If you hit me first,
yes.”

“What a bitch.”

“You’re in my house, drinking my wine, and you’re calling
me a bitch?”

Silence.

The lock clicked right before the door slowly opened.
“I’m being stupid, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are. Besides, there’s nothing between me and
Jason other than some hot sex.” Peyton wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but she
asked anyway. “Did you fuck him?”

Sheila bit her lip.

“You did.” The jealousy Peyton felt surprised her. Surely
she wasn’t upset that Jason had slept with Sheila, was she?
Maybe.
But why?
They were only having a good time,
right?

“Yeah.
Twice.”

“I’m not sure I want to know.”

“Why not?
You asked.” Sheila
walke
d past her into the living room and then spun
around. “You aren’t jealous, are you?”

Peyton folded her arms over her chest. The protective
stance didn’t fool her friends though as Sheila, Mandy and Paige looked on.
“No.”

“Yes you are! You totally are!”
 
Sh
eila flopped
down on the couch as she brought the wine bottle to her lips. After she
swallowed, she said, “You’re in love with him.”

“No, I’m not. We’re fucking. That’s it.”

“I can see it in your face.”

Peyton glanced at Paige who shrugged and Mandy who no
dded. “You all are full of shit. I’m not in love with him.
We are just two people finding solace in each other’s company. That’s it.”

“Then don’t fuck him anymore,” Sheila said, taking another
swig from the bottle.

“But I don’t want to stop making love wit
h him. We’re good together. He’s the best I’ve had in a
long time.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Mandy asked, taking a seat next to
Sheila on the couch, reaching for the wine bottle.

“What?”

“You said making love, not having sex, not fucking, making
love.” She
pointed at Peyton with the bottle top
before she took a long drink. “You are totally in love with him.”

“We aren’t discussing this anymore. I’m done. I’m not in
love with him. We are fucking, that’s it.
Nothing more.”
She glanced at Paige
who stood nearby with a little smile playing on her lips. “What?”

“You sound like me before I realized I had it bad for
Jacob. Now look at us, expecting twins.”

“You totally fell the minute you saw him.”

“The minute I saw him, he was
drunk
off his ass and getting it kicked by three other guys. Then he came back after
puking in the hall at the bar, with throw up on his shirt. Not a good first
impression, Peyton.”

“True, but once you hauled him across the street, paid for
his room so he
could sober up, you were hooked.”

“Yeah, no and stop trying to change the subject of you and
Jason. I can attest the Young brothers are definitely worth the trouble, but
make sure you don’t get hurt. Jason is a player. He always has been.”

“I know, Paige.
I’ve watched him
enough at the bar to know his game.”

“Then make sure you don’t fall into it. If he’s playing
you, then blow him off. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of Jacob’s brothers, but
there are several of them that are into seeing how many women they
can fuck in a year.” She glanced at Sheila from across the
room. “No offense, Sheila, but he used you if you fucked him.”

Sheila took another swig from the bottle. “I know.”

“Enough of this
talk
. We were supposed to
be having a good time, not talking abou
t who we are
fucking this week.” Peyton grabbed the bottle of wine,
then
poured herself more
into the glass she held. “What are we eating, ladies? We can call for pizza or
go for burgers, although not a good idea since we’ve been drinking.”

“I could drive.
I can’t drink
anyway,” Paige said, skimming her hand down her gently rounded stomach.

“You are so cute with your belly,” Sheila replied, her
words beginning to slur.

“Thanks. I’m glad I didn’t have too much morning sickness
with this pregnancy. I was afr
aid of that when I
found out it was twins.”

“How are you going to handle two babies at once without
family help?”

“Nina has already promised to help me a lot with them.
She’s excited about having more grandbabies.”

“Do you know what they are?” Peyton asked
, sipping her wine. “I mean the sexes?”

“Not yet. We go for an ultrasound in a couple of weeks.”

“What are you hoping for?”

“One of each.
I think it would be
great to have a boy and a girl. Nina wants girls.” Paige laughed. “She already
has the boys so she
’s hoping for at least one girl in
the mix. Plus having nine boys, she really wants granddaughters.”

