Free Red Zone: Boys of Fall by Mari Carr

kept requesting Sex on the Beach drinks, giggling whenever she said the name. In addition to that, she’d made one Screwdriver, one Buttery Nipple and two Alabama Slammers. What the hell was wrong with these people?
    “You need a refill yet?” Sadie asked.
    At least Paige was just drinking a beer. “No, I’m good for right now, thanks.”
    “Yeah, you’re nursing that one good.” Sadie swished her rag over the bar debating whether or not she should start the conversation that had been niggling at the back of her mind ever since Paige walked into the bar alone and set up camp at the end of the counter.
    Rumors spread through Quinn quicker than the flu and, in addition to Sadie’s taxi departure with Oakley and Joel, there was an interesting one floating around about Paige’s after-wedding escapades. Ordinarily, Sadie didn’t pay much heed to the wagging tongues, but this story caught her attention.
    To hell with it, she decided as she leaned closer. She needed to talk to someone and if the rumor was true, Paige was the perfect person to fill that role. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”
    Paige nodded. “Sure thing.”
    “Is it true?” At Paige’s blank look, Sadie lifted her brows. “You know, about you and Colt and Drake possibly being in a compromising position. Post-wedding shenanigans. That kind of deal.”
    From the guilty expression on Paige’s face, Sadie had her answer. When the silence drifted a bit too long, Sadie tried to lighten the moment. “Yoohoo, Paige, you in there?”
    Paige smiled. “Yeah. Sorry. Just trying to come up with a politically correct way to say that I—”
    “That you banged two sinfully sexy cowboys?” At Paige’s silence, Sadie grinned. She’d found a confidante. “Just an FYI, I might know something about that too.”
    Paige reared back on her barstool, nearly toppling off the thing. She mumbled something that sounded like “You’ve been with them?”
    She’d only served Paige a couple of beers, not nearly enough for her to be tipsy, but the woman looked slightly off-balance. “Hey there, you okay?” Sadie peered closer at her face. “You didn’t have a few before you got here, did you?”
    “No, no, of course not. I’m not drunk. Did you…” Paige was flushed and struggling to catch her breath. “Did you sleep with Colt and Drake too?”
    Sadie’s lips twitched. “Too? That sounds like an admission of guilt. To which I say, you go, girl.” Paige’s blush bloomed even brighter, but she grinned when Sadie held her hand up for a high five.
    “To answer your other question…” Sadie propped her forearms on the bar and lowered her voice. “Hell no, I haven’t slept with them. Either of them. Never mind both. Do you really think I’d be asking you about it if I had?”
    “I don’t know.”
    While Sadie was thrilled to have someone to talk to about the rather unorthodox path they were on, Paige didn’t seem as comfortable with the discussion. She watched the other woman pick up her glass and chug the rest of her beer. “Gimme another, please.”
    “You got it.” Sadie took her glass and pulled the tap. Despite Paige’s embarrassment, Sadie wasn’t about to let the subject drop after finally finding someone with whom she could confide her secret. “I said I knew something about sleeping with two hot cowboys. Just not those particular two.”
    “Really?” Finally Paige appeared to relax a bit. “Is that like a…thing ’round here, and no one ever told me because I’m too new in town?”
    Sadie laughed. “Girl, you aren’t that new anymore. Besides, you’re practically from one of the founding families of Quinn. Your people have roots here that go back eons.”
    Paige sat up a little straighter. “That they do.”
    “And no, I don’t think it’s a thing. People in Quinn can be a bit conservative sometimes, though I think that overall, they’re pretty understanding and decent when it comes right down to it. They’re just easily