Free Homewrecker (Into the Flames #1) by Cat Mason, Katheryn Kiden Page A

what to do,” she starts, then giggles. “All right, fuck, I tried, but I can’t.” Blowing out a breath, she presses her hands together as if she were praying. “I’m not the type of friend to sit idly by while I watch you go through something like this. I don’t do quiet and passive while my best friend is being a fuckin’ pussy. It’s not in my nature.”
    “Jesus, Lyn, don’t hold back now.”
    “Sorry, but it’s the truth and you love me because I give it to you straight.” Rounding the bar, she points out the opened patio door to where the guys stand joking and talking around the grill. “You have to figure out what is going on between Dixon and you, Kennedy. You’ll only end up hurting all three of you if you let this fester beneath the surface unresolved. Now,” she says, looking at me. “I can sit here and tell you what you want to hear, or what I think you should do until I’m bluer in the face than Mark’s balls in a cock cage, but as much as I love being a third or even a fourth in a game of sexual tension, this isn’t about me. It’s about you, babe.”
    My eyes snap to hers. “Did you just say bluer?” I ask, biting back a laugh. “Is that a word?”
    Pressing her lips into a hard line, she flips me off. “Everything I just said and you latch onto one fuckin’ word?” she asks, hitching a hand on her hip. “If I didn’t love you, I’d slap the shit out of you. Admit it, though, you kmow what I said was true.”
    Looking down at my hands, I stare at my wedding ring, the beautiful diamond that Gunnar put on my finger in front of all our friends one Christmas. Is it possible for a memory to feel like it happened yesterday, but also feel like it’s been an eternity at the same time? That’s how those days feel. Everything was so uncomplicated and easy back then. Our lives had just begun and our futures were wide open with endless possibilities.
    Now, I just feel so lost. I’m torn because I love Gunnar, I always have, but this new side of me sees things that I crave. These things I’ve never said out loud, but not only did Dixon seem to see all of them, he gave them to me that night. Was it just alcohol and hormones making everything heightened? Orgasmic hallucination? Could it be possible for two parts of me to be so different that one doesn’t recognize the other, to coexist and not have blowback that will ruin everything in my path?
    Once dinner is done, we all sit around the table to eat, bantering playfully as we eat. The environment is pretty much clear of the earlier stress. Football talk and chatting about the shop turns into Mark bitching about needing a spa day and a vacation.
    “We could get a group package,” Mark says around a bite of steak. “Make an entire weekend of it as a group. Facials, deep tissue massages, the works. There’s nothing better to relieve stress.”
    “I can think of a few.” Gunnar chuckles, earning him a fist bump from Dixon.
    “Count me out too, man.” Dixon says, then shovels potatoes into his mouth. “Got better things I could be doin’, naked, on my day off, than lyin’ face down on a table.”
    My fork slips from my hand, clattering to my plate. I choke on my steak, gasping for air as I grab my glass and down gulps of water to clear my throat. “Babe, are you OK?” Gunnar asks, reaching over and patting me on the back.
    “Fine,” I gasp. Setting down my glass, I wipe my face with my napkin and catch my breath. The entire table is watching me. Dixon smirks wickedly while Lynsey just shakes her head, leaving poor Gunnar and Mark looking both concerned and clueless. Looking at Mark, I smile, rolling my tense shoulders. “A spa day sounds great. I’d kill for a massage right now.”
    Mark and Lynsey start talking schedules and planning a day when the three of us can go all together. Gunnar stands to his feet, gripping my shoulders and rolling his fingers into the tissue. “Why go there? I can handle all your kinks for you for