Be With Me(85)

“So you threatened to rape him this morning?” Cam asked with only a thread of amusement.

“Something like that,” she mumbled. “I sorta jumped him in the kitchen and made it very clear what I wanted from him.”

“Hel , I think I’m jealous,” Cam murmured.

She dug her fist into his gut, and he grinned.

“Things were going great. Wel , except his need to tie me up,” she said darkly. “And the whole spanking thing.”

Cam chuckled. “You loved it.”

“Yeah, wel , that’s not the point. But then Hutch flipped out. I mean what the f**k was he thinking?

Does he real y think you or Sawyer would ever hurt me? If he doesn’t trust you and Sawyer, how on earth does he think this could ever work? I mean I guess I can understand his protective streak when it comes to other people or dangers I might face, but protecting me against you and Sawyer?” Cam didn’t have an answer to that, because it was something he wanted to know as wel .

“Did you see the look in Sawyer’s eyes, Cam?” Emotion squeezed her voice, and she sounded near tears.

“He just stood there while Hutch hit him like he deserved it, like he deserved al the accusations Hutch hurled at him. And I couldn’t even go to him because then it would look like I was taking his side against Hutch.”

She leaned away again and stared up at Cam.

“What was I supposed to do, Cam?”

“What did you want to do?” he asked gently.

Her shoulders sagged. “I wanted to knock Hutch on his ass, and then I wanted to wrap my arms around Sawyer and tel him that I love him, that I know he’d never hurt me.”

“Then that’s what you should have done.”

“You make it sound so simple,” she grumbled.

“How is me doing that not choosing between you?”

“Because Hutch was being a horse’s ass, and if it had been over anything else you would have immediately cal ed him on it and set him straight.”

“There is that.”

He shifted and adjusted his long legs to get the cramp out of one of them. Then he picked her up and moved her to his other knee before curling her back into his arms.

“You need to cut yourself some slack, love. You cannot be al things to everyone. Moreover, we don’t expect you to. If one of us is being a dickhead, we don’t expect you to suck it up and take it because it might look like you’re picking one over the other.”

“But what if . . . what if this can’t be fixed, Cam?

What then?”

The fear in her voice echoed his own fears. But damn it, fights in a relationship were inevitable.

Granted they usual y occurred between the man and the woman and not two other men. What a f**king mess.

“You’re not a damn piece of meat to fight over,” he said, al owing the first shard of anger to bleed through in his words.

She went stil against him. “You’re angry too.” He sighed. “Yeah, I’m pissed. I don’t know what set Hutch off, but he didn’t handle it worth a damn. He knows that me and Sawyer would never hurt you.

Damn it, he knows.”

“So what do I do?” she asked again.

“Only you can answer that,” he said, though he wanted to tel her to go kick Hutch’s ass and then make things right with Sawyer. But he couldn’t make that choice for her, not matter how badly he wanted to do whatever it took to keep her.

“I just wish I knew what the hel he was thinking.”

“You and me both,” Cam murmured.

Hutch had always been defensive when it came to Reggie, though Cam wasn’t going to volunteer that information. No sense building her case that this wouldn’t work.

He rubbed her arm again then kissed the top of her head. “Why don’t you come back to the house?

I’m betting you haven’t eaten al day. You can kick Hutch’s ass and Sawyer’s too if you want. I’l even clean up the blood when you’re done.” He forced lightness into his voice, hoping that if he didn’t make a big deal out of it then neither would she.

“You go on ahead,” she said in a low voice. “I need to think about things for a while.”

His breath caught and held. “But you’re coming back, right?”

Silence stretched between them, and he tensed as he waited for her response.

“I won’t run anymore. Whatever happens I’l face it head-on.”

Her answer didn’t make him feel any better. But he also heard the resolve in her voice. This is where he was going to have to trust her and hope like hel that another man hadn’t f**ked up any chance of a future he had with the woman he loved.

Chapter 31

Reggie pulled up to the house and cut the engine.

Sawyer’s truck was gone. With a sigh, she got out and wearily headed for the door.

She and Sawyer were a lot alike. Both hotheads, prone to blowing up, and taking off was their way of dealing with it.

This time, however, she’d promised Cam that she’d deal with it rational y. Her and her big mouth.

What she real y wanted to do was tuck tail and run.

Just like she’d done a year ago. Only it hadn’t helped.

As soon as she mounted the steps, the front door flew open, and Hutch yanked her into his arms.