Chapter Sixteen
Brady
Brady's muscles were sore, but in that delicious way that reminded him of how much sex he'd been having with not one, but two hot and sensual men. Brady had never been so aroused, so often in his life and it seemed that if there were two men that could match him in that regard, they were Parker and Glenn. The three of them hadn't managed to go more than an hour without stripping one or all of them.
Today's agenda involved putting clothes on and keeping them there. He slipped his jacket over his shoulders and pushed his arms through. The day was chilly, reminding them all that summer was on its way out. Fresh air on his naked face still felt tingly and strange, though he couldn't deny that he liked his new look. Embarrassingly enough both Glenn and Parker had caught him stealing long glances of his own reflection in the mirror. They'd been kind enough to let it go more quickly than someone like his mother would have. She would have teased him for days. Brady smiled. It was odd, being able to think about his mother without his chest feeling like it was ripping open. He thought that good sex could do that to a person.
You know damn well this is more than good sex.
He'd known almost right away that something was different when it came to Parker and Glenn. If he'd had even a shred of a sense of self-preservation he would have ordered them out that first day and made them stay out. Now, he was afraid that it might be too late, that he might be too late. Thinking about life without both of them in it made him feel like he was having a panic attack. He didn't need anyone to tell him that feeling that way was dangerous.
Parker walked to his side, tugging on the back of his head. Brady chuckled. When Parker had given Brady a shave, Brady had decided he wanted to see something new on Parker. He was always so country, which Brady adored about him, but thought it would be fun to see him a little more metropolitan. The man had been more than willing until Brady had confessed that he wanted to see Parker's hair in a bun. Parker was even less happy when Brady said he liked it.
"Are you going to keep that torture up?" Glenn asked, spying Parker's hair. "He hates it. It looks...I mean..."
Brady laughed harder. He was the only one out of the three of them who liked the man-bun. Glenn could hardly look at Parker when he had one.
"I think he looks cool. Like a rock star," Brady replied.
"You want a rock star, baby? I'll give you a rock star." Parker began gyrating about in what Brady finally realized were his dance moves.
"No, please, stop," Brady said through the laughter. "And remember, when we are out and about, none of that baby stuff. Or sugar or sweetheart."
"What about Daddy's little slut?" Glenn asked with a straight face.
Brady felt simultaneously horrified and turned on. "Definitely not! At least, not in front of people," he added. He didn't mind the idea of exploring that in the bedroom.
"I got it, sugar balls, no pet names. I think I can last long enough for us to buy food."
The three of them loaded up into the truck. Parker was in the driver's seat and was able to take them to Lowell's General Store without having to ask the way.
"You shifters have an amazing sense of direction," Brady commented. He looked around the parking lot. It felt weird being out and about. They hadn't left the clinic since Brady was let out of the holding cell. The only reason they were out now was because they had officially run out of food.
Brady looked down at his list. He knew once they got to the store he would be too nervous to think. There was one item that he hadn't been able to put on the list that they desperately needed. It was the one item he was most worried about purchasing. People would wonder why he needed an extra-large box of condoms while he was living with two men.
He hadn't even needed to lie about why Parker and Brady were there yet since no one had stopped by with an animal emergency. Brady had thought that maybe everyone was just taking it easy, but as he walked across the parking lot with Glenn and Parker at his sides, he got more than a few stares that made him start to think maybe there was another reason he hadn't had any new clients lately.
"Why is everyone looking at us?" Brady asked quietly.
"Are they?" Parker asked. "Maybe they aren't used to man-buns on men as attractive as me."
In fact, Brady wasn't sure that wasn't it. He would have just left it at that if the stares he was getting weren't turning into shielded whispers from customer to customer as he walked past them with his empty cart. Brady kept his head down, resigning himself to just shop. The three of them worked quickly and gathered the items they needed. At the last minute, Brady hurried past the aisle with the condoms. They'd have to figure something else out. He got into line and turned to the other two men with him. "Why don't you guys go wait in the truck? I can handle this," he said and then instantly felt horrible. Parker's smirk fell and Glenn glowered.
He opened his mouth to take it back but Glenn silenced him. "If that's what will make you the most comfortable. We can't expect you to change the way you've been living your whole life in one trip."
They left and Brady nearly called them back. He was about to when it was his turn. The cashier, Brooke looked at him, her eyes wide. "One minute," she said. Brady knew Brooke the same way he knew most of the people that lived in Riverside. The ones that wanted to be known anyway. She had just turned eighteen and her parents had given her their old truck. She wanted to go to beauty school.
Right now, she was looking at him like he was an alien. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Something was going on.
Moments later, Ralph Lowell sauntered up. He was a large man, round like a beach ball, and he always wore jeans, a white button up shirt and a bolo tie. At that moment, he also wore a frown. "We have the right to refuse service," he said gruffly.
Brady's blood ran cold. He knew. Of course he knew. They all did and now they were going to run him out of town.
He wasn't sure how he had made it out of the store but knew he had when he felt warm palms shaking his arms.
"What happened?" Glenn asked gruffly. "Where are the groceries?"
Brady told him what Ralph had said, and he disappeared quickly. Parker helped him in the truck and it was there that he started to come back to his senses. He blinked repeatedly and took a deep breath. Glenn had gone in there, most likely to confront Ralph. Brady clawed at his seatbelt. "I have to stop him."
"Okay, baby, calm down. Let's go."
But Brady and Parker only made it half across the parking lot before Glenn came storming out. His face looked murderous and Brady didn't want to hear what had happened in the store.
"It's Robert Foster. That fucker is telling people you are a thief and is also threatening people to blackball you, or else."
Brady fell back on his heels. Robert Foster's family owned a lot of Riverside. While the man himself didn't have much, through blood or marriage he had his hand in most of the businesses in town. He could make someone's life inconvenient if they didn't do what he wanted them to do. More than his anger for Robert Foster, Brady felt guilt. He'd assumed so quickly that the judgment had been based on his sexual choices. He felt deflated, his shoulders hunched over, his face downcast. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"What for?" Parker asked.
"You guys are going to starve now, because of me." That wasn't why he had said sorry but it was all he was going to say out loud.
"Nah, we'll just go over to the next town."
"That's more than an hour away." Brady's stomach growled the second he stopped talking.
"Then we better get going," Glenn replied.