Erin M. Leaf (4 page)

“
Your turn,” Ben said quietly. He slid back into the bed, careful not to disturb Lark.

“
She’s sleeping pretty soundly,” Dillon said, carefully not thinking about what Ben had looked like when he climaxed. Unfortunately, the image of his friend’s face, taut with pleasure, was seared into his mind. He’d known for years now that he was in love with Ben, but his best friend was straight and oblivious and the last thing Dillon wanted to do was fuck up their friendship. Ben knew Dillon sometimes dated on the guy side of the fence, but it had never been an issue with them. Dillon hoped it wouldn’t be an issue now.

“
I’m fucking exhausted,” Ben said, settling in.

Dillon sighed.
“Yeah. Me too.” He got up quietly, intending to head for the bathroom. He needed some cold water on his head to clear his brain of all the things he shouldn’t want. Things like the lovely Lark, writhing on his leg as Ben brought her to climax. The memory of Ben biting her shoulder. The way Ben had looked into his eyes when he’d come…
Jesus, get a grip on yourself, Dillon. Olivia lost her life and you’re fixating on sex.
He moved to the door, upset and hurting.
I thought you had more self-control than that.

“
I saw the way you looked at me,” Ben said quietly, just when Dillon put his hand on the knob.

Fuck,
he thought, heart seizing up. “What do you mean?” he asked carefully. His hand shook.

“
You know what I mean,” Ben replied.

Dillon was afraid to turn around.

“It’s okay, you know.” Ben’s voice was low and steady. “I’ve known for a while.”

“
Jesus, fuck,” Dillon breathed, completely freaked out. He pivoted and stared at his friend, lying next to Lark. The two of them together were so beautiful, so devastating. “Shut up. Just… shut up, Ben.” He couldn’t deal with this now. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. There wasn’t enough air in this little room for him to handle what Ben was saying.

Ben frowned.

Dillon stared at him, hard, heart knocking on his ribs. For the first time in his life, he wondered if he was going to pass out.

Ben gave him a penetrating look, then nodded slightly.
“I’m not going to be able to fall asleep until you’re back.”

Dillon exhaled in
relief as he stared at Ben, his best friend, the face familiar as his own after so long. He knew, all those years ago when Ben and Olivia’s mother had divorced, just
knew
that offering to let him share his place was only going to make him love Ben more, but he couldn’t do anything less. Ben had needed him then. He needed Dillon now. And Dillon loved him. “I won’t be long,” he replied, making the same choice over again to stay. It didn’t matter what Ben thought he knew. Dillon would always come back to him, always let him in.

“
I know,” Ben said, closing his eyes.

Dillon shifted his gaze, looking at Lark lying so still next to Ben. She was beautiful and strong and he knew he could fall in love with her, too. She was as different from Olivia as a person could get, but that was a good thing. He missed Olivia as much as if she
’d been his own child. Lark couldn’t fill that hole. Unlike Ben, he’d known the instant he met her that she was a survivor. And her age didn’t matter to him, not one bit.

He turned the knob and headed out, trying not to think about the tangled mess
his life had become.

Chapter Four

Lark stirred, then stretched, waking up slowly. She was alone in the bed, to her surprise. She cracked open an eye. The room was empty. No Ben, no Dillon. She sat up, heart hammering as she looked around. She calmed down when she saw Dillon’s boots sitting near the dresser. He wouldn’t have left without those, right?

She yawned, then ran a hand through her hair. She needed
to wash up. Last night she’d noticed that the old man who lived here had running water, so she hoped he had a shower she could use. She bit her lip, trying to decide if she should hunt the men down first.
Nah. Shower first, then questions.
She slid out of the bed and dug in her backpack for clean underwear. She’d only packed three pairs, so she’d have to wash as she went.

After a quick look around the room, she decided to bring the backpack with her to the bathroom. She walked down the hall, frowning as she saw how old and worn the wallpaper looked. The farmhouse was really ancient. She opened the bathroom door, not surprised to see an old tub with a stopper hanging by a chain over the edge.
An old-fashioned shower head came out of the wall over the tub. On the sink was a clean towel, obviously placed there for her.

She stripped quickly, carefully placing the locket on top of her bag, and then got in the shower, drawing the curtain around on its oval rod. The water was pleasantly hot and it pounded some of the tension out of her back.
God, this feels good
, she thought as she took her first full-body shower in a week. As she soaped up, she let her hands wander down her body, remembering what had happened in the middle of the night. It didn’t seem real.
Yeah, well, you’re technically still a virgin, Lark. And likely to be one forever, given the way Ben had reacted afterward.
She winced slightly when her fingers brushed a bruise on her ribcage. Last night had definitely happened. She had the wounds to prove it.