“I really like Nina. She’s a hoot,” Peyton said. “I’ve had
the chance to talk to her some while at the feed store and things. We’ve even
had lunch a couple
of times together.”

“She’s bringing you into the fold,” Paige replied.

“What do you mean?” Peyton didn’t like the thought of being
manipulated.

“She’s a sneaky one. I think in her roundabout way, she’s
setting up women she likes to get her boys married
off.”
Paige shifted in the chair so she faced Peyton. “She was very sweet to me
before Jacob and I got together. We kind of found our way together without much
help, but as soon as she knew we were seeing each other, she totally jumped
onboard with our rel
ationship.”

“Oh, she’s definitely sneaky.”

“She never helped me when I was dating Jason,” Sheila
whined.

The sound grated on Peyton’s nerves. She really didn’t want
to compare her
relationship
such as it is, with
Sheila’s. It was bad enough Jason slept with her. This was something Peyton
would have to deal with for however long they were together, but she didn’t
want to be constantly reminded of it. “Maybe she didn’t think you were the
right pe
rson for him?”

“And you are?”

“Hell if I know, Sheila.” Peyton shrugged, sipping her
wine. Sheila was three sheets to wind or getting close and she didn’t really
want to get into some kind of a brawl with her friend over a guy. “We are
having a good time,
nothing more. It’s still very
early for anything to be even called a relationship.”

“How many times have you fucked?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes it matters, to me.”

“I’m not telling you an exact amount. We did it several
times at his house.”

Sheila jumped to h
er feet,
spilling wine from the bottle on the carpet.
 
“At his house?
He took you to his
house?”

Okay, this is
getting out of control.

“Well, yeah.
After
I’d been to the
muddin
’ party.
He resisted a lot, for
some reason I’m not quite sure of even now, but
he
finally gave in.”

“You threw yourself at him? You are a fucking slut!”

“Okay. I’m tired of your mouth, Sheila. What is going on
between me and Jason has no reflection on you or what you had. You slept with
him. Unfortunately, it’s something I have to de
al
with, but I’m not a slut. I haven’t been with a shit ton of guys. Yes, Jason
and I fucked. It was good. It was fabulous. The best I’ve ever had, but it
doesn’t mean I’m a slut. Take it back!”

“I will not! You went to the
muddin
’ party with Aaron and end
ed up sleeping with Jason? That’s what I call a slut.”

“I’m calling you a cab.”

“I’m not leaving until we’ve had this out.”

“Girl, there is nothing to have out. Jason didn’t want you
past however many times you had sex. He still wants me after several time
s. Get over it!” Peyton set her glass down and stood to
retrieve her cell phone. She needed to get Sheila out of her house before
something happened to ruin their friendship altogether. With her cell phone in
hand, she dialed the local cab company phone. S
he
kept them on her cell phone for patrons at the bar. “Yeah, I need a cab at…”
She rattled off her address and closed the phone. “They’ll be here in fifteen
minutes.”

“I told you I’m not leaving.” Sheila shoved Peyton, pushing
her back a few steps.

“Don’t
do this, Sheila.”

“He’s mine.”

“No, he’s not. For the moment, he’s mine.” Sheila shoved
her again, pushing her into the end table where her glass of wine sat, spilling
the contents.
“Enough, Sheila.
You can get your bag
and sit out on the front porch to sober up.”

“This is total bullshit.” Tears welled up in Sheila’s eyes.
“I love him.”

“No you fucking don’t. You went on like two dates. That’s
it.”

“I can fall in love in such a short amount of time.”

“I did,” Paige answered. “I denied it, but I was totally in
love with Jacob very quickly.”

“You aren’t helping matters here, Paige.”

“Sorry.”

“See! Paige loved Jacob that quickly. I can totally be in
love with him.”

“You are not, Sheila. Besides, he doesn
’t love you.”

“You think he’s in love with you?”

“There isn’t love here. It’s mutual sexual satisfaction,
nothing more, at least for now. I don’t love someone in a few days.”

“But he took you home.”

The whine coming from her friend made her ball her hand
into a fist. She hated whiny people.

A honk sounded outside. “Take the cab and go home. You need
to sleep this off.”

“Fine, but I’ll remember this conversation and we’ll be
having this out sooner or later, Peyton.”