Page 67 of Seven Year Itch
Calder winces. “I’m not proud, okay? We were new to Jamestown and excited to finally be out of Boulder.”
“I’m not judging,” I reply, taking a big drink and waiting for him to continue, wishing I had some popcorn. “I’m just really intrigued.”
“Well, it gets even more fucked-up. It turns out a construction company out of Colorado Springs called Pristine Contractors was owned by her husband, and apparently, he and my dad were both bidding on a project, and my dad ended up getting it. The guy hated us for it. Said my dad got a hold of his bid and underpriced ours to edge him out. He’s a fucking whack job.”
“Sounds like it.”
“Anyways, I guess at some point, he cheated on Robyn, and that’s when she left him and moved to Jamestown and met us.”
My eyes are dry from how wide they are. “Did she know who you guys were?”
Calder licks his lips and sighs. “Yep. But we didn’t know her connection to Matt.”
“Wait... wait, wait, wait!” I hold my hands up, unable to fullyprocess this. “Did she sleep with all three of you to get back at her husband?”
“She sure did.”
“Holy shit.”
“Holy shitis right.” Calder huffs out a self-deprecating laugh. “And I’ve never felt more embarrassed than when I had to give a sample of saliva for a paternity test to find out who the father of the baby she was pregnant with was.”
“Holy ever-loving God, I am going to pass out!” I press a hand to my chest, struggling to get my heart rate under control. I had heard rumors about something scandalous with the Fletcher brothers years ago, but I always assumed it was gossip. And it wasn’t like I even knew those guys at the time. I just knew of the family business, so it didn’t really matter much to me.
It wasn’t until Cozy fell for Max that I ever even met them, and they all seemed relatively normal at the time. Weird for living on a mountain compound together, but Cozy approved of them, so I did too. To know this whole soap opera happened in the little mountain town of Jamestown is wild.
Calder’s jaw muscle ticks as he drinks his beer with very little emotion after the story he just shared. Either he has a great poker face, or this really doesn’t bother him as much as I would think it should. I suppose it’s been a while, and time heals all wounds, but a wound like this has to leave a scar. Right?
Weirdly, it impresses me how close the Fletcher brothers are despite that crazy time in their lives. It takes a strong family to repair after this woman came in and wreaked havoc on all of them. I can’t help but wonder what their father thought of it all.
“And the baby turned out to be this Matt-guy’s?”
“Yes, thank God,” Calder huffs and shakes his head. “That was the one silver lining that came out of all of this, because it would not have been pleasant being tied to her with a kid. Although, I feel bad for the kid. Her and Matt are still together last I heard.”
“Wow.” I feel a bit silly that I can’t offer anything more profound after that bomb was dropped. “I can see how visiting a sex club after all of that felt like no big deal.”
Calder chuckles softly. “I don’t know aboutno big deal. I just wanted something different with no connections. I was used to going out with my brothers all the time, but I wanted a place where I could meet someone on my own that would help erase her from my mind. First time here, I found a female Domme, and she worked real hard to help me forget about all my problems back on the peak.” His eyes dance with mirth as his mind drifts down memory lane. He clearly enjoys this memory much more than the Robyn one.
“So is that your kink?” I lean in, my voice a whisper. “You like a bossy type?”
Calder shrugs. “I like lots of things. Can’t seem to ever find a favorite, and believe me, I’ve tried.”
“Hmm.” I turn on my stool to survey the crowd. “Do you think everyone is here because of some fucked-up past trauma?”
“Don’t we all have trauma in one way or another?” Calder asks, and I tilt my head to watch him for a moment, wondering which trauma affected him more. This Robyn chick or the loss of his dad?
Maybe it doesn’t matter. He’s right. Trauma is trauma. It’s how we work through it to come out the other side that matters.
My thoughts are distracted when I spot a couple from across the room staring in our direction. They whisper to each other, never taking their eyes off of me or Calder. I can’t quite tell. They look relatively normal. Like a couple who would walk into my shop... whatever that means. The man is tall, dark, and handsome. Clean-shaven and wearing a suit. The woman is a petite redhead with large breasts. They’re both beautiful.
I nudge Calder with my elbow and nod. “I think something might be happening.”
“What?” he murmurs, more interested in his beer than the action of the club.
“Would you stop being such a grump and look?” I grab his face and turn him to look out into the club, and at the same time, the couple stand and begin to make their way over to us.
“Oh my God, they’re coming over here!”
“Chill out, Ace.”
