Short Rides Read online

Page 10

 

  “That we’d talk about it. But to be honest, I don’t wanna bring it up unless Westin asks us about it. ”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m not sure I want him involved in the sport of rodeo at all. ” Trevor leaned against the counter. “You know my Dad didn’t give me a choice. And with you and me bein’ on the circuit as professionals, I don’t want Westin to feel he’s gotta live up to something that we only enjoyed the last few years because we got to be together. ”

  “You’re afraid he thinks we’ll be disappointed in him if he doesn’t at least try it and carry on some kind of family tradition in rodeo?”

  Trevor nodded. “Or worse. . . what if he tries it and likes it? I mean, we both just disappeared off the circuit. But guaranteed if Westin starts ropin’, his last name will create interest. Which will lead to buzz, rumors, and all that bullshit we’re tryin’ to avoid. Especially when folks in the rodeo world learn that you changed your last name to Glanzer and we’re living together with Chassie West. That’ll bring up Dag, too. ” He shifted his stance. “I’m not ashamed of our life, but we do keep a low profile. Putting our kid in the rodeo arena probably ain’t the best thing to keep it that way. ”

  Edgard frowned. “I don’t disagree. Has Westin expressed interest in rodeoin’ to you?”

  “He mentioned his cousins—Colby’s, Cord’s and Cam’s boys—are competing in a few events this fall. ”

  “That’s it?”

  Trevor’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Sounds to me like he was testing the waters to see what you’d say. We can point out that it’s doubtful Colt and Indy will let their boys compete. Westin worships Boone and Boone ain’t a rodeo cowboy, so we can add that too. ”

  “Jesus, Ed, you’re missing the point. ”

  “No, I’m not. ” Edgard closed the distance between them. “You are. If he wants to try it, we’ll let him try it. If we tell him no, he’s gonna want to do it even more. Much as we’d like to plan for every variable in our kids’ lives, we can’t. ”

  Trevor hooked the towel around Edgard’s neck and tugged. “You are one smart bastard. ” He smashed his lips to Edgard’s in a punishing kiss.

  Edgard lightly punched Trevor in the gut to break the lip lock. “Come on. Let’s get these dishes done. ”

  “Should we bring this up with Chassie?” Trevor asked softly.

  “Not unless Westin expresses real interest in the sport. Our Chass worries enough as it is. And with what happened at school this week. . . well, I say leave it be. Let’s focus on why we’re here this weekend. ”

  Trevor grinned. “Sex. Lots and lots of sex. ”

  A loud, “Omigod, are you serious?” echoed from the bedroom.

  “Looks like she found the movies. ”

  “Hey, man, I’m blaming you that the only thing we brought was porn. ”

  Later the next afternoon they were lazing in bed after a long and sweaty bout of sex. There’d been a certain sweetness having Edgard between them. Edgard making love to Chassie slowly from behind, whispering Portuguese against her neck as Trevor fucked Edgard at the same leisurely pace, his mouth and hands in constant motion on both of them.

  So basking in the afterglow between her men was the perfect time to state her intent. “I wanna have another baby. ”

  Both her men propped up on an elbow and looked at her. “Why?”

  “We talked about havin’ four kids. If we are serious, I want to do it soon. Max is already two. ”

  “Like how soon, sweetheart?” Trevor asked.

  “I go in next month for my annual checkup. I’d like to get my IUD taken out. ”

  “If we had another baby, the kids would outnumber us,” Edgard said. “Our little Max is a handful. More so than Westin and Sophia put together. Makes me wonder what kind of hellion kid four would be. ”

  Trevor chuckled and Chassie elbowed him in the gut.

  “I’m serious. I miss havin’ a baby in the house. I think about holding one, rocking one, how good they smell and seeing that sweet little happy face first thing every morning. ”

  “You’re forgetting the lack of sleep, the constant crying, one of us always bein’ tethered at home, and Chass, that’s usually you. Plus, we’ve still got Max in diapers. ”

  Chassie’s gaze moved from Trevor’s face to Edgard’s. “You’re both against it?”

  “No,” they said simultaneously. “I just think we oughta make sure you wanna have another baby for the right reasons,” Trevor said.

  “Meaning what?”

  “You tell us. ” Edgard’s golden-brown eyes were so serious.

  “This has nothin’ to do with what that shithead said to Westin at school this week,” she retorted.