After her shower, she got dressed and put the locket back on. She closed her hand around it briefly, remembering Olivia in a happier moment: brown hair messy, green eyes laughing at a silly joke. She sighed. She
’d always miss her. She couldn’t believe her best friend was gone. It hurt.

“
Lark? You in there?” Dillon called through the door.

She straightened her shoulders.
Time to get moving,
she told herself. She opened the door.

Dillon leaned against the wall, all coiled strength and deliberate casualness. His silver-shot hair was tousled, but his dark eyes were as penetrating as ever, despite his air of carelessness. She noticed that he
’d put on his boots. He wore a clean t-shirt, red. It clung to the well-defined muscles in his chest. Lark couldn’t help it. She looked him up and down, still amazed that she’d held him in her arms last night.

“
You ready to hit the road?” he asked.

She smiled briefly.
“Is there anything to eat?”

He nodded.
“I saved you a muffin.”

Her eyebrows rose.
“Muffins?” Her mouth watered. She hadn’t had real food like that in weeks. She’d been saving the granola bar in her backpack for emergencies while she and Olivia survived on vending potato chips and pretzels.

“
Fresh baked,” he said, heading down the stairs.

Lark shrugged on her backpack and followed him.

Ben sat at the kitchen table with the old man from last night. Like the man, the table had seen better days. Dillon walked over to the counter and poured a cup of coffee, handing it to Lark when she sat down. Her bag rested at her feet as she sipped the hot liquid. It tasted like nirvana.

“
Thanks,” she said, sipping again. “This is the first cup of coffee I’ve had in a long time.”

The old man grunted and pushed the plate of muffins over to her.
“Eat. No sense wasting food.”

She blinked, then grabbed one. When she bit into it, she moaned.
“So good,” she mumbled as she stuffed it down. “Thank you.”

The old man cracked a smile.
“You remind me of my granddaughter. She was a hell of a girl.”

Lark grinned at him, but didn
’t miss how he’d referred to his granddaughter in the past tense.

“
Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Ben asked.

“
No.” The old man shook his head, face immediately settling back into grumpy lines. “No sense in it. I’m old. I’ll be getting on soon.” He glanced over at a sideboard set near the window.

There were photos on top
. Lark had to work hard to swallow the last bite of her muffin. It was clear to her that the man’s family was all gone.

“
Thank you for your hospitality,” Dillon said, drinking down the rest of his coffee. “We appreciate it.”

The old man grunted and gathered up the now-empty plate.
“Least a man should do. Especially now.”

Dillon glanced at Ben who lifted a shoulder fatalistically.
“It’s time to go, Lark,” he said, turning to her.

She
finished her coffee, wishing they had time for more. “I’m ready.” And she was. She didn’t know where they were going or if they would live, but she knew that she had a better chance with Ben and Dillon than she would if she were alone. She touched the locket around her neck and stood up. “Let’s go.”

****

Dillon drove this time. He sat with one hand on the wheel, one hand on his right thigh, relaxed. He didn’t look like a man in his forties. Neither did Ben. Lark stared at them, trying to reconcile the image Olivia had given her with the men sitting up front. Ben didn’t look old enough to have a grown daughter. She knew Olivia had been born when he was very young, that he was only forty now, but he seemed even younger than that to her. She remembered how the two men had touched her: passionate and slightly desperate. Sincere. They’d known what they were doing, that was for certain. She blushed and looked away.

Outside, the sun shone
lit the trees as if nothing had happened. It was a beautiful, early autumn day. The breeze from her open window caressed her face. There was nothing but clear skies and empty roads around them.
Kind of freaks me out,
she mused, growing more nervous the longer they drove. “Where exactly are we going?” she asked. She hoped to God they had a plan, because all of her ideas had run out the moment they’d shown up at the dorm.

“
North. We know a park we can stay at tonight,” Dillon said.

Lark slumped against the seat.
“Camping?”

Ben smiled as he caught her disgruntled tone.
“We have a tent. It’ll be fine.”

She snorted.
“Every single time I’ve gone camping it rained.” She looked out the window up at the intense blue sky. “Clouds will move in by six o’clock. I’d bet money on that, if I had any.”

“
Ten bucks says it stays clear,” Ben said.

Lark glanced at him
and laughed. “Even if I had ten bucks, you’d lose that bet.”

He chuckled.

Lark smiled as she looked at him. He was so damned handsome. The light slanted across the front of the car, highlighting the intense green of his eyes.

Dillon pursed his lips.
“Okay then, I bet ten kisses we get partly cloudy skies.”

And just like that, all the tension Lark had managed to push down reared back up again. From the look on Ben
’s face, he felt it too. He looked at Dillon the way a man looks at a live grenade.

Dillon
held Ben’s gaze, the small smile that had been playing around his lips slowly disappearing. “What?”

