Page 50 of Claiming Ours
“I never should’ve told you guys,” I grumbled in exasperation mixed with embarrassment while picking at the straw to distract myself.
“No, I’m only kidding with you, Baylee. I’m glad you told us. We’re here for you. That was wrong of me to joke about.” I shot her a small smile and nodded. “So, who is this mystery guy? Are his hands really fully tattooed?”
I followed her stare to where Memphis and Liam stood on opposite sides of a horse, brushing it down while talking in low voices. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them, even if we’d been together all morning.
“Please tell me that goofy smile has something to do with those two.”
Liam tipped his head back in what I assumed was a laugh, but the pounding rain on the roof swallowed the sound. Damn, he looked good in his Wranglers and boots. In true Liam fashion, he had on his customary button-up flannel shirt and cowboy hat too. The man looked downright edible.
And rideable.
I squeezed my thighs together to calm the building throb. One would think after yesterday’s activities, I’d be good for a while, but instead all those mind-blowing orgasms had the opposite effect. I craved release. Desire flooded my veins more than ever before. Sure, I’d been horny in the past, but never like this all-consuming need. And there were only two men I knew who could sate me.
A sliver of guilt weaved its way through my desire.
Did I ever crave Dean like I did Liam and now Memphis?
Noticing our stares, Memphis shot me a wink while Liam licked his lips like he could still taste me there. I relaxed against the wooden beam with a dreamy sigh.
“Oh hell,” Amy laughed. “You have it bad.” She tilted her head. “Wait a second. Did you guys…?” She waggled her brows.
Elbows pressed on both knees, I hid my face in my palms. “Amy,” I groaned.
“Baylee.” Her pouting tone had me peeking through my fingers and smiling at her expression. “I’m not asking for details—unless you’re willing to give them, of course. I just… was it good?”
I sat up straight and blew a raspberry. “It was better than good. Great even. And what was even better, I didn’t feel guilty about it.”
She nodded, though she looked confused. “Because of your former fiancé.”
“Yeah. Before, any time I’d kiss Liam or feel that rush of butterflies in my gut, it would turn to lead because of the guilt. Last night, though, with them both?—”
“Oh shit,” she muttered while fanning herself, making me laugh.
“—I didn’t feel it once.” I chewed on my lip and turned my focus to the piece of straw I was anxiously shredding. “Memphis is from my childhood. He, Dean, and I were best friends. And a part of me now recognizes that I had more than platonic feelings for Memphis back then, but I didn’t know what to do with it because I was in love with Dean. Him being here now, it’s like the final brick tied to my feet, keeping my head below the surface, has been released.” I looked up through my lashes at Amy. “It’s like I’m free.”
With a high-pitched squeal even the rainstorm couldn’t drown out, she launched herself at me, wrapping both arms around my neck and pulling me in tight.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy for someone else, Baylee.” She pulled back and held my face between her small hands, squeezing my cheeks. “Ever. You deserve every bit of happiness that you can wring from this life, and I’m so fucking glad you’re in a place where you see that and can believe it.”
“Thanks,” I said, the word muffled because of her hold on my face.
Her hands dropped to mine. Tears flooded her lower lids as she smiled at me. “When we built this place, we didn’t want it to be just somewhere to work but a family. When you came on board, my heart ached for you, but I knew there was a life waiting for you on the other side of your grief. You showed me that our community, Uplift, is so much more than I could’ve ever imagined. I’ve watched you heal, little by little, and seeing you like this”—tears leaked from the corners of her eyes—“is such a gift, a reminder of what a special little haven we’re a part of.”
“This place has been a godsend. I don’t even want to think about where I would be if it weren’t for you and everyone else. There was no way I was going back home, and I was just so damn lost after the funeral.”
Amy’s brows pulled in tight. “Why couldn’t you go home? I thought it was because you didn’t want those memories, but the way you just said it makes me think there’s more to it than that.”
I chewed on the corner of my lip. “Well, yeah, there was that. I didn’t want to drive around our hometown where everything reminded me of Dean, and now thinking about it, I didn’t want to remember Memphis either since he was gone from my life too. But there was also his mother.”
“Dean’s,” Amy clarified.
“She didn’t take his death well,” I said slowly, knowing that was putting it lightly. Psychotic break was a more accurate description based on my parents’ recent emails. “She was great to me before he died, but after….” I shook my head to clear the memories of her at the funeral, the cold shoulder, hateful looks, and muttered awful, awful things when we’d pass each other, plus the lies she spread to everyone who attended. “I knew I couldn’t be around that negativity while still reeling from his death. It was at the funeral that one of Dean’s Army buddies mentioned Uplift, and, well, the rest is history.”
“Everything okay over here?” The heels of Liam’s boots clicked against the concrete as he strode toward us, his gray eyes locked on me.
“Damn, you’re perceptive,” Amy said with a forced smile. “Just because she’s talking about something that makes her uncomfortable doesn’t mean she’s in danger or that you need to fix something.”
“Who do we need to hurt, Bay?” Memphis questioned when he came to a stop beside Liam.
