Part 10 (1/2)

Chapter Ten.

Mel sat in her car after the hearing and stared at the papers. It was late Monday afternoon, and the hearing, which had gotten b.u.mped until the afternoon, was over.

For all intents and purposes, she was single again.

All they needed was the final order, which the judge would be signing. Shed have it in a week or less.

The house would be sold, unless Mike could buy out her share of the equity. That would be handled through Eds office.

She took a deep breath and considered things. She thought shed at least cry. Something.

Nothing.

She went home and found the men had already returned. Which was odd, because usually they worked later than this. She grabbed a beer from the kitchen on her way through but didnt see the guys.

Instead, she headed for her room and dumped her stuff on the bed. In the several months shed lived with Don and Carl, not only had she felt more at home, more loved, more cared about than she had in the last several years with Mike, but shed felt at peace.

Theyd never made her feel like she belonged anywhere but right there.

They were more than friends.

And exactly when theyd started being that in her heart, she didnt know, but she realized she really wanted to get closer to them.

A lot closer.

Neither man had dated anyone else since shed moved in.

Maybe her attraction to them wasnt as one-sided as shed first thought.

She grabbed a quick shower, including shaving her lady parts. Ever since the first night theyd played together, she always kept herself shaved if she thought she might play with them.

Just in case.

She hoped it might soon be for more than just o.r.g.a.s.m play.

Mel pulled on a flirty little sundress shed bought a couple of weeks ago and hadnt worn yet. She thought about putting on panties under it and then thought, f.u.c.k it. If she accidentally flashed the guys, who cared?

Maybe itd interest them.

Or dump her ego even deeper into the s.h.i.+tter, but shed risk it.

She headed out to the kitchen to get herself another beer. She was working on a good buzz, the first one shed had Okay, her first buzz since college. h.e.l.l, there were a lot of things she hadnt done since she and Mike had gotten married.

Having carefree fun was at the top of that unfortunate list.

She opened the sliding gla.s.s doors out to the lanai and left them open, letting the perfectly balmy breeze coast in from outside. It was one of those rare Florida days where the temperature was perfect, the humidity was low, and the breeze was light.

They had maybe five perfect days a year like this. She wanted to enjoy it.

Mike had always groused if she left the doors and windows open. His allergies, the dust, the pollen. Why bother living inside if theyd just open the windows and doors? Might as well live in a tent.

She took a long pull off the bottle.

f.u.c.k.

Staring down into the serene surface of the pool, she realized how much of herself shed given up to Mike.

Fifteen years shed never get back. Sure, shed thought they were really good years at the time, but here she was now, starting over, renting a room in a house with two guys, and she wasnt even getting laid.

G.o.ddammit! she muttered.

Sorry?

She jumped, spinning around. She hadnt seen Carl hunkered down in the hot tub. Oh, sorry. That wasnt directed at you. She walked over and perched on the edge, now feeling a little self-conscious that she didnt have panties on.

Thinking about Mike?

Why deny it? Yeah.

Did everything go okay today?

She sighed. It was easy. Fifteen years She snapped her fingers. Gone.

Been there, done that. Want to borrow my T-s.h.i.+rt?

She smiled. Carl could always make her smile. With his green eyes and dark-blond, nearly brown hair, he was handsome. She liked that he actually got out and did things other than housework and ch.o.r.es. He worked on his car.

He actually drove places in his car. Including several times the three of them had gone to local car shows in it.

They had fun together.

They did things that didnt involve grocery shopping, work, or errands to buy stuff for the house.

They lived.

Depends on how long your T-s.h.i.+rt is. Can I wear it like a dress? She met his gaze as she took another swallow of beer.

She hoped she looked seductive. She was so d.a.m.n out of practice it was hard to tell.

He leaned over sideways, toward her, head craning to look at her. I dont know. You going to go commando when you wear it?

Heat filled her face.

When she started to brush down the hem of her sundress, he laughed. Im teasing you, sweetie.

That only deepened her blush.