Lark stared from one to the other. Something deeper was going on here.
“Forget it. Camping’s fine with me,” she said, trying to soothe the tension, but neither man paid her any attention. Lark didn’t know what the hell had just happened. Ben looked stubborn, as if he knew something and wasn’t going to let it go.

“
Shit, Ben,” Dillon said tensely. “Stop it.”

“
You didn’t want to talk about it last night, but I think we should,” Ben said.

Dillon
sighed. “I don’t see why we have to talk about it at all.”

“
I’m tired of ignoring it.” Ben rubbed his eyes. “Especially now. Everything’s changed.”

Dillon
’s foot shifted on the gas, speeding up a little. “I’ve never let it come between us, Ben. Nothing’s changed.”

Ben laughed harshly.
“Are you kidding me? Everything’s changed.” He glanced back at Lark, eyes glittering with frustration and heat.

Well, shit,
she thought, shocked by what she saw. She’d done this to them. Somehow she’d broken their friendship. Fucked it all up. The rising nausea in her gut made her decision for her. “Let me out,” she said, scrabbling at the door. The lock popped up and she curled her fingers around the latch. “I’ll just find somewhere to hole up—”

“
What the fuck, Lark? Stop that!” Dillon interrupted her, hitting the automatic locks on the doors before she could open it up. “Has everyone gone insane?” He swerved to the side, pulling onto the gravel shoulder and sliding to a stop. “Jesus.”

Lark yanked on the latch. It didn
’t budge. “This is so fucking stupid! I don’t know what I did, but the two of you are messed up now.” She hit a fist on the door. Everything was wrong and she had no idea how to fix it.
This isn’t about you,
she thought, but it didn’t help. She banged on the door again.

“
Stop it! Lark.” Ben caught her hand. “You didn’t do anything. This is on me. I felt this even before we met you. You were just the catalyst.”

“
The catalyst for what?” she cried, confused. What the hell was going on? Dillon was glaring out the windshield, hands tight around the steering wheel. She looked outside, a bit nervous about the lack of zombies.
Because now would be the perfect time for them to come out of nowhere and eat us
, she mused, still angry.

“
When I woke up and you were there, warm and alive, I couldn’t keep myself from touching you,” Ben said, voice breaking. “Olivia is gone.” He took a deep breath. “But you were there.” He shifted his gaze to Dillon. “And so was Dillon. I wasn’t alone. I never have been really alone.”

Dillon let his head fall to the wheel.
“Ben—”

“
No, let me finish.” Ben let go of Lark’s hand. “I love you, Dillon. You’ve been my best friend for twenty years. Longer.”

Dillon
’s shoulders went tight.

Ben continued.
“And when I saw you with Lark, I knew it was more than just friendship.”

Dillon frowned. Lark wished she were anywhere but here. Just when she thought she
’d be less alone in the world, the two men she’d finally let touch her were about to declare their love for each other.
God. My luck sucks.

“
Ben, you’re straight. You’ve always been straight.” Dillon seemed very sure of this.

Lark had a sudden memory of how Ben had gone still when Dillon suckled her breast. She didn
’t think Ben was as straight as Dillon thought.

Ben laughed shortly.
“Yeah, I used to think that too.”

Dillon glared at Ben.

Ben ran his hands down his jeans. They were trembling. “Dillon—”

“
Shut up, Ben,” Dillon said, unbuckling his seatbelt. “If you’re serious, then you won’t mind this.” He leaned over and cupped his hands around Ben’s face.

Ben sucked in a harsh breath. Lark stared. Dillon moved closer and kissed Ben lightly. Ben gripped Dillon
’s arms, fingers flexing.

Lark
’s face went hot. They looked… hot. Who knew she’d get off on watching two men kiss? She couldn’t tear her eyes away. Even though she was pissed that they’d used her as the catalyst for their big gay romance, she had to stare. They were gorgeous together.

Dillon deepened the kiss, licking into Ben
’s mouth like a man dying. Ben groaned and kissed him back. Lark saw a flash of tongue and she squirmed on the seat. She wanted them to kiss
her
like that.

When Ben finally broke away, Dillon was panting.
“Jesus, Ben. You’d better not be fucking with me.”

Ben licked his lips, glanced at Lark. His pupils were blown.
“I swear I’m not, Dillon. I’m tired of lying to myself.” He looked around at the road, the sunlight, the trees swaying gently in the breeze. “And who knows how much time we have left? I don’t want to waste it.”

Lark twisted her hands together, hot and bothered and completely uncomfortable. Never had she felt more out of place than she did right now.
“I should go,” she said, reaching again for the door.

Dillon frowned.
“No. You’re not going anywhere. Are you crazy? No fucking way, Lark.”