  “You sure?”

  “Positive. ” She placed a hand on each of their cheeks. “We make beautiful, smart, compassionate human beings. It’s been shown to us time and time again that the world could use more kids like ours. Especially where we live. ”

  “Such a sweet talker,” Trevor drawled.

  “That she is,” Edgard agreed.

  “Besides, I really feel that one more child would make our family complete. ”

  Trevor and Edgard exchanged a look.

  “Stop doin’ that,” she said poking them both in the chest. “You have something to say, spit it out. ”

  “Do you feel like you need to even it up for my benefit?” Trevor asked. “Because biologically, two of our kids are Edgard’s and one is mine?”

  “No!” Chassie inhaled. Exhaled. “Okay, maybe. Look, the only reason we had paternity tests done was to set up the legal guardianship in case something happened to one of us or two of us, so there wasn’t any chance the kids could get separated by the courts. We’ve never treated any of the kids like anything but ours—all of ours. And when we were tryin’ to get pregnant, we let nature take its course—no selective breeding. ”

  Edgard groaned and Trevor laughed.

  “But this time, if we decide we’re all on board havin’ another baby, I would like for Trev to have first crack at providing the fastest swimmers. ” She leaned over and kissed each of them. “I love you both. I wanna have another baby with you both. I just wanted to bring this up before my appointment and when we don’t have kids underfoot. ”

  “Because that might change our minds about adding another one to the chaos?” Edgard said dryly.

  “Not funny. ” Chassie flicked his chest.

  “One thing I’d like to point out is if we do add to our family, we’ll also need to add to our house. We’re busting out of the bedrooms upstairs. And bein’ here,” Edgard gestured to the generous space around them, “just shows that I wouldn’t mind havin’ a bigger place like this for us all the time. ”

  Trevor scratched his chin, a faraway look in his eyes. “You know, I have been thinking about this. If we added a master suite off the living room, we’d have to install plumbing for the big bathroom with a gigantic shower that I know Chass is dyin’ to have. ”

  “Hey, I heard the two of you enjoying the gigantic shower here yesterday. Really enjoying it. ”

  “You were sleeping. We were bored. ”

  “Oh, you gotta be bored to fuck me, Brazil nut? That’s reassuring. ”

  Edgard leaned over and kissed Trevor. “Chass just attested to the fact I enjoyed it, so lose the pout. ”

  Some days Chassie found it hard to believe there was no jealousy between the three of them. From the start they’d made certain that even the smallest perceived slight would be addressed by all of them immediately.

  Although they spent the majority of their time in and out of bed as a trio, they also made sure they got couple time too—her with each of them individually and them with each other. No one ever got the short end of the stick, in love, in bed, in parenting, or in being an equal member of the household. She was so very thankful every day that it
worked.

  She tuned back into the conversation as Trevor said, “Since we’re already adding new plumbing, then we could add a ground floor laundry room, which would make everything easier. ”

  Edgard nodded. “Then we could finish the basement, wall off a bedroom or two and turn it into a kids’ area, since our dining room and living room are bein’ overrun with toys. ”

  Trevor pushed a hank of Chassie’s hair over her shoulder. “I agree with Ed. I think it’s time we had a bigger space for the three of us. We’re conscious of kids overhearing when we’re getting down and dirty, so creating a separate area would give us privacy. ”

  “I agree. I’ll give Chet and Remy a call. ”

  “Why don’t you let me do it?” Trevor asked. “There’s a lot me’n Ed can do ourselves and that’ll affect the cost, even with the West family discount. ”

  “So does that mean yes to another baby?”

  “Like we’d ever say no to you. It helps your case that you’re such an outstanding mama. And that you’re not a psycho pregnant woman,” Edgard said.

  “But childbirth does take a toll on my body. Stretch marks on my tits, my ass, my belly and my hips. Not to mention I turn into a nympho or act like a nun—with no options in between. ”

  “The stretch marks are beautiful to me,” Trevor said softly.

  “And to me,” Edgard said. He traced the jagged white lines beneath her left breast. “You fed our babies with these, Chass. It’s an amazing thing your body can do. It should show the changes because you’ve—we’ve all—changed with each child. ” Then his fingers followed the intertwined the letters C, T and E tattoo centered above her left breast—the exact same tattoo both he and Trevor had in the exact same spot on their bodies.